Genesis 42:21-24

42:21 They said to one other, ¹  “Surely we’re being punished ²  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ³  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁴  has come on us!” 42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ⁵  42:23 (Now ⁶  they did not know that Joseph could understand them, ⁷  for he was speaking through an interpreter.) ⁸  42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ⁹  he had Simeon taken ¹⁰  from them and tied up ¹¹  before their eyes.

Genesis 45:4-5

45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” so they came near. Then he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 45:5 Now, do not be upset and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, ¹²  for God sent me ¹³  ahead of you to preserve life!

Genesis 45:8

45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser ¹⁴  to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

[42:21]  ¹ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ² tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ³ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ⁴ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[42:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.

[42:23]  ⁶ tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story.

[42:23]  ⁷ tn “was listening.” The brothers were not aware that Joseph could understand them as they spoke the preceding words in their native language.

[42:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “for [there was] an interpreter between them.” On the meaning of the word here translated “interpreter” see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ and M. A. Canney, “The Hebrew melis (Prov IX 12; Gen XLII 2-3),” AJSL 40 (1923/24): 135-37.

[42:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he turned to them and spoke to them.”

[42:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “took Simeon.” This was probably done at Joseph’s command, however; the grand vizier of Egypt would not have personally seized a prisoner.

[42:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he bound him.” See the note on the preceding verb “taken.”

[45:5]  ¹² tn Heb “let there not be anger in your eyes.”

[45:5]  ¹³ sn You sold me here, for God sent me. The tension remains as to how the brothers’ wickedness and God’s intentions work together. Clearly God is able to transform the actions of wickedness to bring about some gracious end. But this is saying more than that; it is saying that from the beginning it was God who sent Joseph here. Although harmonization of these ideas remains humanly impossible, the divine intention is what should be the focus. Only that will enable reconciliation.

[45:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.