Discovery BoxGenesis 42:27-38
Context42:27 When one of them 1 opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, 2 he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 3 42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; 4 they turned trembling one to another 5 and said, “What in the world has God done to us?” 6
42:29 They returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all the things that had happened to them, saying, 42:30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us 7 as if we were 8 spying on the land. 42:31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies! 42:32 We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. 9 One is no longer alive, 10 and the youngest is with our father at this time 11 in the land of Canaan.’
42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain 12 for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know 13 that you are honest men and not spies. 14 Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” 15
42:35 When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid. 42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. 16 Simeon is gone. 17 And now you want to take 18 Benjamin! Everything is against me.”
42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may 19 put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care 20 and I will bring him back to you.” 42:38 But Jacob 21 replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. 22 If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair 23 in sorrow to the grave.” 24
[42:27] 1 tn Heb “and the one.” The article indicates that the individual is vivid in the mind of the narrator, yet it is not important to identify him by name.
[42:27] 2 tn Heb “at the lodging place.”
[42:27] 3 tn Heb “and look, it [was] in the mouth of his sack.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to look through the eyes of the character and thereby draws attention to the money.
[42:28] 4 tn Heb “and their heart went out.” Since this expression is used only here, the exact meaning is unclear. The following statement suggests that it may refer to a sudden loss of emotional strength, so “They were dismayed” adequately conveys the meaning (cf. NRSV); NIV has “Their hearts sank.”
[42:28] 5 tn Heb “and they trembled, a man to his neighbor.”
[42:28] 6 tn Heb “What is this God has done to us?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question.
[42:30] 8 tn The words “if we were” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[42:32] 9 tn Heb “twelve [were] we, brothers, sons of our father [are] we.”
[42:32] 10 tn Heb “the one is not.”
[42:33] 12 tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[42:34] 13 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.
[42:34] 14 tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”
[42:34] 15 sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.
[42:36] 18 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.
[42:37] 19 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.
[42:38] 21 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[42:38] 22 sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.
[42:38] 23 sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.
[42:38] 24 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.
