Genesis 42:7-10

42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ²  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ³ 

42:8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 42:9 Then Joseph remembered ⁴  the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!” ⁵ 

42:10 But they exclaimed, ⁶  “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy grain for food!

Genesis 43:7

43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us ⁷  thoroughly ⁸  about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ ⁹  So we answered him in this way. ¹⁰  How could we possibly know ¹¹  that he would say, ¹²  ‘Bring your brother down’?”

Genesis 43:29

43:29 When Joseph looked up ¹³  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ¹⁴ 

[42:7]  ¹ sn But pretended to be a stranger. Joseph intends to test his brothers to see if they have changed and have the integrity to be patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He will do this by putting them in the same situations that they and he were in before. The first test will be to awaken their conscience.

[42:7]  ² tn Heb “said.”

[42:7]  ³ tn The verb is denominative, meaning “to buy grain”; the word “food” could simply be the direct object, but may also be an adverbial accusative.

[42:9]  ⁴ sn You are spies. Joseph wanted to see how his brothers would react if they were accused of spying.

[42:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “to see the nakedness of the land you have come.”

[42:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they said to him.” In context this is best understood as an exclamation.

[43:7]  ⁷ tn The word “us” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[43:7]  ⁸ tn The infinitive absolute with the perfect verbal form emphasizes that Joseph questioned them thoroughly.

[43:7]  ⁹ sn The report given here concerning Joseph’s interrogation does not exactly match the previous account where they supplied the information to clear themselves (see 42:13). This section may reflect how they remembered the impact of his interrogation, whether he asked the specific questions or not. That may be twisting the truth to protect themselves, not wanting to admit that they volunteered the information. (They admitted as much in 42:31, but now they seem to be qualifying that comment.) On the other hand, when speaking to Joseph later (see 44:19), Judah claims that Joseph asked for the information about their family, making it possible that 42:13 leaves out some of the details of their first encounter.

[43:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and we told to him according to these words.”

[43:7]  ¹¹ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the imperfect verbal form, which here is a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of a past time).

[43:7]  ¹² tn Once again the imperfect verbal form is used as a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of past time).

[43:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ¹⁴ sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.