Genesis 43:16-25

43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.” 43:17 The man did just as Joseph said; he ¹  brought the men into Joseph’s house. ² 

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ³  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ⁴  He wants to capture us, ⁵  make us slaves, and take ⁶  our donkeys!” 43:19 So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 43:20 They said, “My lord, we did indeed come down ⁷  the first time ⁸  to buy food. 43:21 But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ⁹  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ¹⁰  43:22 We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks!”

43:23 “Everything is fine,” ¹¹  the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. ¹²  I had your money.” ¹³  Then he brought Simeon out to them.

43:24 The servant in charge ¹⁴  brought the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys. 43:25 They got their gifts ready for Joseph’s arrival ¹⁵  at noon, for they had heard ¹⁶  that they were to have a meal ¹⁷  there.

[43:17]  ¹ tn Heb “the man.” This has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

[43:17]  ² sn This verse is a summary statement. The next verses delineate intermediate steps (see v. 24) in the process.

[43:18]  ³ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[43:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

[43:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “to roll himself upon us and to cause himself to fall upon us.” The infinitives here indicate the purpose (as viewed by the brothers) for their being brought to Joseph’s house.

[43:18]  ⁶ tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[43:20]  ⁷ tn The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the finite verbal form.

[43:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the beginning” (see the note on the phrase “last time” in v. 18).

[43:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “in its weight.”

[43:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “brought it back in our hand.”

[43:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he said, ‘peace to you.’” Here the statement has the force of “everything is fine,” or perhaps even “calm down.” The referent of “he” (the man in charge of Joseph’ household) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[43:23]  ¹² sn Your God and the God of your father…This is the first clear reference in the story to the theme of divine providence – that God works through the human actions to do his will.

[43:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “your money came to me.”

[43:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the man.”

[43:25]  ¹⁵ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct after the preposition, followed by the subjective genitive.

[43:25]  ¹⁶ tn The action precedes the action of preparing the gift, and so must be translated as past perfect.

[43:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “eat bread.” The imperfect verbal form is used here as a historic future (future from the perspective of the past).