Genesis 43:9-34

43:9 I myself pledge security ¹  for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. ²  43:10 But if we had not delayed, we could have traveled there and back ³  twice by now!”

43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 43:12 Take double the money with you; ⁴  you must take back ⁵  the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight. 43:13 Take your brother too, and go right away ⁶  to the man. ⁷  43:14 May the sovereign God ⁸  grant you mercy before the man so that he may release ⁹  your other brother ¹⁰  and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.” ¹¹ 

43:15 So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt ¹²  and stood before Joseph. 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 ¹³  brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹⁴ 

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ¹⁵  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ¹⁶  He wants to capture us, ¹⁷  make us slaves, and take ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  the first time ²⁰  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 ²¹  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ²²  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,” ²³  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. ²⁴  I had your money.” ²⁵  Then he brought Simeon out to them.

43:24 The servant in charge ²⁶  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 ²⁷  at noon, for they had heard ²⁸  that they were to have a meal ²⁹  there.

43:26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside, ³⁰  and they bowed down to the ground before him. 43:27 He asked them how they were doing. ³¹  Then he said, “Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 43:28 “Your servant our father is well,” they replied. “He is still alive.” They bowed down in humility. ³² 

43:29 When Joseph looked up ³³  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.” ³⁴  43:30 Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome by affection for his brother ³⁵  and was at the point of tears. ³⁶  So he went to his room and wept there.

43:31 Then he washed his face and came out. With composure he said, ³⁷  “Set out the food.” 43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ³⁸  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ³⁹  to do so.) ⁴⁰  43:33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. ⁴¹  The men looked at each other in astonishment. ⁴²  43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, ⁴³  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ⁴⁴ 

[43:9]  ¹ tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.

[43:9]  ² sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.

[43:10]  ³ tn Heb “we could have returned.”

[43:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[43:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “take back in your hand.” The imperfect verbal form probably has an injunctive or obligatory force here, since Jacob is instructing his sons.

[43:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “arise, return,” meaning “get up and go back,” or “go back immediately.”

[43:13]  ⁷ sn The man refers to the Egyptian official, whom the reader or hearer of the narrative knows is Joseph. In this context both the sons and Jacob refer to him simply as “the man” (see vv. 3-7).

[43:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[43:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “release to you.” After the jussive this perfect verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) probably indicates logical consequence, as well as temporal sequence.

[43:14]  ¹⁰ sn Several Jewish commentators suggest that the expression your other brother refers to Joseph. This would mean that Jacob prophesied unwittingly. However, it is much more likely that Simeon is the referent of the phrase “your other brother” (see Gen 42:24).

[43:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “if I am bereaved I am bereaved.” With this fatalistic sounding statement Jacob resolves himself to the possibility of losing both Benjamin and Simeon.

[43:15]  ¹² tn Heb “they arose and went down to Egypt.” The first verb has an adverbial function and emphasizes that they departed right away.

[43:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “the man.” This has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

[43:17]  ¹⁴ sn This verse is a summary statement. The next verses delineate intermediate steps (see v. 24) in the process.

[43:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[43:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

[43:18]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[43:20]  ¹⁹ tn The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the finite verbal form.

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

[43:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “in its weight.”

[43:21]  ²² tn Heb “brought it back in our hand.”

[43:23]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your money came to me.”

[43:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the man.”

[43:25]  ²⁷ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct after the preposition, followed by the subjective genitive.

[43:25]  ²⁸ tn The action precedes the action of preparing the gift, and so must be translated as past perfect.

[43:25]  ²⁹ tn Heb “eat bread.” The imperfect verbal form is used here as a historic future (future from the perspective of the past).

[43:26]  ³⁰ tn Heb “into the house.”

[43:27]  ³¹ tn Heb “concerning peace.”

[43:28]  ³² tn Heb “and they bowed low and they bowed down.” The use of synonyms here emphasizes the brothers’ humility.

[43:29]  ³³ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ³⁴ sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.

[43:30]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for his affection boiled up concerning his brother.” The same expression is used in 1 Kgs 3:26 for the mother’s feelings for her endangered child.

[43:30]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and he sought to weep.”

[43:31]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and he controlled himself and said.”

[43:32]  ³⁸ tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:32]  ³⁹ tn Or “disgraceful.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 46:34 and Exod 8:22.

[43:32]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not able to eat food with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination for the Egyptians.” The imperfect verbal form in the explanatory clause is taken as habitual in force, indicating a practice that was still in effect in the narrator’s time.

[43:33]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth.”

[43:33]  ⁴² sn The brothers’ astonishment indicates that Joseph arranged them in this way. They were astonished because there was no way, as far as they were concerned, that Joseph could have known the order of their birth.

[43:34]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and he lifted up portions from before his face to them.”

[43:34]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and they drank and were intoxicated with him” (cf. NIV “drank freely with him”; NEB “grew merry”; NRSV “were merry”). The brothers were apparently relaxed and set at ease, despite Joseph’s obvious favoritism toward Benjamin.