Genesis 44:14--45:15

44:14 So Judah and his brothers ¹  came back to Joseph’s house. He was still there, ²  and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ³  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ⁴ 

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ⁵  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ⁶  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ⁷  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of ⁸  you may go back ⁹  to your father in peace.”

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ¹⁰  Please do not get angry with your servant, ¹¹  for you are just like Pharaoh. ¹²  44:19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ¹³  The boy’s ¹⁴  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ¹⁵  and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see ¹⁶  him.’ ¹⁷  44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ¹⁸  will die.’ ¹⁹  44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. ²⁰  If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, ²¹  for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ²²  44:28 The first disappeared ²³  and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take ²⁴  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ²⁵  in tragedy ²⁶  to the grave.’ ²⁷ 

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ²⁸  44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ²⁹  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. 44:32 Indeed, ³⁰  your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers. 44:34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see ³¹  my father’s pain.” ³² 

The Reconciliation of the Brothers

45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, ³³  so he cried out, “Make everyone go out from my presence!” No one remained ³⁴  with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 45:2 He wept loudly; ³⁵  the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. ³⁶ 

45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him. 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, ³⁷  for God sent me ³⁸  ahead of you to preserve life! 45:6 For these past two years there has been famine in ³⁹  the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 45:7 God sent me ⁴⁰  ahead of you to preserve you ⁴¹  on the earth and to save your lives ⁴²  by a great deliverance. 45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser ⁴³  to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 45:9 Now go up to my father quickly ⁴⁴  and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay! 45:10 You will live ⁴⁵  in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me – you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everything you have. 45:11 I will provide you with food ⁴⁶  there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you.”’ 45:12 You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you. ⁴⁷  45:13 So tell ⁴⁸  my father about all my honor in Egypt and about everything you have seen. But bring my father down here quickly!” ⁴⁹ 

45:14 Then he threw himself on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 45:15 He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After this his brothers talked with him.

[44:14]  ¹ sn Judah and his brothers. The narrative is already beginning to bring Judah to the forefront.

[44:14]  ² tn The disjunctive clause here provides supplemental information.

[44:15]  ³ tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”

[44:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.

[44:16]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ⁶ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ⁷ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[44:17]  ⁸ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “up” (reflecting directions from their point of view – “up” to Canaan; “down” to Egypt).

[44:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ¹² sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.

[44:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

[44:21]  ¹⁶ tn The cohortative after the imperative indicates purpose here.

[44:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “that I may set my eyes upon him.”

[44:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:22]  ¹⁹ tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.

[44:26]  ²⁰ tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “go down.”

[44:27]  ²² tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”

[44:28]  ²³ tn Heb “went forth from me.”

[44:29]  ²⁴ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

[44:29]  ²⁵ 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. See Gen 42:38.

[44:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

[44:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[44:30]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his life is bound up in his life.”

[44:31]  ²⁹ tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

[44:32]  ³⁰ tn Or “for.”

[44:34]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew text has “lest I see,” which expresses a negative purpose – “I cannot go up lest I see.”

[44:34]  ³² tn Heb “the calamity which would find my father.”

[45:1]  ³³ tn Heb “all the ones standing beside him.”

[45:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “stood.”

[45:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and he gave his voice in weeping,” meaning that Joseph could not restrain himself and wept out loud.

[45:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and the Egyptians heard and the household of Pharaoh heard.” Presumably in the latter case this was by means of a report.

[45:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “let there not be anger in your eyes.”

[45:5]  ³⁸ 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.

[45:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the famine [has been] in the midst of.”

[45:7]  ⁴⁰ sn God sent me. The repetition of this theme that God sent Joseph is reminiscent of commission narratives in which the leader could announce that God sent him (e.g., Exod 3:15).

[45:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to make you a remnant.” The verb, followed here by the preposition לְ (lÿ), means “to make.”

[45:7]  ⁴² tn The infinitive gives a second purpose for God’s action.

[45:8]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.

[45:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “hurry and go up.”

[45:10]  ⁴⁵ tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive here expresses instruction.

[45:11]  ⁴⁶ tn The verb כּוּל (kul) in the Pilpel stem means “to nourish, to support, to sustain.” As in 1 Kgs 20:27, it here means “to supply with food.”

[45:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “And, look, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth is the one speaking to you.”

[45:13]  ⁴⁸ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive here expresses instruction.

[45:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and hurry and bring down my father to here.”