Genesis 44

Joseph gave an order to the man who ran his household. He said, "Fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.

1And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.

Note"Money" here is silver measured out by weight, not coins, coinage did not yet exist. The mouth of the sack is its open top, where a payment placed inside would be found first when it was untied.

2And put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the money he paid for his grain." The steward did just what Joseph had said.

2And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

3As soon as it was light in the morning, the men were sent on their way, they and their donkeys.

3As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

4When they had left the city and were not yet far away, Joseph said to his steward, "Get up and go after the men. When you catch up with them, say to them, 'Why have you paid back evil for good?

4And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?

5Is this not the cup my master drinks from, and the one he uses to divine? You have done wrong in doing this.'"

5Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

NoteDivination is the reading of omens to learn hidden things. A cup was used for it by pouring water or wine in, sometimes adding oil, and interpreting the patterns that formed. The Hebrew verb also carries the general sense of "discover by uncanny means," which is how Joseph uses it in verse 15.

6The steward caught up with them and spoke these same words to them.

6And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.

7They said to him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like this.

7And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:

8Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?

8Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?

9If it is found with any of your servants, let that man die, and the rest of us will also become my lord's slaves."

9With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.

NoteNaming a harsh penalty for oneself was the ordinary way of swearing innocence: the speaker stakes his life on the claim being true. The brothers are not expecting the terms to be applied.

10He said, "Now let it be as you have said: the man it is found with will be my slave, and the rest of you will be free of blame."

10And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.

11Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack.

11Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.

12The steward searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

12And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

13Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and they went back to the city.

13Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

NoteTearing one's clothes was the standard public sign of grief or shock, done at a death or a disaster. It was a visible, deliberate act, not a loss of composure.

14Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, for he was still there, and they fell to the ground in front of him.

14And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

NoteFalling face down on the ground was the normal court greeting to a high official in Egypt, a gesture of submission rather than of worship.

15Joseph said to them, "What is this you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can certainly divine?"

15And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?

16Judah said, "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has uncovered the guilt of your servants. Look, we are my lord's slaves, both we and the one the cup was found with."

16And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.

17He said, "Far be it from me to do that. The man in whose hand the cup was found will be my slave. As for the rest of you, go up to your father in peace."

17And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

18Then Judah came close to him and said, "Oh my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh.

18Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.

NotePharaoh was the title of Egypt's king. "You are equal to Pharaoh" means Joseph's word carries the king's own authority, so defying him is as serious as defying the throne. Throughout this speech Judah avoids the word "you" for himself, calling himself "your servant" and Joseph "my lord", the required manner of address to a ruler.

19My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'

19My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

20And we said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a young one. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's sons, and his father loves him.'

20And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.

21And you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.'

21And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.

Note"Set my eyes on him" is an idiom for looking at someone directly, and often carries the added sense of taking an interest in them or looking on them with favor.

22And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave his father, his father would die.'

22And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

23And you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'

23And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

NoteTo "see the face" of a ruler means to be granted an audience with him. Refusing it was a formal shutting of the door, not merely a refusal to be looked at.

24So when we went up to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.

24And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

25And our father said, 'Go back and buy us a little food.'

25And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.

26And we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down, for we may not see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'

26And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us.

27And your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons.

27And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:

28One of them went out from me, and I said, he must have been torn to pieces. And I have not seen him since.

28And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:

29If you take this one from me too, and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to the grave in sorrow.'

29And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

NoteGray hairs stand for old age and for the father himself in his last years. "The grave" translates Sheol, the shadowy underworld where the Hebrews pictured all the dead as going, good and bad alike; it is not a word for a burial plot, nor for a place of punishment.

30So now, think what will happen when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, since my father's own life is bound up with the boy's life.

30Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;

31When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. And your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to the grave in sorrow.

31It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

32For your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.'

32For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.

NoteTo stand surety was a recognized legal arrangement: one person pledged himself as the guarantee for another, and became liable in that person's place if the obligation failed. Judah had put himself, not property, on the line.

33So now, please let your servant stay as a slave to my lord in place of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers.

33Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.

NoteThe slavery proposed here is the penalty for theft, a thief unable to pay was worked off as a debt. Judah is offering to take that sentence in Benjamin's place.

34For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I do not want to see the harm that would come on my father."

34For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.