The brothers come for grain
Patriarchs · Draft · BSB
Content revision: 24f8b0ad4c4c1a4a · No editorial review date recorded
Date: not assigned.
Joseph’s brothers come to buy grain, and he recognizes them though they do not know him. He accuses them of spying, keeps Simeon, and demands they bring Benjamin. On their second journey he hides his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack, and Judah offers to stay as a slave in Benjamin’s place.
Primary Scripture
42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
42:2 “Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
42:3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
42:5 So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.
42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
42:7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
42:8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
42:9 Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
42:10 “Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.
42:11 We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
42:12 “No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
42:13 But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
42:14 Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!
42:15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
42:16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”
42:17 So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,
42:18 and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:
42:19 If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.
42:20 Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.
42:21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
42:22 And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
42:23 They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
42:24 And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.
42:25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,
42:26 and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.
42:27 At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.
42:28 “My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.” Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
42:29 When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:
42:30 “The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.
42:31 But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies.
42:32 We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’
42:33 Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.
42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”
42:35 As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.
42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”
42:38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
43:1 Now the famine was still severe in the land.
43:2 So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”
43:3 But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’
43:4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
43:5 But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”
43:6 “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”
43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
43:8 And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.
43:9 I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
43:10 If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”
43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
43:12 Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.
43:13 Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once.
43:14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
43:15 So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”
43:17 The man did as Joseph had commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house.
43:18 But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”
43:19 So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
43:20 “Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.
43:21 But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.
43:22 We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.”
43:23 “It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
43:24 And the steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided food for their donkeys.
43:25 Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.
43:26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.
43:27 He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?”
43:28 “Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.
43:29 When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
43:30 Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep.
43:31 Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”
43:32 They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.
43:33 They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.
43:34 When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.
44:1 Then Joseph instructed his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his sack.
44:2 Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.
44:3 At daybreak, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
44:4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph told his steward, “Pursue the men at once, and when you overtake them, ask, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?
44:5 Is this not the cup my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wicked!’”
44:6 When the steward overtook them, he relayed these words to them.
44:7 “Why does my lord say these things?” they asked. “Your servants could not possibly do such a thing.
44:8 We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found in the mouths of our sacks. Why would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?
44:9 If any of your servants is found to have it, he must die, and the rest will become slaves of my lord.”
44:10 “As you say,” replied the steward. “But only the one who is found with the cup will be my slave, and the rest of you shall be free of blame.”
44:11 So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.
44:12 The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest—and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
44:13 Then they all tore their clothes, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.
44:14 When Judah and his brothers arrived at Joseph’s house, he was still there, and they fell to the ground before him.
44:15 “What is this deed you have done?” Joseph declared. “Do you not know that a man like me can surely divine the truth?”
44:16 “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one who was found with the cup.”
44:17 But Joseph replied, “Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace.”
44:18 Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
44:19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’
44:20 And we answered, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
44:21 Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’
44:22 So we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’
44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your younger brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’
44:24 Now when we returned to your servant my father, we relayed your words to him.
44:25 Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us some food.’
44:26 But we answered, ‘We cannot go down there unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother is not with us, we cannot see the man.’
44:27 And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.
44:28 When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.
44:29 Now if you also take this one from me and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’
44:30 So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy’s life,
44:31 sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.
44:32 Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’
44:33 Now please let your servant stay here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. Let him return with his brothers.
44:34 For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”
Location evidence
Jacob was last placed at Hebron (37:14); Genesis 42 does not name where he lives.
Event map marker: Approximate region; [longitude, latitude] = [31.3075, 30.129444]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.
Egypt: Approximate region. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [31.3075, 30.129444]. Classification source: editorial.
Hebron: Identified site. Coordinates [longitude, latitude]: [35.10222, 31.525087]. Classification source: editorial.
For the class
How has Judah changed since he suggested selling Joseph?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: editorial (content/authored/patriarchs.json)
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm