Genesis 42:2

And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, grain which people could buy for their own needs; get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. All this appears to have happened at a family council at which Jacob, as the head of the family or tribe, presided. He saw no need for a long discussion or for hesitation: it was a matter of life and death.