CHAPTER XLII _Jacob sends his ten sons to Egypt to buy corn_, 1-3; _but refuses to permit Benjamin to go_, 4. _They arrive in Egypt, and bow themselves before Joseph_, 5, 6. _He treats them roughly and calls them spies_, 7-10. _They defend themselves and give an account of their family_, 11-13.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:6. _JOSEPH WAS THE GOVERNOR_] שליט _shallit_, an _intendant_, a _protector_, from שלט _skalat_, to be _over as a_ _protector_; hence שלטים _shelatim, shields_, or _arms for_ _protection_ and _defence_, 2 Samuel 8:7; and שלטון _shilton, power_ and _authority_, Ecclesiastes 8:4, Eccl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:9. _YE ARE SPIES_] מרגלים אתם _meraggelim attem, ye_ are _footmen, trampers about, footpads, vagabonds_, lying in wait for the property of others; persons who, under the pretence of wishing to buy corn, desire only to find out whether the land be so defenceless that the _tribes_ to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:11. _WE_ ARE _ALL ONE MAN'S SONS_] We do not belong to _different tribes_, and it is not likely that _one family_ would make a hostile attempt upon a whole kingdom. This seems to be the very ground that Joseph took, _viz._, that they were persons belonging to different tribes. Again... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:13. _ONE_ IS _NOT._] An elliptical sentence, _One_ is _not_ alive.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:15. _BY THE LIFE OF PHARAOH_] חי פרעה _chey Pharaoh, Pharaoh_ _liveth_. As if he had said, As surely as the king of Egypt lives, so surely shall ye not go hence unless your brother come hither. Here therefore is no _oath_; it is just what they themselves make it in their report to t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:18. _I FEAR GOD_] את האלהים אני ירא _eth haelohim ani yare_, literally translated the passage runs thus, _I also fear the gods_; but the emphatic ה _ha_ is probably added by Joseph, both here and in his conversation with Pharaoh, the more particularly to point out the eminence and p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:21. _WE_ ARE _VERILY GUILTY_] How finely are the office and influence of conscience exemplified in these words! It was about _twenty-two_ years since they had sold their brother, and probably their conscience had been lulled asleep to the present hour. God combines and brings about... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:23. _FOR HE SPAKE UNTO THEM BY AN INTERPRETER._] Either there was a very great difference between the two languages as _then_ spoken, or Joseph, to prevent all suspicion, might affect to be ignorant of both. We have many evidences in this book that the Egyptians, Hebrews, Canaanites... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:24. _TOOK - SIMEON AND BOUND HIM BEFORE THEIR EYES._] This was _retaliation_, if, as the rabbins suppose, it was Simeon who bound Joseph, and put him into the pit. A recollection of this circumstance must exceedingly deepen the sense he had of his guilt.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:25. _COMMANDED TO FILL THEIR SACKS_] כליהם _keleyhem, their_ _vessels_; probably large woollen bags, or baskets lined with leather, which, as Sir John Chardin says, are still in use through all Asia, and are called _tambellet_; they are covered with leather, the better to resist the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:26. _THEY LADED THEIR ASSES_] Amounting, no doubt, to several _scores_, if not _hundreds_, else they could not have brought a sufficiency of corn for the support of so large a family as that of Jacob.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:27. _ONE OF THEM OPENED HIS SACK_] From Genesis 42:35 we learn that each of the ten brethren on emptying his sack when he returned found his money in it; can we suppose that this was not discovered by them all before? It seems not; and the reason was probably this: the money was put... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:28. _THEIR HEART FAILED THEM_] ויצא לבם _valyetse libbam,_ _their heart went out_. This refers to that spasmodic affection which is felt in the breast at any sudden alarm or fright. Among the common people in our own country we find an expression exactly similar, "My heart was ready... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:35. _AS THEY EMPTIED THEIR SACKS_] Genesis 42:27, Genesis 42:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:36. _ALL THESE THINGS ARE AGAINST ME._] עלי היו כלנה _alai_ _hayu cullanah_; literally, _All these things are upon me_. Not badly translated by the Vulgate, _In me haec omnia mala reciderunt_, "All these evils fall back upon me." They lie upon me as heavy loads, hastening my death;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:37. _SLAY MY TWO SONS, IF I BRING HIM NOT TO THEE_] What a strange proposal made by a _son_ to his _father_, concerning his _grandchildren_! But they show the honesty and affection of Reuben's heart; he felt deeply for his father's distress, and was determined to risk and hazard eve... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 42:38. _HE IS LEFT ALONE_] That is, _Benjamin_ is the only remaining son of Rachel; for he supposed _Joseph_, who was the other son, to be dead. _SHALL YE BRING DOWN MY GRAY HAIRS WITH SORROW_] Here he keeps up the idea of the oppressive _burden_ mentioned Genesis 42:36, to which ever... [ Continue Reading ]