Joseph’s Holds Simons Back Sending The Rest Home. He turned away from his brothers and [left the room and] wept; then he returned and talked with them, and took Simeon from them and bound him in front of them [to be kept as a hostage in Egypt]. Gen 42: 24
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
II. GOD AND THE CHOSEN FAMILY, Genesis 12-50
3. The History of Jacob’s Sons, Joseph and His Brothers
(2) Joseph’s Servitude in Egypt, Genesis 39-41
76. Why did he insist that Benjamin be brought to Egypt?
JOSEPH’S BROTHERS GO TO EGYPT
Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and [you may] live, for I fear God:
if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your [place here in] prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine in your households,
but bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you will not die.” And they did so.
And they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty regarding our brother [Joseph], because we saw the distress and anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us [to let him go], yet we would not listen [to his cry]; so this distress and anguish has come on us.”
Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Now the accounting for his blood is required [of us for we are guilty of his death].”
They did not know that Joseph understood [their conversation], because he spoke to them through an interpreter.
He turned away from his brothers and [left the room and] wept; then he returned and talked with them, and took Simeon from them and bound him in front of them [to be kept as a hostage in Egypt].
Then Joseph gave orders [privately] that their bags be filled with grain, and that every man’s money [used to pay for the grain] be put back in his sack, and that provisions be given to them for the journey. And so this was done for them.
They loaded their donkeys with grain and left from there.
And at the lodging place, as one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey, he saw his money in the opening of his sack.
And he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! Here it is in my sack!” And their hearts sank, and they were afraid and turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”
When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, saying,
“The man who is the lord of the land spoke harshly to us, and took us for spies of the land.
But we told him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.
We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’
And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘By this [test] I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers here with me and take grain for your starving households and go.
Bring your youngest brother to me; then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will return your [imprisoned] brother [back] to you, and you may trade and do business in the land.'”
Now when they emptied their sacks, every man’s bundle of money [paid to buy grain] was in his sack. When they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me [by causing the loss] of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin [from me]. All these things are [working] against me.”
Then Reuben spoke to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring Benjamin back to you; put him in my care, and I will return him to you.”
But Jacob said, “My son shall not go down [to Egypt] with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left [of Rachel’s children]. If any harm or accident should happen to him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in sorrow.”
SIMEON HELD; THE OTHERS SENT HOME
The behavior of this great Egyptian official-for so the brethren deemed him-must have seemed very hard and tyrannical to the trembling shepherds from the far land of Canaan. They had no idea that he understood what they said, and turned away to weep. But we can read his inner meaning. He must secure their return, so he kept Simeon bound. He wanted to see the beloved Benjamin, and to test their behavior to him, so he threatened that they should not see his face unless their youngest brother accompanied them. He gave to them of his kindly care in the gift of provisions and the return of their money. It was natural that the old father heard their story with failing-heart-“All these things are against me.” Nay, in all these things was the life of the Spirit, and in all these things we are more than conquerors. See Rom_8:37.
“Judge not the Lord with feeble sense,
But trust him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.”
Comments by
WILLIAM MACDONALD
Believers Bible Commentary
On
Genesis 42:18-38
II. THE PATRIARCHS OF ISRAEL (Chaps. 12-50)
D. Joseph (37:1–50:26)
6. Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt (Chaps. 42–44)
42:1-5 The scene switches back to Jacob in Canaan, where the famine was very severe. Hearing that there was plenty of food (grain) in Egypt, but knowing nothing of Joseph’s being there, Jacob sent ten of his sons for supplies. Only Benjamin remained at home. So far as Jacob knew, Benjamin was the only living son of his beloved Rachel.
42:6-25 When Joseph’s brothers appeared before him, he treated them roughly, accusing them of being spies, putting them in prison, then demanding that their youngest brother, Benjamin, be brought to him. At last, Simeon was kept as a hostage in prison while the nine others returned to Canaan for Benjamin, well supplied with grain, with provisions, and with their money refunded secretly in the bags. Shining through the narrative we see Joseph’s underlying love and compassion for his brothers (vv. 24a, 25) and their growing conviction of sin for what they had done to their “missing” brother over twenty years earlier (vv. 21, 22). Joseph, of course, was seeking to get them to confess their guilt.
We believe that Joseph is a type of Christ dealing with His Jewish brethren during the coming Tribulation Period. The events leading up to the reconciliation of Joseph’s brothers form one of the most moving portions in the Bible. Almost no other story is as intimate, detailed, or complete a picture of Christ.
TYPOLOGY
Certain persons, events, and things in the OT are clearly identified as types or symbols in the NT. Thus, Adam is said to be a type of Christ (Rom_5:14). Others are not specifically referred to as types, yet the parallels are too many and too obvious to be denied. Joseph, for instance, is never referred to as a type of the Lord Jesus, yet there are over one hundred correspondences between Jesus and Joseph.
When the Lord Jesus talked to the two sorrowing disciples on the road to Emmaus, “He expounded to them in all the Scriptures [emphasis supplied] the things concerning Himself” (Luk_24:27). The incarnate Christ said, “In the volume of the book it is written of Me. . . .” (Heb_10:7). Therefore we are justified in looking for Christ in all the Scriptures.
Regarding Israel’s experiences in the OT, Paul tells us that “all these things happened to them as examples and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1Co_10:11). This would strongly support the view that not just specifically named types are valid, but many more as well.
Paul reminded Timothy that all Scripture is profitable (2Ti_3:16). There are spiritual lessons to be learned, if only we have eyes to see them.
Large sections of the Book of Hebrews are an explanation of the typology of the tabernacle and its furnishings. While it is true that a too narrow view of typology will restrict a believer’s spiritual enjoyment of much of the OT, the other extreme of making virtually everything a type, or even turning all history into allegory, is to be avoided as well.
Strained or fanciful explanations of the types have brought disrepute on the subject. We should should not allow extremism to rob us of the spiritual wealth in the OT. If an interpretation exalts Christ, and/or edifies His people, and/or conveys the gospel to the lost, and is consistent with the entire teaching of the Word, it is at the very least a valid application of the truth.
42:26-28 On the way home, one of the brothers found his money in his sack. This threw them into panic, making them fear they might be accused of theft (vv. 26-28).
42:29-38 When they got home and told their story, the rest of them also found their money, and their fears multiplied. Jacob was inconsolable. In spite of Reuben’s offering the lives of his two sons as a guarantee, the patriarch feared to allow Benjamin to go to Egypt lest harm befall him.
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