Joseph Tests His Brothers. Put my [personal] cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his grain money.” And the steward did as Joseph had told him. Gen 44:16
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
(3) The Journeys of Joseph’s Brothers to Egypt, Genesis 42-45
79. What was the effect of placing Joseph’s cup in Benjamin’s sack?
JOSEPH TESTS HIS BROTHERS
And 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 [grain] money in the mouth of the sack.
Put my [personal] cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his grain money.” And the steward did as Joseph had told him.
As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
When they had left the city, and were not yet far away, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil [to us] for good [paid to you]?
Is this not my lord’s drinking cup and the one which he uses for divination? You have done [a great and unforgivable] wrong in doing this.'”
So the steward overtook them and he said these words to them.
They said to him, “Why does my lord speak these things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!
Please remember, the money which we found in the mouths of our sacks we have brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Is it likely then that we would steal silver or gold from your master’s house?
With whomever of your servants your master’s cup is found, let him die, and the rest of us will be my lord’s slaves.”
And the steward said, “Now let it be as you say; he with whom the cup is found will be my slave, but the rest of you shall be blameless.”
Then every man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and each man opened his sack [confident the cup would not be found among them].
The steward searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
Then they tore their clothes [in grief]; and after each man had loaded his donkey again, they returned to the city.
When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there; and they fell to the ground before him.
Joseph spoke harshly to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not realize that such a man as I can indeed practice divination and foretell [everything you do without outside knowledge of it]?”
So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we reply? Or how can we clear ourselves, since God has exposed the sin and guilt of your servants? Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, the rest of us as well as he with whom the cup is found.”
But Joseph said, “Far be it from me that I should do that; but the man in whose hand the cup has been found, he will be my servant; and as for [the rest of] you, get up and go in peace to your father.”
JOSEPH’S CUP IN BENJAMIN’S SACK
It is a terrible revelation when our Benjamins are found possessed of the cup. They have been so loved, so favored, so screened; they have never been guilty of the excesses of Reuben and Judah; they have given no rise to evil reports, like the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, Gen_37:2. Now when they are convicted of sin, the surprise of their brethren is only equaled by their own remorse. This accounts for the soul agony of men like Cyprian, Augustine, Bunyan and Spurgeon. What transitions there are in life! At the close of the previous chapter the brothers were as happy as they could be, and here plunged into the deepest anguish. But the intensity of their pain and sorrow, like fire, melted and cleansed them, and prepared for the great reconciliation.
Comments by
WILLIAM MACDONALD
Believers Bible Commentary
On
Genesis 44:1-17
II. THE PATRIARCHS OF ISRAEL (Chaps. 12-50)
D. Joseph (37:1–50:26)
6. Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt (Chaps. 42–44)
44:1-13 When the brothers were leaving to return to Canaan, Joseph commanded his silver cup to be hidden in Benjamin’s sack. It was not only the cup from which he drank, but also the one which he used in divination—probably referring to his interpretation of dreams.
Later God’s people were forbidden to practice divination (Deu_18:10-12). But even at this early date, it is unlikely that Joseph practiced the Egyptian forms of fortune-telling. His intuition and foresight came from the Lord, but perhaps by using the cup as a prop, he wished to confirm in his brother’s minds that he was an Egyptian.
Afterwards, when Joseph’s brothers were accused of stealing the cup, they protested their innocence, rashly offering the life of anyone who was found with it. Joseph’s steward agreed that the guilty one would be his slave. When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, the brothers were crushed and returned to the city.
44:14-17 After Joseph had reproached them, Judah suggested that they all become his slaves, but Joseph said that Benjamin would do and the rest could return home. His action in hiding the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack and in detaining Benjamin was purposely designed to bring his brothers to acknowledge their bloodguiltiness. George Williams writes:
He acted so as to bring their sin to remembrance, to make them confess it with their own lips . . . . His detention of Simeon, and afterwards of Benjamin, was skillfully designed so as to find out if they were still indifferent to the cries of a captive brother and the tears of a bereaved father. His plan succeeded admirably; his sternness and his kindness both conspired to disquiet them; and his goodness helped to lead them to repentance.
The whole scene foreshadows that coming day when the remnant of Israel will confess its guilt in connection with the death of the Messiah and will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son (Zec_12:10).
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