Genesis 42
DOYLY— to see the nakedness of the land] The weakest and most undefended places. Egypt was most liable to incursions on the side towards Canaan, whence Joseph’s brethren came. On other sides it was secured by large deserts and shallow seas. Bp. Kidder, Stackhouse.
— honey,] For which this country was famous: and therefore it was a fit present for a king, as we see in the story of David, 2 Sam. xvii. 29. Bp. Patrick. Honey was formerly the only sweetener in use, like our sugar: its value consequently was then greater than it is now: it was also a delicacy. Script. illust.
— nuts,] Such as we call pistachioes. Bp. Patrick. The pistachioes of Syria are the best in the world. Sir J. Chardin.
Genesis 42:6
- — bowed down themselves before him] By so doing, they unwittingly fulfilled his dream, Gen. xxxvii. 7, &c. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 42:7
- — and spake roughly unto them:] This was the properest way of bringing them to a sense of their sin against him; and it had that effect. Bp. Wilson.
Genesis 42:8
- — send the lad with me,] He was the youngest of Jacob’s sons, and might therefore be called the young man by those of Jacob’s family: though he was at this time the father of several children. The Hebrew word implies, not a stripling, but only a young man. Bp. Kidder. See the note on Jer. i. 6.
Genesis 42:9
- — Ye are spies:] These words were not spoken by way of affirmation, but of probation or trial: such as judges use, when they examine suspected persons, or inquire into a crime, of which men are accused. And therefore they have the force of an interrogation, Are ye not spies? Or, I must take you for spies, till ye prove the contrary. Bp. Patrick. To conceive the full force and heinousness of this charge, it is necessary to state briefly the situation of Egypt at this time. In the reign of Timaus or Thamux, Egypt had been invaded and subdued by a tribe of Cushite shepherds from Arabia, who cruelly enslaved the whole country, under a dynasty of six kings, until at length, the native princes, weary of their tyranny, rebelled, and after a long war of thirty years shook off the yoke, and expelled the shepherds to Palestine, where they became the Philistines, about twenty-seven years before Joseph’s administration. But the memory of see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
Genesis 42:10
- — except we had lingered, &c.] If thou hadst not hindered us by these scruples about Benjamin, we had been there and at home again by this time. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 42:11
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We are all one man’s sons:] And no man would send all his sons on so dangerous an enterprise. Nor was it probable that one man could have a design on Egypt, but all the great men of Canaan must have joined in it; and then they would have sent men of different families. Bp. Patrick.
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— a little balm,] The balm of Gilead was of great
alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the † tenor of these words: † could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
Genesis 42:13
- — and one is not.] He is dead. So they thought, having heard nothing of Joseph for twenty years. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 42:14
- — If I be bereaved &c.] Having taken this course, I entirely commit the success to God, and refer myself to Him. Be it now as it will: “If I be bereaved, I am bereaved.” See the like expression, Esth. iv. 16, “If I perish, I perish.” Bp. Kidder.
b Chap. 44. 22. Or, twice by this. Or, And I, as I have been, &c.
Genesis 42:17
- — into ward three days.] He made them taste for three days the sufferings he had undergone for three years; and probably in the very same state prison. Dr. Hales.
Genesis 42:18
- — for I fear God:] I know there is a God, who will punish all injustice and cruelty; therefore ye may expect justice from me. Bps. Patrick and Wilson. Their remorse for Joseph. Their relation to Jacob.
your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
c Chap. 48. 5. 20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
Genesis 42:21
- — We are verily guilty concerning our brother, &c.] Under the direction of that blessed Spirit, whose office, we are told, it is to “convince or convict the world of sin,” such conviction is produced by various means; by disappointments, by crosses, by losses, by sickness, by the death of a friend, by a passage in Scripture, or a discourse upon one, by the incidents of common life, or the changes that happen in the natural world: in short, there is hardly a circumstance of so trivial a nature, but that a kind Providence, in some instance or other, has been pleased to make it instrumental to this salutary purpose. On the brethren of Joseph, after an interval of more than twenty years, the conviction was wrought by the usage they experienced from him, when unknown, in Egypt. It put them upon reflecting, of what offence they could have been guilty in the former part of life, which might deserve to be punished in this particular manner. Conscience stepped forth, and gave the necessary information, “We are verily guilty concerning our brother: therefore is this distress come upon us.” Bp. Horne.
Genesis 42:24
- And he turned himself about from them, and wept;] Human nature is ever uniform; and the greater passions, such as those of friendship and natural affection,
shew themselves to be the same at all times. Of this we have an instance in that amiable domestic story of Joseph. This Patriarch had been cruelly injured by his brethren. Providence at length put them into his power; and, in just resentment of their inhuman usage, he thought fit to mortify and humble them: but no sooner did he find them begin to be unhappy, than his anger subsided, violated affection returned, and he melted into their bosoms with all the tenderness of a fellow-sufferer. This was nature: this was history. Bp. Warburton.
— took from them Simeon.] Reuben, who was the eldest, had resolved to save Joseph; and, Judah also being inclined to favour him, had Simeon joined with them, their authority might have prevailed for his deliverance. Simeon was the eldest of those, who had proposed to murder him, and was therefore a fit proxy for the rest: the man, as the Hebrews say, who put Joseph into the pit, and was now very justly served in his kind. Stackhouse.
Genesis 42:28
- — and their heart failed them, &c.] Their guilt made them afraid; otherwise they would have rejoiced. But all things terrify an evil conscience. Bp. Patrick.
Jacob is hardly persuaded to send Benjamin. jamin away: all these things are against me.
Genesis 42:38
- — he is left alone:] The only child of Rachel, as Jacob supposed. Bp. Kidder.
Chap. XLIII. ver. 5. — we will not go down:] It would have been to no purpose; and would also have endangered their lives. Bp. Patrick.