Genesis 44
ECFGenesis 44:2
Ambrose of Milan: And the silver cup is put in his sack alone. Benjamin did not know this. So Paul was in error, but he was called. They sent after him in the morning; indeed, the night of his blindness had advanced, and the day of faith was near at hand. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Jerome: (Chapter XLIV - Verse 2) And put the silver of each one in the mouth of the bag, and put my silver cup in the mouth of the youngest one’s bag. For bag, it has a peronem or follem in Hebrew. For cup, which we also read in Isaiah (LI, 17), Aquila translated as scyphum, Symmachus as phialam. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis
Genesis 44:12
Ambrose of Milan: The sacks of the brothers are first examined according to the order of age of each brother. God’s Scripture is teaching you a moral lesson. Previously they sat at the banquet in Joseph’s presence in order of age from the firstborn. You see that the place of honor is to be given to the eldest. On the other hand, the sacks of each are searched in order of age so that you may know that Paul has been chosen by the judgment of heaven. The rest were examined, but this man was given the preference. The silver cup was not found in the sack of anyone else, only in his sack. What is the meaning of its being put in his humble sack? Joseph … sent the cup so that he might by a holy trick recall the brother whom he loved; yet the light of God’s mysterious plans is clearly reflected. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Ambrose of Milan: Christ finds this money in us which he has himself given us. We possess the money of nature; we also possess the money of grace. Nature is the work of the Creator, grace the gift of the Redeemer. Even though we are unable to see Christ’s gifts, nevertheless he is giving them. He is working in a hidden way and is giving them to all people, but there are few who are able to keep them and not lose them. Yet he does not give all things to all people. Wheat is given to many, but the cup to one, who is presented with the prophetic and priestly function. For it is not everyone but only the prophet who says, “The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.” Therefore the word of heavenly teaching already shone in Paul’s body, since he was instructed in the law. But because he was still not subject to the justice of God, the cup was within the sack, the teaching within the law, the lamp within the bushel. Nevertheless Ananias was sent to give a blessing and to lay on his hand and open the sack. When the sack was opened, the money shone forth, and when the scales fell, in a way like fastenings on the sack, Paul saw straightway. His fetter was unbelief; the loosening of it became faith. And for that reason, when the veil that is set over the heart of the Jews was set aside—like the opening of the sack—he turned to the Lord. Free of the bond, he obtained the grace of liberty and said, “But we all, beholding the glory of God with faces unveiled, are transformed into the same image.” — On Joseph the Patriarch
Ephrem the Syrian: The brothers did not know what to say; they found it impossible not to put the blame on Benjamin because the cup had come out from his sack, but the money that had twice come out from their own sacks did not permit them to put the blame on him. Then the brothers, confounded by the things that had befallen them, rent their garments and went back weeping to that house from which they had just departed rejoicing. — COMMENTARY ON Genesis 38:3
Genesis 44:16
Ephrem the Syrian: Then Judah said, “Before God the sins of your servants have been discovered”—not this one [of the cup] but the one for which we have been requited with these things. “Therefore not only he in whose sack the cup was found but we also will become slaves to our master.” And Joseph said, “Far be it from” the just Egyptian “to do this!” These men, because of their great virtue, do not even eat bread with Hebrews lest they become unclean by them. How then can we do what is foreign to our conduct? The justice that hinders us from sinning against one who has not sinned against us compels us to be avenged on that one who has caused us offence. “The one in whose hand the cup was found shall remain and be a slave.” This will be better for him than freedom, for this later servitude, which will free him from theft, will be better for him than that first freedom that enslaved him to theft. — COMMENTARY ON Genesis 38:4