Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt
When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” Act 7:12Jos 7:101Ki 19:32Ki 8:3-4Exo 20:18Exo 5:19Ezr 10:4Gal 2:7
“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.” Gen 43:8Gen 43:2Gen 43:4Gen 45:9Isa 38:1Mat 4:4Psa 118:17
So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. Gen 42:13Gen 42:5 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.” Gen 42:38Gen 11:4Gen 3:22Gen 33:1-2Gen 35:16-19Gen 43:14Gen 43:29Gen 44:20-22
So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan. Act 7:11Gen 12:10Gen 41:57Gen 26:1Act 11:28
Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. Act 7:10Gen 18:2Gen 19:1Gen 37:7-10Gen 41:40-41Gen 41:55-56Gen 44:14Gen 45:26 And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. Gen 42:30Gen 42:14-17Gen 42:19-20Gen 42:9-12Mat 15:23-26
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Gen 37:2Jhn 20:14Jhn 21:4Luk 24:16 Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” Exo 32:35Gen 37:5-91Sa 26:4Gen 42:16Gen 42:30-31Gen 42:34Heb 11:31Jdg 1:24
“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food. Gen 37:81Ki 18:71Sa 26:17Gen 27:29Gen 27:37Gen 44:9 We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.” 2Co 6:4Gen 42:19Gen 42:33-34Jhn 7:18
“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”
But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.” Gen 37:30Gen 42:32Gen 44:20Gen 43:71Ch 2:1-8Exo 1:2-5Gen 29:32-35Gen 30:6-24
Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies! Gen 42:9-11Job 13:24Job 19:11Mat 15:21-28 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 1Sa 17:551Sa 1:261Sa 20:3Deu 6:13Gen 42:12Gen 42:16Gen 42:20Gen 42:30 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” Gen 42:11
So Joseph imprisoned them for three days, Gen 40:4Gen 40:7Heb 12:10Act 4:3Act 5:18Gen 41:10Isa 24:22Lev 24:12 and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live: Lev 25:43Neh 5:15Gen 20:11Luk 18:2Luk 18:4Neh 5:9 If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households. Gen 40:3Gen 41:56Gen 42:1-2Gen 42:26Gen 43:1-2Gen 45:23Isa 42:22Isa 42:7 Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” Gen 42:34Gen 43:5Gen 44:23Gen 42:15Gen 42:26Gen 43:19Gen 6:22Jhn 2:5
And to this they consented.
Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” Hos 5:15Gen 37:23-28Job 36:8-9Mrk 9:43-451Jn 1:91Ki 17:182Sa 12:13Act 19:18
And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!” 1Ki 2:322Ch 24:22Psa 9:12Gen 37:21-22Gen 9:5-6Luk 11:50-51Act 28:4Ezk 3:18
They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. 2Co 5:20Jhn 16:13-14 And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. Gen 43:301Co 12:26Gen 34:25Gen 43:14Gen 43:23Gen 45:14-15Gen 49:5-7Heb 4:15
Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan
Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver 1to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out, 1Pe 3:9Gen 44:1-2Gen 45:21Isa 55:1Mat 5:44Mat 6:33Rom 12:17-21 and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed.
At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack. Exo 4:24Gen 43:21-22Gen 44:11Luk 10:34Luk 2:7 “My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.” Isa 45:7Lam 3:371Ki 10:5Deu 28:65Gen 27:33Gen 42:36Gen 43:23Lam 2:17
Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them: “The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. Gen 42:7
But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies. Gen 42:11 We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’
Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. Gen 42:19-20Gen 42:15 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’” Gen 34:10Gen 34:211Ki 10:15Ezk 17:4
As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed. Gen 43:21Gen 42:27-28Gen 43:12Gen 43:15
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!” Gen 43:14Rom 8:311Sa 27:1Ecc 7:8Isa 27:9Isa 38:10Isa 41:10Isa 41:13-14
Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.” Gen 46:9Mic 6:7Gen 43:9Gen 44:32-34
But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.” Gen 37:35Gen 37:33Gen 42:4Gen 42:13Gen 35:16-181Ki 2:6Ecc 1:14Ecc 2:26