Jacob Sends His 11 Sons Back to Egypt to Buy More Food |
Genesis 43:1-34 The First Book of Moses Called Genesis |
The famine was [severe] in the land & when all their [grain that] they brought from Egypt had been eaten up, their father [Jacob, a.k.a. Israel] [told] them, Go again, buy us a little food. |
Judah [reminded] him, saying, The man solemnly [warned] us, saying, You shall not see my face, [unless] your [youngest] brother is with you. If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food, but if you won’t send him, we won’t go down & buy you food. |
[Jacob/Israel] said, [Why did you [deal so wickedly] with me, to tell the man whether you [still] had a brother? And they said, The man asked us [directly about] our state & our [family, saying, Is your father [still] alive? We told him according to the [tone] of these words. [How] could we know that he would say, Bring your brother down? |
Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the lad with me & we will arise & go, [so] that we & our little ones & you don’t die [of hunger.] I [will be responsible] for him. If I don’t bring him [back] to you & [put] him [in front of] you, then [you can] let me bear the blame forever. |
[If we hadn't] lingered, we [would have] surely returned [by] now [the] 2nd time. [Jacob/Israel told] them, If it must be [that you] do this now, carry down [to] the man a present & take some of the best fruits of the land in your [jars] a little: balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts & almonds & double the amount of money found in the mouth of their sacks [in case] it was an oversight. |
Also take your brother & arise & go again to the man. And may the God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may [release] your other brother & Benjamin. If I [am] bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. [They] took the present & double the money in their hand & Benjamin & went down to Egypt. |
When Joseph saw Benjamin with [his brothers,] he told the [steward] of the house, Bring these men [to my] home & [have an animal slaughtered & prepared] for [them] to dine with me at noon. And the men did as Joseph [ordered] them. And the [steward] brough the men into Joseph's house. |
They were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house. They said, Are we brought in, because of the money that was returned in our sacks the 1st time; that he may seek [a reason to seize as slaves] & our [donkeys.] |
They [talked with Joseph’s steward] at the door of the house & [told him,] O sir, we indeed came down the 1st time to buy food. And it [happened] that [when] we opened our sacks, [the] full weight of every man's money was in the mouth of his sack. We have brought [the money] again in our [hands] & other money to buy food. We cannot tell who put the money in our sacks. |
The [steward] said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God & the God of your father, has given you a treasure in your sacks, [because] I had your money. [The steward] brought Simeon out to them [& once inside] Joseph’s house, [they were given water to wash] their feet & their [donkeys were fed.] |
They [got] their present ready, because they [had] heard they [were to] eat there. Joseph came at noon. They bowed down to Joseph when [he] came home & they brought him the [presents, that were] in their [hands.] |
And he [Joseph] asked them [about] their [well-being] & said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you [spoke?] Is he [still] alive? They [told him,] Our father is in good health & is yet alive. And they bowed down, [facing the ground.] |
He lifted up his eyes & saw his mother’s [youngest] son, Benjamin, [he asked,] Is this your younger brother, of whom you [spoke] to me? He said, God be gracious to you, my son. [Then,] Joseph [went quickly] into his chamber to weep [privately] & wept there. |
He washed his face & went out & [calmed] himself & said, [Serve the] bread. He had them serve the bread [to his brothers] by themselves, [but they put Joseph in a separate place,] because Egyptians [couldn’t] eat with the Hebrews, for it was an abomination to the Egyptians. |
They sat before him, [in the order of their] birthright & the youngest according to his youth. And [the 11 brothers] marveled at one another. And he [Joseph] sent [servings] to them, [that were in front of] him. But [gave] Benjamin 5 times [as much] as any of theirs. And they drank & were merry with him. |