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Genesis 44:1
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Joseph’s Cup

1 And he commanded1 the asteward of his house, saying, b“Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.  
2 Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money.” So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you arepaid evil for good?  
5 Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.’ ”
6 So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.
7 And they said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.
8 Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan athe money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?  
9 With whomever of your servants it is found, alet him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”  
10 And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless.”
11 Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.
12 So he searched. He began with the oldest and1 left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.  
13 Then they atore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.  
14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there; and they afell before him on the ground.  
15 And Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?”
16 Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has afound out the iniquity of your servants; here bwe are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”  
17 But he said, a“Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father.”  

Judah Intercedes for Benjamin

18 Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and ado not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.  
19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’
20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and aa child of his old age, who is young; his brother is bdead, and he calone is left of his mother’s children, and his dfather loves him.’  
21 Then you said to your servants, a‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’  
22 And we said to my lord, a‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’  
23 But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’
24 “So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord.
25 And aour father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’  
26 But we said, ‘We cannot go down; if our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that amy wife bore me two sons;  
28 and the one went out from me, and I said, a“Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since.  
29 But if you atake this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.’  
30 “Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since ahis life is bound up in the lad’s life,  
31 it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
32 For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, a‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’  
33 Now therefore, please alet your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.  
34 For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would1 come upon my father?” 
Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
<< Genesis 43:34   Genesis 44:2 >>


Genesis 44:1-34

The Ten Brothers Were Tested

Joseph has had the satisfaction of seeing his brother Benjamin safe and well. He has heard his brothers acknowledging their guilt concerning himself. He resolves to put their attachment to Benjamin, and the genuineness of their change of disposition, to a test that will at the same time expose Benjamin to no hazard.

Genesis 44:1-5

And my cup. - Besides returning each man' s money as before, a silver cup of Joseph' s is put in Benjamin' s bag, after which, when daylight comes, they are dismissed. They are scarcely out of the town when Joseph' s steward is ordered to overtake them, and charge them with stealing the cup. "And whereby indeed he divineth." Divining by cups, we learn from this, was a common custom in Egypt (Herodotus ii. 83). It is here mentioned to enhance the value of the cup. Whether Joseph really practised any sort of divination cannot be determined from this passage.

Genesis 44:6-12

The cup is found in Benjamin' s bag. "Spake unto them these words." The words of Joseph, supplying of course the mention of the cup which is expressed in the text only by the pronoun this. "We brought back to thee." Silver that we might have retained, and to which you made no claim when we tendered it, we brought back. How or why should we therefore, steal silver? "Now also according to your words let it be." He adopts their terms with a mitigation. He with whom the cup is found shall become a slave for life, and the rest be acquitted. The steward searches from the oldest to the youngest. The cup is found where it was put.

Genesis 44:13-17

"They rent their garments;" the natural token of a sorrow that knows no remedy. "And Judah went." He had pledged himself for the safety of Benjamin to his father. And he was yet there; awaiting no doubt the result which he anticipated. "They fell before him on the earth." It is no longer a bending of the head or bowing of the body, but the posture of deepest humiliation. How deeply that early dream penetrated into the stern reality! "Wot ye not that such a man as I doth certainly divine?" Joseph keeps up the show of resentment for a little longer, and brings out from Judah the most pathetic plea of its kind that ever was uttered. "The God," the great and only God, "hath found out the iniquity of thy servants;" in our dark and treacherous dealing with our brother. "Behold, we are servants to my lord." He resigns himself and all to perpetual bondage, as the doom of a just God upon their still-remembered crime. "He shall be my servant; and ye, go up in peace to your father." Now is the test applied with the nicest adjustment. Now is the moment of agony and suspense to Joseph. Will my brothers Proverbs true? says he within himself. Will Judah Proverbs adequate to the occasion? say we. His pleading with his father augured well.

Verse 18-34

"And Judah came near unto him." He is going to surrender himself as a slave for life, that Benjamin may go home with his brothers, who are permitted to depart. "Let thy servant now speak a word in the ears of my lord." There is nothing here but respectful calmness of demeanor. "And let not thine anger burn against thy servant." He intuitively feels that the grand vizier is a man of like feelings with himself. He will surmount the distinction of rank, and stand with him on the ground of a common humanity. "For so art thou as Pharaoh." Thou hast power to grant or withhold my request. This forms, the exordium of the speech. Then follows the plea. This consists in a simple statement of the facts, which Judah expects to have its native effect upon a rightly-constituted heart. We will not touch this statement, except to explain two or three expressions. A young lad - a comparative youth. "Let me set mine eyes upon him" - regard him with favor and kindness. "He shall leave his father and he shall die." If he were to leave his father, his father would die. Such is the natural interpretation of these words, as the paternal affection is generally stronger than the filial. "And now let thy servant now abide instead of the lad a servant to my lord." Such is the humble and earnest petition of Judah. He calmly and firmly sacrifices home, family, and birthright, rather than see an aged father die of a broken heart.




Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Genesis 44:1:

Genesis 44:1-34

 

<< Genesis 43:34   Genesis 44:2 >>

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