that ye are true men;
leave one of your
brethren here with
me, and take food for the famine of your households, and
be gone: 34 and bring your youngest brother unto me:
then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true
men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall
traffick in the land. 35 T And it came to pass as they
emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of
money was in his sack: and when both they and their
father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And
Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved
of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye
will take Benjamin away: on me come all these things.
37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my
two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my
hand, and I will bring him to thee again. 38 And he
said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother
is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the
way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my
gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. XLIII. 1 And the
famine was sore in the land. 2 And it came to pass, when
they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of
Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a
little food. 3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The
man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see
my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt
send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee
food: 5 but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go
down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face,

36.] Jacob's argument of complaint is, that on him all this comes: it is to them matter of negotiation, but to him of loss and sorrow, for it is his children who are being wasted away by it. 37, f.] To this Reuben, the firstborn and responsible, answers that not on his father's children alone shall the stroke descend-he will venture his own as pledges for the safety of Benjamin. It must be owned to be somewhat of a strange way of ensuring the safety of a son, to add two grandsons to the loss if such should happen. 38.] But the aged father will not be persuaded: his heart is wrapped up in his youngest son.

second time, taking with them Benjamin.

2] Jacob seems to have forgotten the condition of their again going down to Egypt.

3-10.] Judah did not state the matter accurately, if the account in ch. xli. be exact; for Joseph, according to that account, had not enquired as he here states: it was true that circumstances had forced it out of them, but that did not amount to what he here says. But it would appear, from ch. xliv. 19, that this, and not that, was what really happened. See note there. It has been suggested that Judah intervened because Reuben had already tried his utmost in vain, and Levi, who was next eldest, was XLIII.] Joseph's brethren visit Egypt a implicated in the affair about Shechem, and

except your brother be with you. 6 And Israel said,
Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man
"whether ye had yet a brother? 7 And they said, The man
asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying,
Is your father yet 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? 8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send
the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may
live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little
ones. 9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou
require him if I bring him not unto thee, and set him be-
fore thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: 10 for except
we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second
time. 11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it
must be so now, do this; take of the pride of the land in
your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little
balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and
almonds: 12 and take other money in your hand; and the
money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks,

therefore unacceptable to his father. 9.]
let me bear the blame for ever is literally, I
shall sin to thee all the days. See the
faithfulness of Judah to his undertaking, ch.
xliv. 18, ff. It was this which affected
Joseph so that he could no longer refrain,
ch. xlv. 1. 11.] On the use of Israel
for Jacob, see above, ch. xxxv. 22. If it
must be, or If it is: if that is really the state
of the case.
the pride of the land is
literally, the song of the land, i. e. that for
which the land is celebrated. See a similar
expression in Jer. li. 41, where, however, the
Hebrew word is not the same as here. The
practice of conciliating great men by presents
is still universal in the East. Compare ch.
xxxii. 14, ff.; 1 Kings x. 25; Matt. ii. 11.
The items of the present are-(1) balm or
balsam, explained at ch. xxxvii. 25; (2)
honey. This is probably not honey of bees,
which was probably, as now, very plentiful
in Egypt, but the thick inspissated juice or
jelly of grapes, which still is manufactured
in Palestine and exported from Hebron to
Egypt. In Ezek. xxvii. 17 it seems to be
this honey which is spoken of; (3) traga-
canth, explained at ch. xxxvii. 25; (4)

ladanum, ditto; (5) pistachio-nuts, the fruit of the pistachia vera, a tree allied to the terebinth, found in dry and rocky situations, and consequently not common in Lower Egypt. Aleppo is still famous for pistachionuts. "They are of the shape of the almond, but rounder and glossy, generally of a pretty red hue when fresh, and the kernel a bright green, with the flavour of the walnut." Tristram. (6) Almonds hardly need explanation. The Hebrew name signifies to hasten, the almond being the first of all trees to shew its blossoms in the spring. Hence a play on words in Jer. i. 11, 12, where see note. From the fact of almonds forming part of this present, it would seem that the tree was not common in Egypt. A paltry objection has been brought against this part of the narrative, that the sending of these articles by Jacob is incongruous, in the presence of famine in Palestine. But (1) every one of these articles may have been kept in store; and (2) none of them are of that kind which would necessarily be affected by such seasons as would cause the failure of wheat. 12.] The meaning from the A. V.,

is not, as would appear

carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: 13 take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 and God Almighty give you mercy before ¡EL SHADDA the man, that he may send away with you your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children,

See ch. xvii. 1; xxxv. 11.

vii. 4. Esth. iv. 16 (John xix. 22).

I jam bereaved. 15 And the men took that present, i See 2 Kings and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to him that was over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon. 17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. 18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may cast himself upon us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19 And they came near to him that was over Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, O sir, we came indeed down at k ch. xliv. 18. the first time to buy food: 21 and it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in

ver. 22.

marg.

that they were to take three payments, -double money besides that which was in their sacks-but that they were to take money of a second, i. e. the same, amount. And so they describe what they had done, though not with the same Hebrew word, 14.] EL SHADDAI, see as in mercy, literally, bowels: see on ver. 30. There is a characteristic difference in the mode of mentioning the two, your other brother, and Benjamin. 15.] double money is right here: the Hebrew words are in different order. 16.] As before (ch. xlii. 7), it seems that all who came to buy passed before Joseph, so that he distinguished his brethren among the crowd, and Benjamin with them. The objection which has been here again found, that the higher castes of the Egyptians ate no animal food, only shews the ignorance of the objectors.

Exod. iv 10, 13.

18.]

We know abundantly from Herodotus and
other authorities that it was only from
certain animals that the royal and priestly
castes abstained, and only certain among
them that abstained altogether: and the
eating of birds was general.
They think that they are treated in this
exceptional way for the purpose of judgment
upon them for their theft.
cast him-
self is literally, roll himself: see Job xxx.
14. 20.] O sir appears to be literally,
Pray, sir,-"we pray thee, sir," LXX.
The same phrase is found in reff.
21.]
The divergence here from the more exact
account given in ch. xlii. 27, 35 is no more
than was natural under the circumstances.
In relating to a stranger, especially one of
whom we are in awe, we are apt to suppress
details, even at the expense of some trifling
inaccuracy. Truth in such cases is not the

our hand. 22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. 23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon for they heard that they should eat bread there. 26¶ And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present 'which was in their hand into the house, and bowed Num. xxii. 7. themselves to him to the earth. 27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? 28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance. 29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. 30 And Joseph made Zech. vi. 9, haste; for his heart yearned upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber,

1 ch. xxiv. 10; XXXV. 4.

m 1 Kings iii.

26. Amos i. 11. Isa. xlvii. 6; ver. 14.

al.

See Phil. ii. 1; Philem. 7, 12.

coincidence of details, but the identity of re-
sult.
23.] The steward is in his mas-
ter's secret, and acts under confidential
orders. Peace be to you is here not the
mere formula of greeting, but a mode of
reassuring: compare the same use in Judg.
vi. 23. There is nothing in the steward's
following words to imply that he, or any of
Joseph's household, had renounced idolatry.
The meaning intended to be conveyed by
them to those whom they addressed was,
that their family tutelar God had cared for
them in this manner. We know, and they
knew who this God was: but all we can
fairly infer from the steward's words is that
the frequent mention of such a family God
by his master had impressed him, and sug-
gested the words in the deception which,
after all, he was playing on his hearers.
Literally, your money came to me.
25.] Their feelings must have wonderfully
altered since they were brought to the house,

ver. 18.

27.] Joseph's question is literally, Is there peace to your father. . ? and their answer, There is peace to thy servant our father. The same expression with the same meaning occurs in Joab's treacherous words to Amasa, 2 Sam. xx. 9.

29.] There is nothing in the address my son tending in any way to disturb the chronology of Jacob's family. Joseph's position, as well as his superior age, if, even of a few years, would justify the expression. Of course it must be confessed that there is throughout something to us in the estimate of Benjamin and the words used respecting him, inconsistent with the idea that he was at this time father of 10 sons (ch. xlvi. 21, where see notes). In ver. 8 and ch. xliv. 30-34, he is "the lad," "a little child," in ch. xliv. 20. But this is not affected by the passage now before us. 30.] his heart, literally, his belly, yearned, literally, waxed hot. The expression is a

:

and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. 32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth and the men marvelled one at another. 34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of their's. And they drank, and "were merry with him. XLIV. 1 And he commanded him that was over his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto him that was over his house, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? 5 Is not this it in which my lord

familiar one in the O. and N. T. see reff.
31.] After washing away the traces of
his emotion, he orders the table to be
spread.
32.] Historians describe to us
the extreme exclusiveness of the Egyptians.
They kept all the castes separate at meals:
Joseph himself, as chief minister of state, or
perhaps as belonging by marriage to the
priestly caste, eats by himself, the members
of his suite and court by themselves, and the
Hebrews separate again. Herodotus tells
us that an Egyptian never kissed a Greek,
nor would use a knife or other implement
belonging to a Greek, nor would eat even
lawful flesh if cut by a Greek. See on ch.
xxxix. 6. 33.] Doubtless this was done
to produce in them the impression that
Joseph was possessed of supernatural in-
sight compare ch. xliv. 5, 15. 34.]

This was the practice in the East, by way
of honouring guests: see 1 Sam. ix. 23, f.

n cn. ix. 21.
Sam. i. 14.

2 Sam. xi. 13.
Cant. v. 1.
Isa. xxix. 9.
Jer. xxv. 27.

Hag. i. 6, al.

It is frequently mentioned in the Homeric poems, where the largest and best pieces are reserved for eminent guests, or double portions, as at the Spartan common meals for the kings, as related by Herodotus. The number five seems to have been in especial regard in Egypt: see ch. xli. 34; xlv. 22; xlvii. 2, 24; Isa. xix. 18. The reason is stated to have been, that the Egyptians recognized only five planets. The older versions translate the word which we render were merry more coarsely-inebriati sunt, as the Vulgate. And there is hardly any escaping this, seeing that it is the identical word used of Noah in Gen. ix. 21 and in many other places (reff.), where it is impossible to suppose any more favourable interpretation admissible.

XLIV. Joseph's further device to detain his brother. Judah's deprecation. 5.] "The ancient Egyptians, and still more the