On Genesis, Part 53: Surrender and Submission

On Genesis, Part 53: Surrender and Submission

As we have progressed through these later chapters of Genesis and the life of Joseph in Egypt, we have attempted to illustrate the many ways in which events in the life of Joseph had been Figures of the Messiah, where it becomes evident that the account of the life of Joseph serves as a prophetic type for the ministry and purpose of Yahshua Christ. Now here we shall also venture to assert that the very circumstances under which Jacob and his sons had been compelled to submit to Joseph and go to Egypt for salvation from the famine also foreshadow the circumstances by which all of the seed of Israel, in these last times, shall ultimately find their salvation in Christ. So in that manner, Jacob and his sons are a prophetic type for their own future descendants.

First, Israel was found in Angst and Desperation as the seven years of famine pressed on, and even more so when his sons had returned from Egypt and he received word that the governor of the place had demanded to see Benjamin. The anxiety which he apparently must have suffered was on account of the famine, and then the prospect of losing his son, which is manifest where he said “Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away”, in response to Reuben’s pleas. So Jacob steadfastly refused to comply with the Egyptian governor’s demands and vowed to Reuben that “my son shall not go down with you”, referring to Benjamin in the closing verse of Genesis chapter 42. In that same place, he also attested that “his brother is dead”, speaking in reference to Joseph. Where he said “Simeon is not”, it is evident that he would have even preferred to have written Simeon off as dead rather than risk losing the second son born of his beloved wife Rachel.

So at this point in Genesis, the beginning of chapter 43, the sons of Jacob had already been to Egypt, they encountered the Egyptian vizier whom they did not recognize as their long-lost brother Joseph, and they had obtained from him food for which they were not charged, since the money had been stealthily returned into their sacks. Since they could not have expected receiving the grain freely, they thought the return of the money may have been in error, which we shall further see in this chapter. However up to this point, they have not yet complied with the demands of the Egyptian governor to see Benjamin, and Simeon remains his hostage. But now, in this chapter, they have run out of food once again, and realize that unless Jacob surrenders to his demands and sends Benjamin to Egypt, they may never eat again, where they may die of starvation in Hebron. So Jacob would only comply reluctantly once he had realized that there is no other way to salvation out of the famine except for submission to the demands of the Egyptian.

Today, the children of Israel also seem to suffer increasing degrees of angst and desperation in a world gone amok in the throes of the enemies of Christ, and they also should realize that they must surrender and submit to Him in repentance, if they are ever to be saved out of the current famine, a famine which Bertrand Comparet had long ago identified as A Famine of Hearing the Word of Yahweh. While the doctrines of the denominational churches have never been perfect, over the last century or so they have gotten progressively worse, and now mainstream Christianity makes a mockery of Christ because rather than teaching His words. Where He said “if you love Me, keep My commandments”, they preach that Jesus loves everybody regardless of His commandments. The churches which were commanded to hate this world have instead married themselves to the world and all of its evils. Comparet had recognized this over fifty years ago, and today it is much more obvious.

So the famine will get worse, and the world political and social situation will get worse, until the people receive repentance and submit themselves to Christ. But in the meantime, it only appears as if they may all die in the famine, which is the same fate faced by Jacob and his sons. Furthermore, the sons of Israel received the bread which they had sought from Joseph freely, and that too is a type for Christ, who is the Bread of Life, whose Word announces salvation to the children of Israel freely and whose Word should be brought to them freely, so they do not suffer famine. After their surrender and submission to Joseph, which we shall not yet witness fully until Genesis chapter 44, the sons of Israel shall receive salvation and mercy freely, and in that manner Joseph, who does not hold his brothers accountable for their sins against him, is a further type for Christ. In conclusion, it seems to me, from my own experiences both personal and vicarious, that these are indeed the steps which quite often bring a man to repentance: angst and desperation, and then surrender and submission, which are accompanied by a growing hope of salvation and mercy: this is what the children of Israel are taught in the lives of Joseph and his brethren here in these in these chapters.

With this we shall commence with Genesis chapter 43:

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.

The word translated as “a little” is quite relative, and we shall discuss it where we encounter it again here in verse 11.

In Genesis chapter 41 we read only of what Joseph had been doing in Egypt in preparation for the coming famine. There it is evident that of all people, only Joseph and the pharaoh had initially had any warning of its coming, so only Egypt could prepare. There is no mention of the circumstances of Jacob and his household until the opening verse of chapter 42 where we read that “1 … Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt …” and he was already in a predicament where he needed grain and had none, although we do not know how long it had been that they were without food. It is difficult to imagine that Jacob, having been a man of means with his own servants and flocks, had no food stores nor any capacity to live off of his flocks. So perhaps it may have been as long as a year before he sent his sons to Egypt, and then perhaps the food which they could carry back with them would not even last another year.

Now, here at this point, Jacob and his sons are described as once again having been in quite dire straits, so the food they brought back with them is exhausted. Later, in Genesis chapter 45, where Joseph finally reveals himself to his brethren we learn that only two of the seven years of famine had passed, so there are still five years remaining. So here we may conjecture, that perhaps Jacob had hoped that the famine would end before his household had exhausted the grain which his sons had first brought back from Egypt, and then he would never have to honor the demands of the governor of Egypt to see his son Benjamin. Therefore having waited until the proverbial last minute, Jacob now realizes that is not the case, and they are out of grain once again. So once again he must act in desperation, but Judah and the others are bound to their words and the demands of the governor in Egypt:

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, except your brother be with you.

So Judah knows that the hope of their getting food in Egypt is futile unless they bring Benjamin along with them, and Jacob has no other choice if they are to live. It would be foolish of the brothers to try and buy food in Egypt without bringing Benjamin. Not knowing that the governor was actually their brother Joseph, they faced the possibility of being executed as spies if the governor had suspected they had lied to him. So Judah and his brothers certainly cannot return, for fear of their own lives. Perhaps for Christians, there is another lesson in this: there is no salvation in Christ without every last brother, or sister, and for that reason we must realize that we are our brother’s keepers, or at least, we should aspire to care for them all. But now Jacob responds by placing blame upon Judah, for his having been compelled to relinquish Benjamin:

6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

Here, rather than parting with his son and placing his fate in the hands of Yahweh his God, Jacob is described as having blamed Judah for the consequences of explanations which Judah had made in his innocence, when he and his brethren were accused by the governor of being spies. This is one good example of why God alone can judge men, because often men do things innocently, which later turn out to have unexpectedly bad consequences. But only God can know a man’s motives and intentions under circumstances which lead him to do things which seem innocent to him, but which turn out badly, or even the circumstances which lead a man to do things that seem evil in the eyes of men.

So as a defense, Judah protests that his admissions were indeed innocent, and the consequences were unforeseeable:

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?

Where in verse 7 the King James Version reads “and we told him according to the tenor of these words”, the Septuagint translated by Brenton has “and we answered him according to this question”. The Hebrew word translated as tenor is פה or peh (# 6310) is literally a mouth. In English a tenor is a certain voice, and therefore it is also defined as “the course of thought or meaning that runs through something written or spoken” [1]. A tenor could also be perceived as a tone, and we use those words in similar contexts today. Here it is evident that the Hebrew word for mouth was used idiomatically in that same sense. So in the Septuagint the same word, being in this context, was translated into Greek as ἐπερώτησις, which is literally a questioning.

Here Judah is portrayed as having said nothing concerning the accusation that they were spies, although that certainly must have been an important factor in determining whether or not they would return to Egypt without Benjamin. However in the closing verses of chapter 42 the sons of Jacob are described in detail as having collectively related an account of that accusation to Jacob, and therefore it is unnecessary to repeat here. Regardless of the accusation, Jacob rued the fact that his sons’ answers in Egypt would compel him to part with Benjamin.

Where in Genesis chapter 42 the sons of Jacob had returned to their father wanting to take Benjamin down to see the governor of Egypt, to clear themselves of his accusation that they were spies, we read “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.” But Reuben would not prevail, because Jacob was stubborn and would not relent. However at that time he must have also been comfortable with the grain which they had brought back from Egypt. Now Judah makes a similar plea, and Jacob has no alternative:

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.

Judah did not say that that they would all go to Egypt, but only that if he and his brothers went to Egypt with Benjamin, that they would not all die. Oddly, where the Hebrew text has a word which undoubtedly means children, the Septuagint has a Greek word ἀποσκευή which, in this context, describes household implements or baggage. [2] Evidently the Septuagint translators did read the verse as if Judah were saying that at this time the entire household should move to Egypt, however that is contrary to the context of the subsequent verses and chapters. The corresponding text from the Dead Sea Scrolls supports the reading in the Masoretic Text, which has children. [3]

Now Judah offers his father some further assurance:

9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: 10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

In that last statement, Judah seems to be chiding his father for having delayed the inevitable: that if he wanted his family to survive the famine, he would have to let Benjamin go to Egypt. So Jacob finally relents:

11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in 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 double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:

As we had asserted, Jacob must have had some sort of supply store, having been a man of means with servants and flocks. So while we shall never really know the quantity of grain his sons had brought back from Egypt, he may have also been using at least some of it to feed servants and animals. In a time of famine, he must also have had these things on hand, since he probably would not have been able to buy them anywhere else in a short time. With that it is also evident that after two years of famine he was not out of food completely, but still had sufficient honey, nuts and almonds.

Where the text says “a little” in reference to the gifts, there is an explicit Hebrew word מעט or mat (# 4592) which bears that meaning and which appears twice in this verse in both the Masoretic Text as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls, but there are no corresponding Greek words in the verse as it is in the Septuagint. At the end of verse 2, where the same English and Hebrew words appear there, the Septuagint does represent the Hebrew word mat, with the Greek word μικρός which means little or small.

The phrase “a little” certainly seems to be relative here, and it could represent pounds or bushels, gallons or amphorae, which in Hebrew were called baths, and not merely “a little” as we may go to a store and buy “a little” honey, which is maybe a pint or even just a few ounces. When Jacob sent his sons for “a little food”, as it is in verse 2, he probably expected them to return with a few cartloads of grain, and not merely a few bags or cartons. As we have explained here, the journey to Egypt from Hebron had taken at least several days in each direction, so it was not the same as the modern and often daily trip to the grocery store which is made by many modern city dwellers.

As a digression, the common way to transport liquids in the ancient world was in pottery vessels that the Greeks called amphorae, and the Hebrews baths. These vessels had generally held nine or ten gallons each of either grain or liquid. The Hebrew word in verse 11 here which is translated as vessels here is כלי or keliy (# 3627), a word with a wide range of meaning that may describe common vessels or utensils, to larger vessels such as carts or carriages. On several occasions later in Scripture it was translated as carriage, for example in 1 Samuel chapter 17 where we read: “22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.” There the word carriage is appropriate in the context where it appears, and it would also have been much more appropriate than vessels here in Genesis 43:11.

Now, as Jacob continues to relent and let Benjamin go to Egypt, he prays that Yahweh prosper the journey:

13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

SIMEON

The Hebrew word translated as bereaved in verse 14 is שכל, sakal or shakal, which literally describes a loss of someone dear, of a loved one lost whether it is mother, father, or children, where it is also used to describe a miscarriage or even a state of barreness, for which Brown, Driver and Briggs provide examples from Scripture in their lexicon. [4] Therefore where the translators of the King James Version had added the phrase “of my children” to the verse, it is certainly not inappropriate in this context.

As we have described in earlier chapters of Genesis, Jacob had suffered much since he came into Canaan after his encounter with Esau at Mount Gilead. In Shechem his daughter Dinah was raped, then Joseph was taken from him, then Reuben violated one of his wives, and Judah must have been missing for at least a couple of years, while he consorted with the Canaanite woman at Chezib. Now he is also missing Simeon, and although here he prays, he also seems to have relinquished himself to the prospect of further sorrows. There is an old adage, that the night is always darkest before the dawn, which seems to have first appeared in English in a poem written by Thomas Fuller, a 17th century English poet, historian, preacher and theologian. Here, for Jacob, the adage certainly seems to ring true, and Christians should find encouragement in that, rather than share in Jacob’s despair.

15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Of course, the sons of Israel did not steal the money which they had paid for the grain before having departed from Egypt a year earlier. But not knowing how the money had been returned to them, and already having been accused of being spies, here it is wise to prepare in advance for an accusation that they had also stolen the money. Evidently, where the men took double the money in their hand, there is a foreshadow of both a custom of their time, and of the law which appears later, at Mount Sinai, where the children of Israel were told that a thief must return double what he had stolen if he were caught.

This is first found in Exodus chapter 22: “2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. 3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double. .. 7 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double. 8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour's goods. 9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.”

16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, 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.

The Hebrew word translated as ruler here may have been better translated as steward, even if אשר or ashar (# 834) is actually only a sort of demonstrative pronoun connecting the individual being addressed to the house itself. Later, in verse 19, a word which means steward does appear, which seems to refer to this same individual.

The Hebrew word translated as slay, טבח or tabach, can simply mean to slay or slaughter, but also, in this context, to butcher. It is often apparent in Scripture and in other ancient literature that animals were slaughtered and butchered only as they were needed, since there was no refrigeration and even the salt often used to preserve meat was costly and sometimes scarce.

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 seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

The Hebrew word translated as afraid is ירא or yera (# 3372), which is to fear or to reverence or to stand in awe of someone or something, very often used in relationship to men who fear God. The men were mostly likely in awe of the invitation, and not knowing what to expect, they anticipated the worst possible outcome. Rather ironically, the motive which the sons of Jacob wrongly ascribe to Joseph here, he will employ against them in chapter 44, where before the men leave Egypt he has his own silver cup stowed into Benjamin’s sack, that he may have an occasion to retain him in Egypt.

19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, 20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at 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 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.

This is a simplified version of the events described in chapter 42, where one brother found the money in the mouth of his sack at the inn (42:27), and the others after they had arrived home (42:35). While the critics tend to underscore such minor discrepancies, they actually help to prove that the accounts are not contrived, and that the summaries of events are natural rather than having been calculated.

The steward answers the men:

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.

Here the steward seems to have indicated some degree of knowledge about the background of Joseph and the identities of the men, as the words seem to exceed the piety which was generally attributed to outsiders within the context of the customs which are evident in the literature of the period. It is also the steward who had restored Simeon to them, and that must have been arranged by Joseph. All of this time, which probably spanned at least a year, Simeon must have been kept in bonds, or Joseph would not have been able to keep his own identity concealed. Simeon was being held under the pretense of the charge that the men were spies, so he must have remained a prisoner. While we do not know what particular role Simeon had played in the casting of Joseph into the pit in Dothan, as it is described in Genesis chapter 37, he was the second oldest son after Reuben, and Reuben could not resist his brethren, so therefore it is likely that Simeon’s role was prominent. So Joseph’s having kept Simeon as a prisoner for a year seems to have been a fitting reversal of fortunes.

In relation to the mentions of God by this steward, we shall offer an example: In an introduction to certain ancient Egyptian inscriptions titled The Egyptians and the Gods of Asia, translated by John. A. Wilson, we find the following in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament: “In earlier history the Egyptians had identified foreign gods with their own deities, so that the goddess of Byblos was a Hat-Hor to them and various Asiatic gods were Seth to them. This process of extending their own into other countries continued under the Empire.” [5]

As we have explained in earlier portions of this commentary, the Empire would begin with the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, of which the first pharaoh, Ahmose or Ahmosis I, who had begun to rule nearly a hundred and twenty years after this time, so this is the period of “earlier history” of which this author had written. With that understanding, if this steward did not have a peculiar knowledge which was conveyed to him by Joseph, he would most likely have perceived that the God of these men was just another typical Asiatic deity equivalent to some corresponding Egyptian god. However where he is recorded as having said “your God and the God of your father”, he is referring to a particular God which is ostensibly not one of the common gods of Asia or Egypt.

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 themselves to him to the earth.

Once again, Joseph’s brothers, in their surrender and submission to this Egyptian governor, had unwittingly fulfilled the dream which Joseph had described to them many years before, for which they had despised him. It is also ironic, that these men would make obeisance to a foreign ruler, which is what they had perceived Joseph to be, before they would even think of making obeisance to their own brother. That accords with the way in which David’s brother Eliab and unnamed of the others had despised him when he sought to kill Goliath, in 1 Samuel chapter 17 (17:28-30), and also with the words of Christ as they are found in Matthew chapter 13, where His own Galilean neighbors had rejected His preaching and we read: “57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”

Of course, custom would insist that Joseph graciously accept the gifts, and while the Scripture is written in a very concise manner, it is nevertheless evident that Joseph was concerned only with his brethren and his father.

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.

Where the men answered “Thy servant our father”, it was a rather common custom to address a ruler in such a fashion, in spite of the fact that Jacob had never been under the rule of any Egyptian, and, at least as it is apparent in Scripture, he had never even yet been to Egypt. Likewise, where Saul had asked the young David which family he had come from in Israel, he is recorded at the very end of 1 Samuel chapter 17 as having responded and said “58 I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Even Abraham had addressed sojourners who appeared before his tent in the plains of Mamre in that same fashion, in Genesis chapter 18: “3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.” These men had only appeared as common sojourners. So there was a certain level of civility coupled with humility in the ancient world which is virtually unknown to men in today’s world.

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.

Of course Joseph knew the answer to his question, but he had to maintain his ruse so he was careful not to betray himself. But Joseph had already noticed Benjamin, as it is recorded here in verse 16, which was the actual reason why he had even invited them into his house. As we have explained in Part 52 of this commentary, when Joseph was taken into captivity at the age of seventeen, Benjamin could not have been more than a year or perhaps two years old. So here, Joseph is about forty years old, or at least thirty-nine, and therefore Benjamin is about twenty-four years old, since Joseph must have gone into Egypt not more than two years after his birth. As we had also explained, these numbers are estimated from the apparent age of Dinah when she could have been raped, and the age of Joseph which was given as seventeen, when he went into captivity in Egypt, where the Scriptures explain that Benjamin was born between those two events, all of which are found in Genesis chapters 34, 35 and 37.

30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

The last time Joseph had seen his brother, he was only a toddler, so it certainly must have been an emotional experience for him to have seen him here after nearly twenty-three years, and he most likely never thought that he would see him again. Joseph will lose his composure once again, in chapter 45, when he finally reveals himself to his brethren. The weeping is inevitable under such circumstances, and like Joseph, Christ Himself had wept in similar circumstances, for example as He had stood before the tomb of Lazarus, in John chapter 11.

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.

Here Joseph is described as having eaten alone, which was probably something he was compelled to do all the time that he himself was a servant, and then a prisoner, during his first thirteen years in Egypt. But not all Egyptian servants were ethnic Egyptians, so from this passage alone we cannot tell if eating with foreigners was considered an abomination for cultural, political or ethnic reasons. There is no indication that certain servants would not eat with other servants, and the population of servants was very likely to have consisted of a large number of foreign slaves, which are often mentioned in inscriptions. Later, in Genesis chapter 46 (46:34), it is also stated that shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.

Here Joseph continued to maintain his ruse, so he could not have eaten with the Hebrews even if he had wanted to, since he was also presumably an Egyptian and that would have broken the custom. Although at this time Joseph was a ruler in Egypt, he was still a Hebrew, so perhaps he continued to eat alone for that reason, out of both habit and humility. But he was also a ruler, so in any event, he would not have eaten with the other Egyptians here, because they were his servants. Of course, Joseph was also already married, so he must have often eaten with his family, which seems not to have been the case on this occasion.

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 theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

The brothers should have marvelled, since they were being treated as distinguished guests by the governor of all Egypt, yet they themselves were only common sojourners seeking to buy grain. The Hebrew word תמה or tamah (# 8539) means to be astonished, astounded or amazed. They also should have wondered why their youngest brother was being so specially treated. But it is likely that they were afraid to question the governor.

So now, as we commence with Genesis chapter 44 and Joseph is about to send his brothers on their way back to Canaan, he has another ploy, ostensibly a ploy by which he had hoped to bring Jacob himself to Egypt. In the end, he would be successful, but not in the manner which he himself may have imagined here at the beginning.

So now Joseph sends his brothers off on their return journey, but instructs his steward according to his ploy:

1 And he commanded the steward of 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.

The silver cup naturally would have been an item of great value, and it was probably within reach of everyone in the room where they had dined the evening before, so the ruse would be believable in the eyes of men once it was found. The Hebrew word translated as silver, כסף or kaceph (# 3701) was not as valuable as gold, which is evident where the word also appears as silver in 1 Kings 10:21 where we read “21 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.” silver it was plenty valuable enough to refine, as we read in Proverbs chapter 25: “4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.” Because it describes silver, the word is also sometimes translated as money, for example on four occasions in Genesis chapter 17.

Silver goblets seem to have been popular among the rulers and wealthy classes of the ancient world. One such goblet, esteemed to be about three thousand years old, was recently discovered in northern Iran, in the land of the ancient Mannaean kingdom which later became a part of Persia. [6] In Egypt, a silver libation vessel which had belonged to one of the minor wives of Thutmose III, from about 1450 BC and the time of the Exodus, is on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York City. [7] But in another article at the museum, we find an explanation that silver was not as ubiquitous as gold in Egypt: “Temple inscriptions suggest that for much of Egypt’s history, silver was valued more highly than gold. However, unlike gold, which is known to have been brought from the Eastern Desert and Nubia, the sources of silver are obscure, and in view of the relative scarcity of local geological resources, assuredly much was imported from neighboring lands. For this reason, and because silver, especially hammered sheet, is highly susceptible to the corrosive salts found in most Egyptian burial environments, it generally appears less frequently in the Egyptian archaeological record than gold or cupreous metals.” [8] So it is not that the Egyptians had not silver, or that they were not buried with it, but only that the buried silver would not endure the immediate environment which is found in the quality of the soil. But if it is true, that in ancient Egypt silver was more valuable than gold, then Joseph’s silver cup would have been even more valuable than we may estimate, and there is even more value ascribed here than that, at least in the eyes of his brethren when they are charged with its disappearance.

As for whether or not Joseph had actually divined, after the manner of pagan Egyptians, or if he actually divined with a silver cup, which is stated here but for which I could not locate a record from Egyptian literature, is actually immaterial. Joseph was still acting under the pretense that he was an Egyptian, and therefore here the practice was ascribed to Egyptians, but it did not necessarily belong to Joseph. In fact, it is fully apparent in the accounts of his life herein Genesis that Joseph did not need divination to interpret dreams and receive other messages from Yahweh God, so it is very unlikely that he actually partook in the sorceries of Egypt.

Now Joseph has his steward execute the next step of his new ploy:

4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, 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 drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

The reference to divination may only have caused the men to imagine that the cup was much more valuable to its rightful owner than merely the face value of the silver, making its theft seem as though it was a much more severe crime.

6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. 7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: 8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?

Where they had tried to restore double the money from their earlier grain purchase, which was found in their sacks after their journey, that is the only commendation they may make to prove that they are not thieves. But of course, this is all a ploy so it really did not matter, and the steward was not going to hear them.

The men continue to assert their innocence:

9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

These words may also have had unintended consequences, and in the eyes of the men, the second son which Jacob with Rachel may also have died. But the steward, where he answered, was much more sensible than the men themselves:

10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.

The steward evidently would not accept the oath of a sentence of death for any of the men, so once again it is quite plausible that he knew the truth of Joseph and his brethren, for which reason he also seemed more than willing to do his part in executing the ploy for his master.

11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

When they return to the city, the ploy may not have quite turned out the way Joseph had planned it, however in the end it would nevertheless achieve what he had wanted, and obviously what Yahweh God had also wanted, which was to bring Jacob and all of Israel to Egypt. There, the brethren of Joseph had received both salvation and mercy, the subject of our discussion when we return to Genesis chapter 44.

Footnotes

1 tenor, Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tenor, accessed April 11th, 2024.

2 ἀποσκευή, Greek Word Study Tool, the Perseua Digital Library at Tufts University, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ hopper//morph?l=a%29poskeuh%5Cn&la=greek&can=a%29poskeuh%5Cn0&prior=tinos#lexicon, accessed April 12th, 2024.

3 The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English, Martin Abegg Jr., Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1999, p. 19.

4 The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Hendrickson Publishers, 2021, p. 1013.

5 Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament 3rd edition, James Pritchard, editor, 1969, Harvard University Press, p. 249.

6 Millennia-old goblet to go on show, Tehran Times, https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/447350/Millennia-old-goblet-to-go-on-show, accessed April 12th, 2024.

7 Libation Vessel of Manuwai, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/ search/547550, accessed April 12th, 2024.

8 Silver in Ancient Egypt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/silv/hd_silv.htm, accessed April 12th, 2024.