Genesis 42:8-28 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:18-20

And Joseph (whose bowels of mercy were already yearning towards them) said unto them the third day, This do, and live ;— i.e. this do that ye may live— for I fear God —literally, the Elohim I fear; the term Elohim being employed, since to have said Jehovah would have been to divulge, if not his Hebrew origin, at least his acquaintance with the Hebrew faith (Hengstenberg). At the same time its use would arrest them more than the preceding adjuration, By the life of Pharaoh! and,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:21

And they said one to another (Joseph's treatment of them beginning by this time to produce its appropriate and designed result by recalling them to a sense of their former guilt), We are verily guilty —"this is the only acknowledgment of sin in the Book of Genesis" (Inglis)— concerning our brother . They had been guilty of many sins, but the special iniquity of which their reception by the Egyptian governor had reminded them was that which some twenty years before they had perpetrated... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:22

And Reuben —who had not consented to, but had been altogether unable to prevent, the wickedness of his brethren ( Genesis 37:22 , Genesis 37:29 )— answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child (or lad); and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required —literally, and also his blood, behold it is required . This was in accordance with the Noachic law against bloodshed ( Genesis 9:5 ), with which it is apparent that Jacob's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:23

And they knew not (while they talked in what they imagined to be a foreign dialect to the Egyptian viceroy) that Joseph understood them; —literally, heard (so as to understand what was said)— for he spake unto them by an interpreter— literally, for the interpreter . ( חַמְּלִיץ , the hiph. part; with the art; of לוּץ , to speak barbarously, in the hiph. to act as an interpreter), i.e. the official Court interpreter, ἑρμηνευτής ( LXX .), was between them . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:24

And he turned himself about from them (in order to hide his emotion), and wept (as he reflected on the wonderful leadings of Divine providence, and beheld the pitiful distress of his brethren); and returned to them again (having previously withdrawn from them a space), and communed with them (probably about the one of them that should remain behind), and took from them —by a rough act of authority, since they either could not or would not settle among themselves who should be the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:25

Then (literally, and) Joseph commanded to fill —literally, commanded, and they ( i.e. Joseph's men) filled— their sacks (rather, vessels or receptacles, כְּלִי ) with corn, and to restore every man's money (literally, their pieces of silver, each ) into his sack ,— שַׂק , saccus, σάκος, σάκκος , sack ( vide Genesis 37:34 ). Joseph "feels it impossible to bargain, with his father and his brethren for bread" (Baumgarten)— and to give them prevision for the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:26

And they laded their asses with the corn (literally, put their grain upon their asses ) , and departed (or went) thence . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:27

And as one of them opened his sack —literally, and the one opened his sack, i.e. they did not all open their sacks on the homeward journey, although afterwards, in reporting the circumstance to Joseph, they represent themselves as having done so ( Genesis 43:21 ); but only one at the wayside inn, and the rest on reaching home ( Genesis 42:35 ; vide infra, Genesis 43:21 )— to give his ass provender in the inn (the מָלוֹן , from לוּן morf , an inn to pass the night, was not... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:28

And he ( i.e. the one who had opened his sack) said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack ( amtachath ) : and their heart failed them (literally, went forth; as it were, leapt into their mouths through sudden apprehension), and they were afraid, saying one to another (literally, they trembled each one to his brother, a constructio pregnans for they turned trembling towards one another, saying), What is this that God hath done unto us? ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 42:1-38

- Joseph and Ten of His Brethren1. שׁבר sheber, “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain).6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ, “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch.25. כלי kelı̂y, “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq, “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.”Twenty years, the period of Joseph’s long and anxious waiting, have come to an end. The dreams... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:18-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:21

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:22

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:24

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:25

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:26

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:27

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 42:28

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 42:1-38

Group of Brands