Genesis 44:6-13

The brothers’ promise was not only rash but foolish since the contents of their sacks had surprised them previously (Genesis 44:9). Years earlier Laban had searched through Jacob’s possessions for his teraphim that remained hidden in Rachel’s tent. Jacob had rashly pronounced a death sentence on the guilty person (cf. Genesis 31:23; Genesis 31:25; Genesis 31:33; Genesis 31:35). Now the Egyptians searched for Joseph’s cup of divination and found it in the sack of Benjamin, Rachel’s son. The brothers here also rashly pronounced a death sentence on the guilty person.

Joseph’s steward did not hold the brothers to their promise but simply stated that the "guilty" person would become a slave (Genesis 44:10). Joseph had set his brothers up with a perfect excuse to abandon Benjamin and free themselves from slavery.

Tearing one’s clothing was a sign of great personal distress in the ancient Near East (Genesis 44:13; cf. Genesis 37:29). Here it expressed the brothers’ sincere agony at the prospect of having to turn Benjamin over to the Egyptians and return to Jacob only to break his heart. They tore their clothes in anguish, as Jacob had done when he received news of Joseph’s apparent death (Genesis 37:34). The brothers did not suspect that they were the victims of fraud any more than Jacob did when his sons gave him Joseph’s bloody coat. [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 564.]

"That all the brothers suffered such distress is a telling sign of the new sense of unity they had developed. They had already been informed that the innocent will be released (Genesis 44:10). Moreover, that they all return to Egypt underscores their commitment to Benjamin. The brothers are of one accord without any grumbling or dissent. . . . They were guilty [previously] but did not show remorse; now they are innocent and demonstrate deepest agony." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 800.]