Explanation: Genesis 42 traces the beginning of the reunion between Joseph and his family. The reunion began when Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy food; but he kept his youngest son, Benjamin at home to keep him safe (1-5).
     Jacob's brothers came to Joseph and bowed before him. Joseph knew them but they did not recognize him; and Joseph accused them of being spies, but they denied it. The term "spy" (v. 9, etc.) comes from a root which means to move the feet, to walk, or to move about. It is used mostly in a derivative sense of search or spy. It sometimes has reference to talebearers and the like. Joseph probably used it of his brothers with reference to their swiftness to do evil, as they had done to him. He was probably not accusing them of looking for government secrets, but of looking for opportunities to take advantage of the weakness ("nakedness") of the land. He was not necessarily accusing them of actively seeking to do evil, but of being ready instantly to do evil when they saw the opportunity, as they had done to him. They countered his accusation by a preposterous and repealed assertion that they were "true" (upright) men, when, in fact, they were menstealers, enslavers, and (in the desires of their hearts) murderers. Their denials of things that Joseph knew to be true made him persist in his accusations (6-11).
     Joseph reasserted his accusation and demanded to see Benjamin, the younger brother they told him about. He kept his brothers in ward for three days demanding that they choose one among them to bring Benjamin to him (12-17). Three days later, Joseph told them that he feared God, so he would keep one of them as a hostage and let the other nine go home to fetch Benjamin. At this point, the brothers confessed their guilt to one another, not realizing that Joseph understood what they said. They saw his anguish of soul. But they refused to hear him even though he besought them (v. 21 -- literally, "bent over" or bowed down in subjection to them, thus reversing the role which God would later give to him, in accord with God's prophecy to him). So Joseph kept Simeon, had his servants fill their sacks with food, and returned their money (18-25).
     They then "departed" (walked - v. 26) from there. This is a play on words which ties into the root idea of "spies" as "walkers," a loose English equivalent being "stalkers" in the broadest sense of the word. Another, perhaps more descriptive term, especially as it applies to the brothers, might be "prowlers." After they left, they stopped at an inn, and one of them discovered his money in his sack, which caused great fear within all of them (26-28). When they arrived home they recounted the incident to Jacob together with the demand to bring Benjamin on their next journey to Egypt. They told him that the ruler of the land had told them to leave one brother behind and "be gone (v. 33 - the same word used in v. 26)." This is yet another play on words. The root idea is to "walk" in the general sense of the word. Putting the references together, the walkers/spies/stalkers/prowlers were told to walk home and they departed/walked from the presence of Joseph (29-34).
     When they emptied their sacks they found that everyone had the money with which they left, and they were again afraid, as was Jacob, who complained of his distress that they had bereaved him of Joseph and Simeon. In response, Reuben offered the lives of his two sons as guarantee of the safety of Benjamin if Jacob would let them return; but Jacob refused. He said that if something happened to Benjamin when they "go down" to Egypt, then his gray hairs would "go down" to the grave. So he refused to let Benjamin go down by the way they go ("walk"- v. 38 - same word as in v. 26 and v. 33). This is yet another play on the walk/spy/stalk/prowl theme. The writer of the account, Moses, is thus indicating that the way of the brothers was an evil way, and Jacob refused to let Benjamin walk in it.
     Jacob may have seen Ruben's offer for what it was, a bombastic, self-serving, self-congratulatory piece on nonsense. Reuben arrogantly promoted himself as a deliverer by stating emphatically that "I myself" will bring him ("turn him back, return him" - v. 37b). He even offered to let Israel kill his two sons if he failed. This was designed to show how confident he was of success, and how sacrificial he was, and thereby to impress his father. It was an offer made out of thoughtless pride. If Reuben failed, would Israel have slain two of his grandsons and further reduce his family? Moreover, there would be no personal, direct consequences to Reuben. Others would pay the price for his failure. Ruben probably wanted to salve his conscience by looking like the deliverer of Benjamin (and Simeon), compensating for his failure to deliver Benjamin's brother, Joseph (35-38).
     Some interpret this incident and those that follow as the unfolding of a profound plan on the part of Joseph to deal spiritually with his brothers. I see it, rather, as a profound plan on the part of God to effect deep inward change in Joseph, his brothers, and their father. Here, in this chapter, Joseph seems to be torn by conflicting emotions and to be caught up in an attempt to find out if his father and his younger brother were still alive, as his brothers said, and to be reunited with Benjamin while dismissing the rest of the family from his life, as he had already done emotionally: ("And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house" -- Genesis 41:51).
     [ Sermons: Sinclair B Ferguson. Edward Donnelly. Mark Dever. Various. ]
     [ Illustration: Today's paintings depict key aspects of today's chapter. Image 1 shows Joseph engaged in selling grain, a task he began in the previous chapter. Image 2 shows the brothers of Joseph asking him for food. Image 3 shows the brothers being arrested. ]

     ³⁵ 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: all these things are against me. 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.

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