FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 44: Joseph tests the Brothers
v.1-3
Joseph sets them up with a Silver Cup in Benjamin's Sack
v.4-10
He has them brought back and challenges them over the cup
v.11-15
The Cup is ‘Discovered'
v.16-17
Judah speaks of their collective guilt
v.18-34
Judah explains & takes responsibility
v.1-3
Joseph sets them up with a Silver Cup in Benjamin's Sack
v.1
Now
Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill
the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry and put each
man's silver in the mouth of his sack.
v.2
Then
put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's
sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph
said.
v.3
As
morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
[Notes:
Joseph instructs the steward to fill their sacks with
food AND the silver they had brought AND put his silver cup in
Benjamin's sack.]
v.4-10
He has them brought back and challenges them over the cup
v.4
They
had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward,
“Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them,
say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?
v.5
Isn't
this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination?
This is a wicked thing you have done.'”
v.6
When
he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.
v.7
But
they said to him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it
from your servants to do anything like that!
v.8
We
even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we
found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver
or gold from your master's house?
v.9
If
any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the
rest of us will become my lord's slaves.”
v.10
“Very
well, then,” he said, “let it be as you say. Whoever is found
to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free
from blame.”
[Notes:
After they leave, he gets his steward to have them recalled
and be challenged over taking his cup. They deny taking it and
accept that such a thief should die.]
v.11-15
The Cup is ‘Discovered'
v.11
Each
of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.
v.12
Then
the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and
ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack.
v.13
At
this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys
and returned to the city.
v.14
Joseph
was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and
they threw themselves to the ground before him.
v.15
Joseph
said to them, “What is this you have done? Don't you know that
a man like me can find things out by divination?”
[Notes:
The cup is found in Benjamin's sack and they are returned
to the city to be confronted by Joseph.]
v.16-17
Judah speaks of their collective guilt
v.16
“What
can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can
we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt.
We are now my lord's slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found
to have the cup.”
v.17
But
Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man
who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of
you, go back to your father in peace.”
[Notes:
Judah speaks up and says they are all guilty. Joseph
won't have this and insists only Benjamin be punished.]
v.18-34
Judah explains & takes responsibility
v.18
Then
Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,
let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant,
though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
v.19
My
lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?'
v.20
And
we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son
born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the
only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'
v.21
“Then
you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see
him for myself.'
v.22
And
we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves
him, his father will die.'
v.23
But
you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down
with you, you will not see my face again.'
v.24
When
we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord
had said.
v.25
“Then
our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.'
v.26
But
we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with
us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest
brother is with us.'
v.27
“Your
servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two
sons.
v.28
One
of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn
to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.
v.29
If
you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will
bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.'
v.30
“So
now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant
my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with
the boy's life,
v.31
sees
that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring
the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.
v.32
Your
servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said, ‘If
I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you,
my father, all my life!'
v.33
“Now
then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in
place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.
v.34
How
can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not
let me see the misery that would come on my father.”
[Notes:
Judah speaks up at length explaining the anguish his
father will feel and ask that he be taken instead of Benjamin.]