Chapter
44
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. 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. 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? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants
it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 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. 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. 14
And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there:
and they fell before him on the ground. 15
And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye
not that such a man as I can certainly divine? 16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my
lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out
the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and
he also with whom the cup is found. 17
And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand
the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace
unto your father.
Joseph sets the brothers up yet again for a shock by
not only filling them with food and wine and also giving them provisions for
their return journey, but then placing a special silver cup in the sack of
Benjamin. All of the men’s money was returned again to them.
This silver cup, which it is said that Joseph used to
drink from and to divine with has some special significance. It was common for
nobility in the ancient world to use cups for the purposes of divining the will
of the spiritual world. Several sources attest to this. The same instrument
used by the pagan was also used by the people of God before the Law was given and
after to divine God’s will. As an example the casting of lots takes place many
times to divine God’s will because, unlike we today who believe heavily in
randomness and luck based on randomness, the ancients believed that there was a
point to everything even if humans were unable to discern it. Just type in the
word lots in a computer concordance
or look it up.
Divining was used to try to understand that plan or
the intention of spiritual entities; gods, devils, and, in the sense of the
people of God, His will. If you believe that no flip of the coin results from
chance and that God is in control of all reality and events then this becomes
easier to understand although its purpose may be truly ungodly and an
abomination based on intent. Judging from Joseph’s character and his close
relationship with God, being used by Him, I am confident that Joseph was not
seeking answers from devils, pagan entities, but from God alone.
In this bit of deception, as you read, Joseph accuses
them of stealing his cup in order to bring them back to him. Now, Joseph states
that he is going to keep Benjamin as a servant, even though Judah offered all
of them as Joseph’s servants, and they can go back to their father.
18 ¶
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I
pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against
thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. 19
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
20 And we said unto my lord, We have a
father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother
is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. 21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him
down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. 22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave
his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die. 23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except
your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy
servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a
little food. 26 And we said, We cannot
go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may
not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us. 27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye
know that my wife bare me two sons: 28
And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces;
and I saw him not since: 29 And if ye
take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray
hairs with sorrow to the grave. 30 Now
therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us;
seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life; 31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the
lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the
gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. 32 For thy servant became surety for the lad
unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the
blame to my father for ever. 33 Now
therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to
my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. 34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the
lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my
father.
Judah pleads for his father, that Benjamin not be kept
as a servant but that Judah take his place. He offered himself as surety for
Benjamin’s safety, after all. He implores this mighty Egyptian official, whom
he does not know as his brother, Joseph. Judah, who in 37:26 persuaded his
brothers that, rather than kill Joseph, they should sell him to the Ishmaelites,
was instrumental in Joseph having the opportunity to be the de facto ruler of
Egypt’s internal policies regarding the preparation and survival of this
famine.
This is a time of great tension and, as far as the
brothers know, the fate of Benjamin, their fate, and their father’s all hinge
on this Egyptian official’s sense of mercy. It is a time of desperation, fear,
and anxiety. To them, everything hinges on this official’s decision. Can you
imagine how filled with confusion and dread and apprehension they must be? I
wonder if they imagined how filled with confusion, fear, and apprehension
Joseph must have been when he was thrown in that pit and then sold by his own
brothers as a slave to traveling traders.
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