15
¶ And the men took that present, and
they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down
to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16
And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his
house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine
with me at noon. 17 And the man did as
Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. 18 And the men were afraid, because they were
brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was
returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek
occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.
19 And they came near to the steward of
Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, 20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the
first time to buy food: 21 And it came
to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every
man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have
brought it again in our hand. 22 And
other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who
put our money in our sacks. 23 And he
said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath
given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out
unto them. 24 And the man brought the
men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and
he gave their asses provender. 25 And
they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that
they should eat bread there.
The brothers take the amount of money they intended to
spend on the last trip that was returned to them and the same amount of money
again, to buy more food. They were then greeted at Joseph’s house in a manner
that probably surprised them somewhat. Joseph’s steward, whom we would call a
butler today, calms their fears and gives them the story about the money being
in their sacks on the last trip being a miracle. This is the steward’s story,
perhaps ordered by Joseph. The reader is under no requirement to view this as
from God Himself. Joseph had their money put back in their sacks. A great
lesson is learned here. Just because a character in the Bible says something
that does not mean that it is true or necessarily a doctrine. Read the text and
the background, the context, before picking a verse and preaching on it.
26 ¶
And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in
their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth. 27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said,
Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? 28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is
in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made
obeisance. 29 And he lifted up his eyes,
and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger
brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my
son. 30 And Joseph made haste; for his
bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered
into his chamber, and wept there. 31 And
he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on
bread. 32 And they set on for him by
himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with
him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews;
for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn
according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the
men marvelled one at another. 34 And he
took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five
times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
Joseph is now overwhelmed at the presence of his
beloved brother, Benjamin. The brothers are amazed at the feast set before
them. The Egyptians not eating side by side with the Hebrews reveals the
hostility and disgust these civilized people of one of the ancient world’s
superpowers feel toward these herders from the area we today call Palestine.
The arrangements are revealed with Joseph seated separately, appropriately for
his rank it can be presumed, the Egyptians separately, and the brothers seated
by eldest to youngest. Benjamin gets five times as much food as the brothers
did but it apparently doesn’t affect them. They drank and were merry with
Joseph.
A mess from
which we get “mess-kit” and “mess hall” in old military terms also means a
portion of food or a dish as in a mess of
meat. Just think of it as a meal or as a specific dish in a meal as
Nicholas Culpeper in his 1652 work ‘The English Physician’ wrote a “mess of
warm broth.”
2Samuel
11:8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to
thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and
there followed him a mess of meat
from the king.
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