Genesis
43:15 ¶ 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. In a way it was God working through Joseph
who returned their money.
Genesis
43:26 ¶ 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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