Genesis
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.
Genesis
44:18 ¶ 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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