1 NOW when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? [ Everybody is just standing around and stares and nobody does anything. Go solve the problem, do something about it. ]

2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

3 ¶ And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him. [ Is Jacob just being an over protective dad here, or is there more that is going on. Remember he names him "son of the right hand" to which he was renamed after the passing of Rachel. If he was menat to take the place at the right hand of Jacob's heart after he lost Rachel. So he feels he needs to keep him close for emotional protection, with Josep his first born son of his wife Rachel, Benjamin is kind of all he has left of that relationship, so he can't let go of him. ]

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. [ They bow down before him, which is a fulfillment of his dream, but it's not the important fulfillment. The important fulfillment is not a groveling bowing. The important fulfillment is a gratitude bowing, which is the fulfillment of that. ]

7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, [ Joseph knows them but they do not know him. ] and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. [ There is a reason at this point. He wants to see where they are at right now. He will be there Savior and he knows them but they do not know him. Is our relationship the same with the Savior. ]

9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. [ You see the vunerability of the land. you come to see the Egyptian weaknesses so that you might take it all over you outsiders. Egypt has more grain than any place else, we are better prepared for the famine, but we like everyone else are not perfect, or do we have a oversupply. ]

10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

11  We are all one man’s sons; [ We are all brother's. ] we are true men, [ In Hebrew "true" is the same word that was used at the end of each day of the creation when the creation is done for the day "and so it was" as an alternative translation. It did what it was supposed to do, it performed as it was supposed to - it was true - faithful. ] thy servants are no spies.

12 And he [ Joseph. ] said unto them, Nay, [ I do not believe you. ] but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, [ Benjamin has been left behind. ] and one is not. [ Can you image the follow on question that Joseph wanted to ask them here? One is not what? Not around? Not a live, Not loved? ]

14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:

15 Hereby ye shall be proved: [ Joseph wants to understand their true feelings for the brother that is not. ] By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

16  Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, [ I will keep 9 of you in prison for collateral and one of you is to go back and get the other brother, your youngest. So go back to Cannin if that is where you say you are from and bring this other brother back that you say that you have. If you bring this younger brother back I will let all 11 of you go free. Joseph wants to get a read of how they feel about their youngest brother. ] and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: [ Or let's see if you are the true men that you claim to be. Either you are or you are not. You claim it now prove it. ] or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

17 And he put them all together into ward three days.

18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: [ The two previous commands by Joseph were done under commands on the life of Pharaoh, here he changes it to under the command of God. The difference here is that under the command of Pharaoh there is no need to show any mercy, however under the command of God Joseph shows greta mercy. Or because I fer God I will show unto you more mercy than maybe I should to you than I would have. ]

19  If ye be true men, [ Here it is a again, if you really are true / faithful men you will have no problem bringing your youngest back to prove that he really does exist as you say. There are two parts to this test. One will you do as you say and return and produce your younger brother. Second will you 9 abandon the brother that is left here? ] let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:

20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

21 ¶ And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, [ What is Joseph wondering? Who's not there? Benjamin's not there. Well, dear Joseph, the last you saw of your brothers, they were exchanging you for silver. Why? Because of this conflict in the family started all the way back with Laban. So Rachel has one last child. What is a natural assumption for Joseph to make when, here comes the 10 brothers and Benjamin's not there? What's his natural assumption. Did you sell Benjamin too? Where is he? Where's Benjamin? so, he wants to find that out. Now they tell him he is alive. He's still up there with his father. And then you begin to see the spiritual triumph of Joseph in verse 21. He can hear them. Joseph says, "You go carry the corn back to fam- and save your families, but bring your younger brother next time you come," because he knows this is going to last for seven years, six more years, and they'll be back. Okay? They'll be back. He knows that. He listens to them because he can understand their language. They said in verse 21, they said one to another, "We are very guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us." This is 20, 21, 22 years, they are still guilty. Joseph can overhear his brothers talking. This is later when they've returned to his life and they don't know it's him. It's maybe not as been as easy as we think for them. So they're talking to each other. This has been hell for them after making this decision. Maybe they put on a brave face in public, but it sounds like in private, they are still hearing Joseph's cries. ] in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, [ When Joseph was probably begging them for mercy, "please don't do this to me", "I'll be a better brother". ] and we would not hear; [ They were past feeling, they did not care. ] therefore is this distress come upon us. [ The law of enforced empathy. Either you can learn it in your own or I will teach you. Either you can be humble on your own or God will humble you. Either way you will learn. ]

22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? [ What does Joseph now know about his oldest brother? He wasn't part of it. And that is why, which brother does he remain as a slave or in captivity in Egypt? The second oldest brother, Simeon. Okay? Joseph can see the regrets of Rueben, that he was not forceful enough when they put Joseph away. ] therefore, behold, also his blood is required. [ How can guilt be a positive force in our lives? Do you think that carring this guilt around has changed these brothers? Here Joseph is apprized of the facts of the matter that he realizes the initial purpose of his brothers was to "intend [him] harm" Previous to that he assumes it was the Midianites who kidnaped him. Thus, Jospeh must have initially thought his brothers just threw him in the pit, and it was the Midianites who pulled him out to what he thought was his rescue, only to discover their intent was to kidnap and sell him to the Ishmaelites. The brothers do not know Joseph ended up being sold into slavery, so they naturally assumed the worst. The result is they now are assuming they are cursed as a result of bringing about Joseph's apparent death. The irony is these events resulted in both Joseph and his brothers being humbled. The adversity has softened the hearts of both parties. ]

23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. [ There was a reason from Joseph's perspective that he remained un associated with them at this point. ]

24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. [ He most likely did it swiftly so that he did not have a chance to show any emotion. I think he has a plan for trying to determine the state of his brothers at the time. Have they learned or are they the same. His heart most likely is softer as he can see that the lord has had his hand in all of this, and Joseph most likely wants to be reunited with his brothers. Why Simeon? We don't know, but Joseph might have had a reason. What are some possible reasons to take Simeon? I would guess that since Simeon is characterized as being a rather mean guy at times that he was one of the instigators when it came to picking on Joseph when they were younger. Why the brothers didn't recognize Joseph? Three factors: 1) Many years had passed, and the brothers assumed he was dead. 2) Joseph's name had changed. 3) He spoke Egyptian (verse 23 indicates that he spoke through an interpreter). ]

25 ¶ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, [ Grain. ] and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.

28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? [ God comes in because they are in essence saying we have bad karma, and it coming back to haunt us. They are not excited that they were undercharged, no they know full well the ramifications. It is going to look as if they stole the grain and kept the money. Not going to turn out well they fear. After all they are dealing with someone who can have them killed just by his word. Thief is punishable by death to all who commit it and a life of slavery to any and all accomplices. ]

29 ¶ And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, [ They made it all the way home. ] and told him all that befell unto them; saying,

30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:

32 We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

34 And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

35 ¶ And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. [ And for good reason. ]

36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, [ This is more true than Jacob even knows. ] and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: [ Reuben in essence says If I do not do everything within my power to bring Benjamin back you can slay two of my son's so that I can feel the same pain as you do. Empathy. ] deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. [ How do you think these brother feel right now? They can see the greif that they have brought on their father by disposing of Joseph and now asking for Benjamin...do you think they are going to let Benjamin get hurt? ]