92 | Genesis 44:1
A Silver Cup in a Sack
Now Jo seph gave these in struc tions to the stew ard of his house:“ Fill the men’ s
44 sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’ s sil ver in the mouth of his sack. t 2 Then put my cup, the sil ver one, in the mouth of the youn gest one’ s sack, along with the sil ver for his grain.” And he did as Jo seph said.
3 As morn ing dawned, the men were sent on their way with their don keys. 4 They had not gone far from the city when Jo seph said to his stew ard,“ Go af ter those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them,‘ Why have you re paid good with evil? u 5 Isn’ t this the cup my mas ter drinks from and also uses for div i na tion? v This is a wicked thing you have done.’”
6 When he caught up with them, he re peated these words to them. 7 But they said to him,“ Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your ser vants to do any thing like that! 8 We even brought back to you from the land of Ca naan the sil ver we found in side the mouths of our sacks. w So why would we steal sil ver or gold from your mas ter’ s house? 9 If any of your ser vants is found to have it, he will die; x and the rest of us will be come my lord’ s slaves.”
10“ Very well, then,” he said,“ let it be as you say. Who ever is found to have it will be come my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”
11 Each of them quickly low ered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12 Then the steward pro ceeded to search, be gin ning with the old est and end ing with the youn gest. And the cup was found in Ben ja min’ s sack. y 13 At this, they tore their clothes. z Then they all loaded their don keys and re turned to the city.
14 Jo seph was still in the house when Ju dah and his broth ers came in, and they threw them selves to the ground be fore him. a 15 Jo seph said to them,“ What is this you have done? Don’ t you know that a man like me can find things out by div i na tion? b”
16“ What can we say to my lord?” Ju dah re plied.“ What can we say? How can we prove our in no cence? God has un cov ered your ser vants’ guilt. We are now my lord’ s slaves c— we our selves and the one who was found to have the cup. d”
17 But Jo seph said,“ Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will be come my slave. The rest of you, go back to your fa ther in peace.”
18 Then Ju dah went up to him and said:“ Par don your ser vant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be an gry e with your ser vant, though you are equal to Phar aoh himself. 19 My lord asked his ser vants,‘ Do you have a fa ther or a brother?’ f 20 And we answered,‘ We have an aged fa ther, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. g His brother is dead, h and he is the only one of his moth er’ s sons left, and his fa ther loves him.’ i
44:1 t Ge 42:25 44:4 u Ps 35:12
44:5 v Ge 30:27; Dt 18:10‐14
44:8 w Ge 42:25; 43:21 44:9 x Ge 31:32 44:12 y ver 2
44:13 z Ge 37:29; Nu 14:6; 2Sa 1:11
44:14 a Ge 37:7, 10 44:15 b ver 5; Ge 30:27
44:16 c ver 9; Ge 43:18 d ver 2
44:18 e Ge 18:30; Ex 32:22
44:19 f Ge 43:7
44:20 g Ge 37:3 h Ge 37:33 i Ge 42:13
44:1 – 34 A Silver Cup in a Sack. Joseph instigates a plan to determine how his older brothers view their youngest brother, Benjamin. Will they treat him as callously as they had Joseph? How will they react when Benjamin is accused of misappropriating Joseph’ s silver cup? Remarkably, Judah not only pleads at length for Benjamin’ s release but willingly offers to become Joseph’ s slave so that Benjamin may return home safely to Canaan. Judah’ s intervention contrasts sharply with his earlier willingness to sell Joseph into slavery( 37:26 – 27). 44:1 – 2 steward. This unnamed individual held a position of considerable importance within Joseph’ s house and was worthy of respect( see vv. 7 – 10). Joseph issues similar instructions to those that he gave when his brothers previously left Egypt( 42:25). In addition, he commands that his own silver cup be placed in Benjamin’ s sack. 44:4 – 5 As part of the ruse by which Joseph intends to discern the attitude of his brothers, he sends his steward after them. 44:5 for divination. Possibly with a sense of irony, Joseph describes his cup as one used for gaining knowledge by supernatural means. It seems unlikely that Joseph practiced divination, something God later prohibited( Deut 18:10; see 2 Kgs 17:17; Jer 14:14; see note on 30:27). However, he obviously wished to make his brothers believe that he could discern things supernaturally( v. 15). Ironically, the cup becomes the means by which he gains an insight into the present inner nature of his brothers. 44:9 – 10 Joseph’ s steward imposes a less demanding punishment than the brothers suggest. He, unlike them, is fully aware of the ruse. Their proposal that the guilty party be put to death is their way of claiming that they, being innocent, have nothing to fear from the charge made against them. 44:13 tore their clothes. A visible demonstration of their grief as they contemplate Benjamin’ s fate. 44:14 Judah and his brothers. The narrator anticipates the special role that Judah will play in mediating Benjamin’ s release. they threw themselves to the ground before him. Joseph’ s brothers fulfill his dreams a third time( see note on 43:26). 44:15 find things out by divination. Joseph’ s steward described the silver cup as what Joseph“ uses for divination”( v. 5). However, having orchestrated all that occurred, Joseph did not need to rely on divination to discover what happened. This reference to divination is another part of the ruse. By emphasizing his own ability to know things that are hidden, Joseph puts his brothers under pressure to speak the truth. 44:16 God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. Judah’ s response is striking, probably alluding to how they earlier treated Joseph.
What they did in the past places them under divine judgment. Because they sold their brother into slavery, their punishment is to be enslaved also. Remarkably, in light of Joseph’ s earlier dreams( 37:5 – 11), Judah declares that he and his brothers are“ now my lord’ s slaves.” 44:17 In spite of how his brothers treated him, Joseph does not seek vengeance. Rather, he will let his older brothers return to Canaan, keeping only Benjamin as a slave. No doubt Joseph is especially keen to see how Judah and his brothers will respond to this proposal. Will they place their own well-being above Benjamin’ s? 44:18 – 34 Judah’ s speech to Joseph is lengthy; most human speeches in Genesis are short. Humbly acknowledging Joseph’ s special status as“ equal to Phar aoh”( v. 18), Judah pleads passionately for the release of Benjamin, outlining in some detail how the loss of Benjamin would severely affect his father. Having guaranteed the safe return of Benjamin, Judah offers himself as a slave in his place. More than anything else, Judah wants to prevent his father from suffering further grief. Judah’ s impassioned appeal to Joseph sharply contrasts with his previous proposal to sell Joseph into slavery( 37:26 – 27). Now Judah himself is prepared to suffer loss of freedom and great hardship in order that Benjamin not be enslaved in Egypt.