Genesis 44:19 | 85 men had been seat ed be fore him in the or der of their ages, from the first born to the youn gest; and they looked at each oth er in as ton ish ment. 34 When portions were served to them from Jo seph’ s ta ble, Benja min’ s por tion was five times as much as any one else’ s. So they feast ed and drank free ly with him.
A Silver Cup in a Sack
Now Jo seph gave these in struc tions to the
44 stew ard of his house:“ Fill the men’ s sacks with as much food as they can car ry, and put each man’ s sil ver in the mouth of his sack. 2 Then put my cup, the sil ver one, in the mouth of the youngest 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 repaid good with evil? 5 Isn’ t this the cup my mas ter drinks from and also uses for div i na tion? This is a wick ed 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. 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; and the rest of us will become my lord’ s slaves.”
10
“ Very well, then,” he said,“ let it be as you say. Who ev er is found to have it will be come my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.”
11
Each of them quick ly low ered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12 Then the stew ard pro ceed ed 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. 13 At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all load ed 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. 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?”
16
“ What can we say to my lord?” Ju dah re plied.“ What can we say? How can we prove our in nocence? God has un cov ered your ser vants’ guilt. We are now my lord’ s slaves— we our selves and the one who was found to have the cup.”
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 with your ser vant, though you are equal to Phar aoh him self. 19 My lord asked
43:32 the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves Joseph eats alone because he is a member of the political elite. The other Egyptians eat apart from Joseph’ s brothers because of a cultural sense of racial superiority. Egyptian art often portrays Semites and other foreigners as inferior. Egyptian artifacts— such as footrests decorated with foreigners— show that foreigners like Semites were viewed as people who could be treaded upon by Egyptians.
44:1 – 34 Joseph devises one final test to determine his brothers’ true character. He hides a divination cup in Benjamin’ s sack of grain and accuses the brothers of stealing it. Vehemently denying the charge and confident of their innocence, they promise the life of the thief. Much to their chagrin, the silver cup turns up in Benjamin’ s sack. In response, Judah makes a passionate plea before Joseph and offers his life as a ransom for Benjamin’ s.
44:2 silver References to silver occur repeatedly in the Joseph story( chs. 37 – 45). Here, the reference conveys the irony of the situation: Joseph’ s brothers sold him into slavery for 20 pieces of silver( 37:28); now Joseph uses a silver object to test them and drive them into a state of panic. 44:5 uses for divination The narrative never states explicitly that Joseph practiced divination, although Joseph seems to suggest that he did( v. 15). Divination often involved determining the will of a deity by using some sort of object, like the cup referenced in v. 2. If Joseph did practice divination, then he could have practiced it in a way that fit with belief in Yahweh( compare Lev 16:8). Although the usage of a cup in divination is never specifically allowed, the casting of lots is. Joseph also could have practiced Egyptian divination, which was later prohibited, as it meant syncretism and calling upon foreign deities( see Dt 18:9 – 14). There are some possible indicators that Joseph was an Egyptian diviner: He married the daughter of an Egyptian priest and seems to become fully assimilated as an Egyptian, to the point that his brothers do not even recognize him( Ge 41:42 – 45; compare note on 42:15). Compare note on 44:15. 44:9 he will die Neither OT law nor known Egyptian legal material require the death penalty for property crimes of this nature. 44:13 tore their clothes This was Reuben’ s response when he thought his brothers had killed Joseph( see Ge 37:29 and note). Jacob exhibited this same response when he learned of Joseph’ s untimely demise( see 37:34). Now, in light of Benjamin’ s impending death and their father’ s certain grief, all the brothers repeat this gesture. 44:15 divination Joseph could be referencing his gift of receiving prophetic dreams and interpreting them or some other form of divination, such as using the cup referenced in 44:2 for divination. See note on 44:5.
44:19 – 26 In this section Judah recounts the events of 42:10 – 20 and 43:1 – 5. By repeating these events and showing Benjamin’ s importance to his father— particularly in vv. 27 – 31— Judah provides the basis for his appeal in v. 33. Joseph didn’ t hear the brothers’ conversation with their father in Canaan, so Judah hopes that this background will cause Joseph to consider their father’ s best interests.