Day 15. Genesis 43-46

[Brother V]

Genesis 43-46

Today we get:

More famine

Joseph messing with his brothers more.

The big reveal.

The entire clan moving to Egypt.

Genesis 43

1 And the famine was sore in the land.

Remember, Simeon is still in jail in Egypt.

2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

They left their brother in jail during the time that they ate all their grain. Of course it was probably only a few months or so that had passed during this time.

Judah reminds his father that they can't go buy more grain unless Benjamin goes with them.

Israel/Jacob asks "why did you for once tell the truth?"

6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

Judah again promises that nothing will happen to Benjamin.

Israel tells them to take gifts to the guy they were buying staples from, and double the money to buy more grain, and pay for the last corn they bought.

He finally relents and lets them take Benjamin.

14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

How comforting is it to accept what God is offering. Similar to Abraham offering up Isaac, Israel says "if i be bereaved, i am bereaved"

They arrive in Egypt, Joseph sees 11 brothers now, so he tells his servant to prepare a feast.

This rather shocked the brothers, and they thought they were going to be punished.

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.

They get over their anxiety and go to the feast.

34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of their's. And they drank, and were merry with him.

It's nice when brothers can get together and have a meal. Just kick back, relax, with no nagging spouses and no whining children.

Genesis 44.

Joseph then fills their bags with grain again, and again gives them back their money.

Then he has a plan.

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.

Then he tells the servant that he's gonna chase down the brothers and accuse them of stealing, and this is after he was sooooo nice to them.

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?


7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:

Yeah, those brothers would never do anything shady. But this time, they really didn't do anything, so they say:


9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.

The servant reaches the brothers, and searches the bags, in order of the brothers age.

12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

OH ---F U D G E

13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

They just made a promise that whoever was found with the cup would be killed and the rest would be servants, well, the cup was in Benjamin's bag.

The brothers show up at Joseph's place, and Judah starts begging for Benjamin's life.

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.

Joseph decides he'll just take Benjamin to be his servant.

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.

Any of us but Benjamin... PLEASE!!!

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.

Genesis 45

1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

Joseph couldn't hold it back anymore, he told his brothers it was him.

3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

This probably scared the brothers even more, after all, they did sell him into slavery, and now they've stolen from him. Joseph (technically) has every right to kill them all.

5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

See, everything that happened, it was all God's plan, so that we could get to this moment, the most important time. Right NOW!

9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

Joseph wants to see his father.

He sets aside a place for them in Goshen, and he will take care of his family for the last 5 years of the famine.

15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

They finally got over their fear that Joseph would be angry with them, as they would probably have been really really really angry with him, if it had been done to them.

Joseph takes his brothers to go see pharaoh, who also invites them to live in Egypt.

The brothers make it back to Canaan, and get tell their father.

Genesis 46

1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

He talks to God who says don't be afraid to go into Egypt, God will take care of him/them.

6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

7 His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

Now we get a list of everyone who went into Egypt.

Joseph's 11 boys, daughter, wives, and their children.

For example:

12 And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.

Um?

26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

That's 66.

27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

That's 70.

Jacob sends Judah ahead to find out where Goshen is, and Joseph finally (after all this time) gets to see his dad again.

29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

And that pretty much ends todays reading.

So what have we learned?

1. Simeon was in jail for quite some time.

2. The brothers brought Benjamin.

3. There was a feast, Joseph puts his cup into Benjamin's bag.

4. Joseph finally tells his brothers that it's him.

5. 66 people travel into Egypt, bringing the total to 70 (Joseph, his wife and their 2 boys).

6. Jacob and Joseph meet again. I wonder, does this mean that Benjamin is no longer the favorite son?

YIC
V

[Herecome, Heresy, Hereconquer]

Re: Day 15. Genesis 43-46

7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

See, everything that happened, it was all God's plan, so that we could get to this moment, the most important time. Right NOW!

9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

Noting both the mention of "deliverance" and the use of the phrase "come down unto me," is this the reason for the clan to pack up and move to Egypt? Was Egypt some sort of fortress of foul fellatio before the times of Jesus? This all happened before the time of Moses, right? It would be rather silly for the LORD to write His canon in any case but chronologically.

[repented harlot70]

Re: Day 15. Genesis 43-46

6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

7 His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.


Packing, ugh.

[Pure_Angel]

Re: Day 15. Genesis 43-46

Very intresting... as always! Praise the lord Brother V!

Yours in Christ
Elisabeth

[Prayer Warrior]

If you read the Joseph story straight through (Genesis 42–45), it’s pretty clear that Joseph isn’t messing with his brothers just to be petty. He’s doing something very specific: he’s testing whether they’re still the kind of men who would sell a brother to save themselves, and Benjamin is the key to that test.

When the brothers show up in Egypt, Joseph recognizes them immediately:

“And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.”
(Genesis 42:8)

At this point Joseph has all the power. If revenge were the goal, he could’ve gotten it right then and there. Instead, he pretends not to know them and starts questioning them. That alone tells you Joseph isn’t acting on emotional impulse, he's deliberate.

First he accuses them of being spies:

“Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.”
(Genesis 42:9)

Why do this? Because pressure reveals character. Under accusation, they stick together, explain who they are, and, mportantly, they bring up Benjamin on their own:

“We be twelve brethren… the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.”
(Genesis 42:13)

That line “one is not” is crucial, Joseph is listening very carefully.

Then Joseph locks up Simeon and sends the rest home, demanding they bring Benjamin back:

“And he took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes.”
(Genesis 42:24)

This already mirrors the past. Years earlier, they ditched Joseph and went home without him. Now the question is simple: will they do it again?

But notice, they don’t.

Instead, they openly acknowledge guilt:

“We are verily guilty concerning our brother…”
(Genesis 42:21)

That’s huge. No one forced that confession.

When they finally return with Benjamin, Joseph turns the pressure up again. At the feast, he openly favors him:

“Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs.”
(Genesis 43:34)

If you’re Joseph, you’re basically recreating the coat-of-many-colors situation. Favoritism caused the first betrayal, does it still?

Nothing happens. No jealousy. No resentment.

So Joseph goes for the final and most brutal test. He hides his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack and has him accused of theft:

“He with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.”
(Genesis 44:17)

This is almost a replay of Genesis 37:

• a favored younger brother
• falsely accused
• facing slavery
• everyone else offered an out

This is the moment. If they leave Benjamin behind, Joseph learns everything he needs to know.

But instead, Judah steps forward: the same Judah who once suggested selling Joseph.

And he says:

“Let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord.”
(Genesis 44:33)

That’s the entire test right there.

They went from:

“What profit is it if we slay our brother?” (Genesis 37:26)

to:

“Let me take his place.”

That’s not just surface-level regret. That’s real reform.

Only after this does Joseph break down and reveal himself:

“I am Joseph.”
(Genesis 45:3)

In other words:
Joseph wasn’t waiting for apology.
He was waiting for transformation.

He needed to know whether Benjamin would be protected the way he never was, and Judah’s offer proves the brothers are no longer the same men.

Honestly, it’s one of the most psychologically realistic repentance narratives in the Bible.

Why Judah?


If you’re wondering “Why Judah of all people?”, you’re not wrong to ask. Earlier in Genesis, Judah isn’t exactly the hero. He’s the one who originally suggested selling Joseph:

“What profit is it if we slay our brother… Come, and let us sell him.”
(Genesis 37:26–27)

But later, Judah personally guarantees Benjamin’s safety:

“I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him.”
(Genesis 43:9)

Reuben earlier offered his sons as collateral (which is… weird and unhelpful). Judah makes a binding promise, and when push comes to shove, he honors it.

He also finally understands what this would do to Jacob:

“If I come not again to thy servant my father… then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”
(Genesis 44:31)

That’s a massive shift from earlier Judah, who didn’t seem to care much about his father’s grief when Joseph disappeared.

Jacob later recognizes this change:

“Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.”
(Genesis 49:8)

And then comes something no other son receives, kingship language:

“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet.”
(Genesis 49:10)

Why? Because rulership in Genesis isn’t about birth order or moral perfection. It’s about who stands in the gap when it costs them. From Judah → David → Jesus Christ


David comes from Judah’s tribe, and you can see the same pattern:

• takes responsibility for Israel
• offers himself for the people
• admits guilt when confronted
• is chosen despite older brothers

Sound familiar?

Even in his failures, David eventually repents rather than deflects. That echoes Judah’s arc almost perfectly.

Matthew makes the lineage explicit:

“Judah begat Phares… and Jesse begat David the king.”
(Matthew 1:2–6)

Luke reinforces it:

“Which was the son of Juda.”
(Luke 3:33)

And the New Testament is intentional here. Jesus doesn’t come from Levi (the priestly line) or Joseph’s favored line. He comes from Judah, the tribe marked by intercession and substitution.

Judah says:

Let me take his place.

Jesus says:

“The Son of man came… to give his life a ransom for many.”
(Matthew 20:28)

Judah’s moment in Genesis 44 explains why his tribe carries kingship forward.

Not because Judah was better than the others, but because he learned, repented, and acted differently when tested again.

The Bible isn’t saying:

“Judah was sinless.”

It’s saying:

“Judah learned to bear the cost himself instead of letting the innocent pay.”

That’s why David comes from Judah.
That’s why Jesus comes from Judah.

Same line. Same pattern. Same choice, taken to its ultimate conclusion.