Genesis 44

Joseph's Silver Cup

⁽¹⁾ When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph gave these instructions to the man in charge of his household: "Fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man's money back into his sack.

⁽²⁾ Then put my personal silver cup at the top of the youngest brother's sack, along with his grain money." So the household manager did as he was told.

⁽³⁾ The brothers were up at dawn and set out on their journey with their loaded donkeys.

⁽⁴⁾ But when they were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his household manager, "Chase after them and stop them. Ask them, `Why have you repaid an act of kindness with such evil?

⁽⁵⁾ What do you mean by stealing my master's personal silver drinking cup*, which he uses to predict the future? What a wicked thing you have done!' "

*personal silver drinking cup: Did Joseph need a cup to predict the future and to interpret the dreams?

⁽⁶⁾ So the man caught up with them and spoke to them in the way he had been instructed.

⁽⁷⁾ "What are you talking about?" the brothers responded. "What kind of people do you think we are, that you accuse us of such a terrible thing?

⁽⁸⁾ Didn't we bring back the money we found in our sacks? Why would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?

⁽⁹⁾ If you find his cup with any one of us, let that one die. And all the rest of us will be your master's slaves forever."

⁽¹⁰⁾ "Fair enough," the man replied, "except that only the one who stole it will be a slave. The rest of you may go free."

⁽¹¹⁾ They quickly took their sacks from the backs of their donkeys and opened them*.

*opened them: Neither they nor the household manager said anything about the money in the sacks!

⁽¹²⁾ Joseph's servant began searching the oldest brother's sack, going on down the line to the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack!

⁽¹³⁾ At this, they tore their clothing in despair, loaded the donkeys again, and returned* to the city.

*returned: They could have easily left Benjamin behind and gone on, but every one of them stood by Benjamin. They are now a real family standing up for each other and equally concerned about their father, Jacob. If they abandoned Benjamin it would show little change of heart from 20 years ago

⁽¹⁴⁾ Joseph was still at home when Judah* and his brothers arrived, and they fell to the ground** before him.

*Judah: Only Judah is mentioned by name, because he has become the leader of and spokesman for the brothers.

**fell to the ground: Fulfilling Joseph's dream. How do you suppose he felt when he saw this fulfillment?

⁽¹⁵⁾ "What were you trying to do?" Joseph demanded. "Didn't you know that a man such as I would know who stole it?"

⁽¹⁶⁾ And Judah said, "Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we plead? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins*. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves--we and our brother who had your cup in his sack."

*sins: They all know that what they did to Joseph 20 years before was a sin against both Joseph and God and they deserved punishment.

⁽¹⁷⁾ "No," Joseph said. "Only the man who stole the cup will be my slave*. The rest of you may go home to your father."

*slave: Joseph is creating a scene similar to what happened to him in Dothan where his brothers sold him into slavery - to see how they would treat this other son of Rachel. Would they leave Benjamin in slavery and return home or would they offer up their own lives in exchange for Benjamin's?

⁽¹⁸⁾ Then Judah stepped forward* and said, "My lord, let me say just this one word to you. Be patient with me for a moment, for I know you could have me killed in an instant, as though you were Pharaoh himself.

*Judah stepped forward: Once again, Judah is assuming the leadership of the brothers. His older brothers, Reuben, Simeon and Levi remain silent, thus acknowledging Judah's leadership. Remember, Judah was the brother who suggested selling Joseph into slavery! This is the longest speech in Genesis. Notice that Benjamin isn't defending himself.

⁽¹⁹⁾ "You asked us, my lord, if we had a father or a brother.

⁽²⁰⁾ We said, `Yes, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, his youngest son. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him very much.'

⁽²¹⁾ And you said to us, `Bring him here so I can see him.'

⁽²²⁾ But we said to you, `My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for his father would die.'

⁽²³⁾ But you told us, `You may not see me again unless your youngest brother is with you.'

⁽²⁴⁾ So we returned to our father and told him what you had said.

⁽²⁵⁾ And when he said, `Go back again and buy us a little food,'

⁽²⁶⁾ we replied, `We can't unless you let our youngest brother go with us. We won't be allowed to see the man in charge of the grain unless our youngest brother is with us.'

⁽²⁷⁾ Then my father said to us, `You know that my wife had two sons,

⁽²⁸⁾ and that one of them went away and never returned--doubtless torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have never seen him since.

⁽²⁹⁾ If you take away his brother from me, too, and any harm comes to him, you would bring my gray head down to the grave* in deep sorrow.'

*grave: Hebrew Sheol

⁽³⁰⁾ "And now, my lord, I cannot go back to my father without the boy. Our father's life is bound up in the boy's life.

⁽³¹⁾ When he sees that the boy is not with us, our father will die. We will be responsible for bringing his gray head down to the grave in sorrow.

   20 years before, Joseph's brothers showed a callous disregard of their father when reporting Joseph's "death" (Genesis 37:31-33). Judah shows they were now greatly concerned for the feelings and welfare of their father. This is more evidence of a change of heart.

⁽³²⁾ My lord, I made a pledge to my father that I would take care of the boy. I told him, `If I don't bring him back to you, I will bear the blame forever.'

⁽³³⁾ Please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.

   How do you think Benjamin felt while hearing Judah offer to become a slave in Benjamin's place?

   Judah is willing to take Benjamin's place - as Jesus did for us. Perhaps, this is why Jesus came through Judah's line rather than Joseph's or Reuben's - As Jacob foretold in Genesis 49:8-10. Judah's faithful adherence to Benjamin, now in his distress, was recompensed long after by the constant adherence of the tribe of Benjamin to the tribe of Judah, when all the other ten tribes deserted it.

⁽³⁴⁾ For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I cannot bear* to see what this would do to him."

*bear: They remember how Jacob handled Joseph's "death" and didn't want to do that to him again. Their secret was catching up with them.

   What a contrast to their attitude about Jacob losing Joseph! This is what Joseph is looking for - how have they changed? However, this entire scenario is even bigger than Joseph's testing. God is testing them too - not to see how they'll do; he already knows the answer to that, of course. He's training them and developing their character by making them sweat and making them make tough choices and decisions. Notice who seems to rise to the occasion here - Judah!

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On-Line Sources:

• BibleGateway: www.biblegateway.com


• Bible.org: www.bible.org


• Chuck Missler: www.blueletterbible.org/audio_video/missler_chuck


• Crosswalk: http://bible.crosswalk.com


• Gleanings in Genesis: www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Gleanings_Genesis/genesis.htm


• Jewish Encyclopedia: www.jewishencyclopedia.com


• Joseph Tests His Brothers - David Guzik: http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0144.htm


• "Joseph was Imhotep of Egypt": http://www.arkdiscovery.com/joseph.htm


• Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible: www.ccel.org/h/henry/mhc2/MHC00000.HTM


• Scripture Studies - Genesis 43-44: http://www.scripturestudies.com/Vol5/E7/e7_ot.htmll


• The Final Test: Dothan Relived : http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=122


• Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.org

Off-Line Sources:

• American Heritage^® Dictionary fourth Edition - 2003


• "New International Biblical Commentary - Genesis" – John E. Hartley – Hendrickson Publishers


• "New Living Translation" – Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.


• "The Genesis Record" – Henry M. Morris – Baker Book House