Genesis 42:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land.

NIV: The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land.

NASB: The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country.

CSB: "The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

NLT: The man who is governor of the land spoke very harshly to us,' they told him. 'He accused us of being spies scouting the land.

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

NKJV: “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

Jacob's sons begin to tell him about their troubling experience in Egypt. They had been sent there by Jacob together to buy grain in this season of famine (Genesis 42:1–5). Now they recount that the governor of the nation roughly accused them of being spies (Genesis 42:7–12). They don't know, yet, that the Egyptian leader was their long-lost brother Joseph (Genesis 42:7–8).

Joseph was the one his ten older brothers jealously sold as a slave some twenty years earlier (Genesis 37:28). In that incident, the men lied to their father by saying Joseph was dead (Genesis 37:31–33). Jacob's reaction was catastrophic (Genesis 37:34–35). Now, they are forced to report the loss of another brother (Genesis 42:18–19, 24), and the potential loss of a third.

Genesis 42:29–38 explains the results of Jacob's sons first trip to Egypt to buy food during a famine. There, the governor allowed them to leave only after keeping leaving Simeon as security, and demanding they return with Benjamin, the youngest, to prove their honesty. They also discovered—to their horror—that the money they paid the governor for grain was still in their bags. They do not know the governor is their own brother, Joseph (Genesis 37:28). However, Jacob refuses to risk losing yet another son and forbids the men to take Benjamin to Egypt.

Genesis 42 describes the moment Joseph sees his brothers for the first time since they sold him into slavery over 20 years earlier. They have come to Egypt to buy grain, and they do not recognize him. He keeps his secret, speaking roughly to them and hinting they may be spies. He allows them to leave only if they promise to return with their youngest brother Benjamin. He keeps Simeon as collateral but sends them off with full sacks of grain for their family. He also secretly returns their money, something they are terrified to discover on the way home. Back in Canaan, Jacob responds to this terrible news with bitterness and vindictive blame.

Twenty years prior to the events of this chapter, Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:28). Miraculously, Joseph is now the governor of the nation of Egypt (Genesis 41:44). His brothers, who know nothing of Joseph's fate, have come to buy food during a terrible famine (Genesis 41:56–57). Joseph, probably and justifiably angry at his brothers, keeps his identity a secret, at first. Over the next several chapters, he will test, challenge, and chasten them. Yet there is no revenge involved; everything Joseph does furthers a long-term goal of rescuing the family from starvation.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/8/2024 1:54:05 PM