Genesis 42:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.

NIV: But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him.

NASB: But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, 'I am afraid that harm may happen to him.'

CSB: But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, "Something might happen to him."

NLT: But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him.

KJV: But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

NKJV: But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.”

A famine has gripped the world. Like so many others, Jacob's large family (Genesis 35:23–26; 37:1) would face starvation if they can not find food. News has reached them that grain can be purchased in Egypt (Genesis 41:53–54). Impatient at their lack of action, Jacob sends his ten oldest sons to buy what they can (Genesis 42:1–3).

However, Jacob does not send his youngest son Benjamin. Benjamin and Joseph were the only sons of Jacob's beloved late wife Rachel (Genesis 35:16–19). Thanks to a jealous lie, Jacob believes his son Joseph is dead (Genesis 37:31–34), when in truth he was sold by his ten older brothers (Genesis 37:28). It is those same ten brothers who are about to enter Egypt to buy food—not knowing that the man they need to see is their own lost brother (Genesis 41:46, 53–54).

Even in his old age, we recognize the patterns of Jacob's life. Jacob has already lost both Rachel and Joseph. He lives in fear of harm coming to Benjamin, as well. His decisions are still driven by anxiety. He still gives preferential treatment to Rachel and her children, over his other wives and their sons (Genesis 37:3–4).

Genesis 42:1–17 contains the unlikeliest of reunions: that between Joseph and his ten oldest brothers (Genesis 37:28). They have been sent by Jacob to Egypt to buy grain during a terrible famine (Genesis 41:53–54). They don't recognize their brother, now an Egyptian ruler. Joseph knows them but keeps the secret; he responds harshly to avoid breaking the illusion. He then puts them in prison for three days, saying they might be spies. All the while, he has a plan in mind.

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.