Genesis 42:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

NIV: Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, 'You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.'

NASB: And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and he said to them, 'You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.'

CSB: Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, "You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land."

NLT: And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, 'You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.'

KJV: And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

NKJV: Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

Genesis now reminds us of the prophetic dreams from Joseph's boyhood (Genesis 37:5–11). Joseph thinks of them in this moment. He had dreamed he and his brother were binding sheaves in the field. His sheaf stood up; all their sheaves bowed down before him. In another dream, the sun, moon, and 11 stars were bowing before him as stand-ins for his parents and brothers. Partly in response to those dreams, the ten older brothers jealously sold Joseph as a slave (Genesis 37:28). Some twenty years later, Joseph is the governor of all Egypt (Genesis 41:46–47, 53–54), and his brothers are unknowingly bowing before him as they seek to buy food (Genesis 42:1–6). Joseph certainly remembers how his brothers had hated him for telling about his God-given dreams. Now ten of them have done exactly what the dreams foretold.

At first, it would seem Joseph intends to use his power as Egypt's governor to do harm to his brothers. He accuses them of being foreign spies. He insists they have come to gather intelligence on Egypt's weaknesses for an enemy nation. Foreign spies could be executed for the sake of national security. It would be easy for Joseph to take his full revenge against his brothers if he so chose. No one could blame him for being angry when faced with his traitorous brothers. And yet, Joseph is not looking for vengeance (Genesis 41:23–24); he is working on an immediate plan to test—and ultimately rescue—his brothers (Genesis 47:11–12).

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.