Genesis 42.1-5-Jacob Sends Ten Sons To Egypt
Sunday January 28, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 42:1-5-Jacob Sends Ten Sons To Egypt
Lesson # 271
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 42:1.
This morning we will begin a study of Genesis 42, which consists of three sections: (1) Jacob sends his sons to Egypt (42:1-5). (2) Joseph’s brothers have two audiences with him (42:6-26). (3) Joseph’s brothers return to Jacob in Canaan (42:27-38).
This morning we will study the first section contained in Genesis 42:1-5, which presents to us the record of Jacob sending his sons to Egypt to buy grain in order to deal with the problem of the famine in Canaan.
As we studied in Genesis 41:53-57, there was not only a famine in Egypt but also in the countries surrounding Egypt and the entire earth, thus Canaan where Jacob’s family lived was a victim of famine.
Genesis 42:1, “Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, ‘Why are you staring at one another?’”
Genesis 42:2, “He said, ‘Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.’”
Genesis 42:3, “Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.”
Genesis 42:4, “But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, ‘I am afraid that harm may befall him.’”
Genesis 42:5, “So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.”
At this point in the narrative Jacob is approximately 130 years of age while Joseph was 39.
This is indicated by the following:
Genesis 37:2 records Joseph as 17 years old when he was sold into slavery and Genesis 41:46 records Joseph as 30 years old when he became prime minister of Egypt.
Therefore, a comparison of Genesis 37:2 with 41:46 indicates that Joseph was incarcerated in Egypt for 13 years and 14 if we count his 17th year.
Also, at the end of the seven years of prosperity in Egypt, Joseph must have been 37 years of age since he became prime minister at 30 years of age when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream.
In Genesis 45:6, after reuniting with his brothers, Joseph mentions to his brothers that two years of famine had already transpired and that five more remained.
Right after this conversation that Joseph had with his brothers, Jacob moved to Egypt and reunited with Joseph according to Genesis 46.
Therefore, the fact that Joseph was 37 after the seven years of prosperity and that he met his father after two years of famine indicates that Joseph was 39 years of age (or 40 if we count his 17th year) when he was reunited with his father Jacob and his brothers during the seven years of famine.
So if Joseph was 39 years of age when he was reunited with his father Jacob and became prime minister at 30 and was sold into slavery at 17, then Joseph was in Egypt for 22 years when he was reunited with his father Jacob.
During Joseph’s time as prime minister it appears that he did not attempt to contact his brothers because he remembered how they hated him for the dreams and for his long sleeved multicolored tunic as well as the content of his dreams.
He must have wondered to himself how much more jealous they would be if they saw him in his position as prime minister with a gold chain around his neck and Pharaoh’s signet ring on his finger.
He knew if they were still jealous he could not have fellowship with them and they might not accept his help.
He apparently kept these things in mind and was ready to deal with them when they arrived in Egypt to buy grain and then, the time came when they needed his help.
Genesis 42:1, “Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, ‘Why are you staring at one another?’”
Genesis 42:2, “He said, ‘Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.’”
Canaan experienced famine quite often since there was one in this land in the time of Abraham (See Genesis 12:10), there was one in the days of Isaac (See Genesis 26:1) and now a third in the time of Jacob.
In fact, Stephen alludes to this famine in the days of Jacob in Acts 7:11, stating that there was great affliction, and the patriarchs found no sustenance.
The faith of each one of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was tested by famine.
Jacob demonstrates that he is still actively leading his family by his decisiveness and taking the initiative in dealing with the famine in Canaan and ordering his sons to go to Egypt to buy grain whereas in marked contrast, his sons demonstrate their indecisiveness.
The indecisiveness of Jacob’s sons is manifested in that Jacob says to them, “why are you staring at one another?”
“Why are you staring at one another” is composed of the interrogative lammah (hMl) (law-maw), “why” and the verb ra`ah (har) (raw-aw), which is in the hithpael (reflexive) stem indicating that Jacob’s sons stared questioningly at one another, waiting for the other to suggest the next move.
The indecisiveness of Jacob’s sons is due to the fact that they all regarded Egypt with apprehension since they sold Joseph to Ishmaelite/Midianites who were heading down to Egypt where they sold Joseph to Potiphar in Egypt.
Jacob’s sons knew that there was grain in Egypt, they heard the reports and saw the caravans laden with grain but they hesitated because of their collective guilty conscience, remembering how they sold their brother into slavery in Egypt.
The sound of the word Egypt stirred their collective conscience, reminding them of their mistreatment of Joseph and so Egypt was the last place that they wanted to go.
Joseph’s ten brothers were living with a guilty secret for over twenty years and must have thought often of Joseph, wondering what happened to him in Egypt.
As we will see later on this chapter and the ones to follow Jacob never stopped grieving for Joseph, which in turn reminded his sons of the crime they committed against Joseph some twenty years before.
Jacob’s decisiveness and initiative is demonstrated in his statement “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.’”
After a period of over twenty years, Jacob reemerges once again as a man of action, exercising his authority over his family and initiative in a crisis.
In Genesis 42:1, Jacob informs his sons that he “saw” (Hebrew verb ra’ah) that there was grain in Egypt indicating that he observed his neighbors the Canaanites returning from Egypt laden with grain.
In Genesis 42:2, he says that he “heard” (Hebrew verb shama`) that there was grain in Egypt indicating that Jacob had listened carefully to reports from caravan traders like the Ishmaelites or from the Canaanites that there was grain in Egypt.
Genesis 42:3, “Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt.”
The designation the “brothers of Joseph” foreshadows and anticipates the impending meeting and reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers.
Joseph’s “ten brothers” refers to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan and Naphtali (See Genesis 30:1-8).
In Genesis 42:1-2, the word “grain” is the noun shever (rb#v#) (sheh-ver), which derives its meaning from the verb shavar (rb^v*) (shaw-var), which means, “to break” hence “that which breaks out of the shell,” that is “grain.”
Shever refers clearly to “grain” since grain was a major staple and major item of the marketplace in Egypt and around the world in the days of the patriarchs.
Further indicating that this word refers to grain is that in Genesis 41:7 the noun shibboleth (tl#B)v!) (shib-bo-leth) appears which in Egypt would be wheat.
Egypt was famous in the ancient world not only for its cattle but also its wheat and was known as the breadbasket of the Roman Empire.
In Genesis 42:3, the word “grain” is the noun bar (rB^) (bawr), which according to its root means, “pure” thus emphasizing the pure, clean grain after the chaff has been removed or in other words, after it has been winnowed.
Genesis 42:4, “But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, ‘I am afraid that harm may befall him.’”
“Benjamin” (/YM!Y*N+b!) (bin-yaw-mene) was the lone full brother of Joseph since they had the same mother “Rachel” whereas the mothers of Jacob’s other ten sons were Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah (See Genesis 30:22-24, Genesis 35:18, 43:29).
His mother Rachel died giving birth to him as recorded in Genesis 35:16-20 and she originally named him “Ben-oni,” which means, “son of my sorrow,” which expressed her anguish and pain she experienced while giving birth to him.
However, Jacob did not want his son to feel guilty for the death of his mother but rather wanted him to feel loved and that he was fortunate to have him and so he changed the child’s name to “Benjamin,” which means, “son of my right hand.”
The right hand in the ancient world denoted power or a man’s strength.
“Benjamin” was also the only one of Jacob’s sons that was born in the land of Canaan since his other eleven sons and his daughter Dinah were born in Paddan Aram.
Like his eleven brothers, “Benjamin” became the progenitor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, which bears his name.
He is the focal point of the encounter of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt when the former was the prime minister of Egypt and unrecognized by his brothers.
Jacob states to his sons that the reason why he is not sending Benjamin with them to Egypt is that “I am afraid that harm may befall him,” which demonstrates a lack of faith in God’s protection for Benjamin.
Benjamin’s mother Rachel died giving birth to him and Jacob was deceived by his sons into thinking that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.
Therefore, Jacob was fearful that misfortune would happen to Benjamin as well and so he kept Benjamin close by and was overly protective of him.
The designation “Joseph’s brother Benjamin” reveals that Jacob’s family is still plagued by favoritism in that he is partial to Benjamin just as he was to Joseph since both boys were sons of his favorite wife Rachel.
While the other ten sons were sent to Egypt, Benjamin was kept near, under the watchful eye of his father.
Therefore, Jacob guards Benjamin with a fear that has grown out of his loss of Joseph, which he has never recovered from.
So right at the beginning of this new act in the drama, the narrator reminds us of the emotional bonds between Jacob and Benjamin.
Benjamin is now the apple of his father’s eye like Joseph was and as his mother was.
So Jacob continues to demonstrate more affection towards Benjamin, the child of his favorite wife Rachel than the children of Leah.
Genesis 42:5, “So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.”
The designation “the sons of Israel” emphasizes the national identity of Israel/Jacob’s sons and not their personal identity as Jacob’s sons.
This designation is significant because the trip taken by Jacob’s sons to Egypt had great implications for Jacob’s family who were the progenitors of the twelve tribes of the nation that bore his father’s name.
The nation of Israel was in its infancy at this time and this trip to Egypt would lead to their deliverance from the famine and relocation to Egypt for over four hundred years.
This designation identifies Jacob/Israel’s sons by their national designation, numbering them among the various ethnic groups inhabiting the land of Canaan that went to Egypt to buy grain.
The brothers will enter Egypt as a nation in its infancy whereas their descendants will leave four hundred years later as a powerful nation.
Therefore, we see that sons of Israel arrive in Egypt along with the other Canaanite groups to buy grain and yet as we will see, they alone attract attention in Egypt since Joseph is now the prime minister of Egypt responsible for the distribution of grain in Egypt.