Genesis 43 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Genesis 43:1-14

1 Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, ‘Go back and buy us a little more food.’

3 But Judah said to him, ‘The man warned us solemnly, “You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.” 4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, “You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.”’

6 Israel asked, ‘Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?’

7 They replied, ‘The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. “Is your father still living?” he asked us. “Do you have another brother?” We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, “Bring your brother down here”?’

8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, ‘Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. 9 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. 10 As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.’

11 Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be, then do this: put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift – a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. 14 And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.’

A. Find Out:

1. What prompted Jacob to send the brothers back? v.2
2. What did Judah say they must do if they were to return? v.3-5
3. What 2 questions had Joseph asked them? v.7
4. How did Judah step forward? v.9
5. What 3 things did Jacob say they must take? v.11-13
6. How did he describe the Lord? v.14

B. Think:

1. How have circumstances forced Jacob into a corner?
2. How had Joseph forced Jacob into a corner?
3. Why was Judah ‘s offer really great?

C. Comment:

Jacob had decided to abandon Simeon in Egypt.  His love for Benjamin was so great he would not countenance him being sent to Egypt from where he may never return.  No, they must just leave Simeon there!  But now the pressure of famine is pushing Jacob to act.    They cannot carry on without food and only Egypt has the food. They must go back, there is no alternative. 

Perhaps the Lord knows that Jacob will not move without prodding! It is then that the brothers stand firm on Joseph’s instructions. No youngest brother means no food. As they remind Jacob of this, they reveal how Joseph had manipulated them and prized the information out of them. Jacob is angry but there is no alternative, they must go with Benjamin. They have been forced into a corner and there is only one way out. That’s how it is with the Lord sometimes!

It is then that Judah stands out. He volunteers to go and take Benjamin with him. There is obvious risk in this, because of the matter of the silver in the sacks. Joseph has put them in a defensive position even if they return. Old Jacob had been known as a twister before God changed his name to Israel, but it seems that Joseph’s wisdom outsmarts anything Jacob had, and perhaps that is simply because the Lord is with Joseph to bring about His purposes!   Jacob, you still can’t compete with God!

D. Application?

1. Have you a spirit like Judah here and that Jesus on the Cross?
2. Thank and praise the Lord for the way he guides you by both circumstances and by His wisdom.

Passage: Genesis 43:15-25

15 So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, ‘Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.’

17 The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house. 18 Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, ‘We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.’

19 So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20 ‘We beg your pardon, our lord,’ they said, ‘we came down here the first time to buy food. 21 But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver – the exact weight – in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22 We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.’

23 ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them.

24 The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 25 They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.

A. Find Out:

1. Where did Joseph instruct the brothers be taken? v.16b
2. Why? v.16c
3. What did the brothers feel about this? v.18a
4. Why? v.18b
5. What did they tell the steward? v.19-22
6. Why wasn’t he concerned? v.23

B. Think:

1. How do the defensive attitudes of the brothers misconstrue Joseph’s motive?
2. Why do you think the steward was not missing any payment for the grain the brothers had taken?
3. What does this say about Joseph’s position and his attitude towards Egypt?

C. Comment:

The brothers speedily return to Egypt. If they don’t hurry, Jacob back at home will starve. When they arrive and are brought before Joseph, he instructs that they be taken to his own house and prepared to have lunch with him later on in the morning. It is obviously his desire to bless them in his own home. The brothers feel so defensive that they immediately leap to the wrong conclusion and assume the worst. They decide to make a clean breast of the whole thing to the steward and so they share what had happened to them.

The steward’s response is highly illuminating! He simply shrugs it off and says that he had been paid so it must be God who has provided for them. Whether Joseph told him what to say or whether Joseph had quietly provided the money for their grain is not made clear. The latter was probably the case. This would show Joseph’s good attitude in respect of his job. He is a steward for the king and the nation and he will not take personal benefit from it. If that is so then we have yet a further good example to follow! He has provided for his family but at no cost to Pharaoh. Yet again his righteousness is being revealed. How he has changed since that spoil brat of years ago!

D. Application?

1. Do we ever, from guilt or defensiveness, jump to wrong conclusions?
2. Are we good stewards who do not take benefit from our jobs?

Passage: Genesis 43:26-34

26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, ‘How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?’

28 They replied, ‘Your servant our father is still alive and well.’ And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.

29 As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, ‘Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?’ And he said, ‘God be gracious to you, my son.’ 30 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.

31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, ‘Serve the food.’

32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. 33 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. 34 When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

A. Find Out:

1. Who did Joseph enquire after? v.27
2. Who did he next check on? v.29
3. What did he feel when he saw him? v.30
4. How did they eat the meal? v.32
5. How were the brothers seated? v.33a
6. What was their response to this? v.33b
7. How was Benjamin treated? v.34

B. Think:

1. What opinion do you think, had the brothers left with Joseph of  themselves when they had sold him into slavery years before?
2. Why, therefore, do you think he is treating them so carefully today?
3. Why do you think they still don’t recognise him?

C. Comment:

When Joseph comes in for lunch, he enquires of them about their father and is told that he is still alive and well. Joseph had every good ground to mistrust these brothers and so perhaps that was why he took them step by step through this game that he was playing with them. If he revealed himself now, they might leave and never come back and so Joseph may never see his father again. There are still several acts to be played out in this drama to ensure he sees old Jacob again.

When Joseph sees his younger brother again, he is deeply moved to tears but pulls himself together and continues as the aloof Egyptian leader. Everything about him is Egyptian and so that is perhaps why the brothers still don’t recognize him. The brothers are unnerved by the fact that they are placed in order of seniority, even though they have not explained it to this Egyptian leader. This just adds to the sense of mystery! Everything about these trips to Egypt disarms these men who once had been hard and callous. They will never be the same again!  They are dealing with a man of God, even though they don’t realize it, and God is working for their good – even though they don’t realize it!

D. Application?

1. Do you have the same sort of feeling about your closest family that Joseph had about Benjamin?
2. Ask the Lord to deepen family ties or heal up any old family wounds.