Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed do divination?”
Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? How will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”
He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’ You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ We said to my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’ When we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’ We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’ Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. One went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces;” and I haven’t seen him since. If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’ Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life; it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’ Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my lord’s slave; and let the boy go up with his brothers. For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?—lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. Behold, we are my lord’s servants. They had…
16. Behold, we are my lord’s servants. They had before called themselves servants through modesty; now they consign themselves over to him as slaves. But in the case of Benjamin they plead for a mitigation of the severity of the punishment; and this is a kind of entreaty, that he might not be capitally punished, as they had agreed to, at the first.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 20, 21, 26, 27, 29, 30, 34 If we see no evident cause of our affliction,…
If we see no evident cause of our affliction, let us look to the secret counsel of God, who punisheth us justly for our sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 30, 31, 32, 34 Gen 44:14 And Judah and his brethren came to…
Gen 44:14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he [was] yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.
Ver. 14. They fell before him on the ground.] Humble submission, they knew, if anything, would make their peace, and procure their pardon -
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“Sic ventos vincit, dumse submittit arundo.”
It is no hoisting up sail in a storm, no standing before a lion, &c. William the Conqueror often pardoned rebels, and received them into favour; as he held submission satisfactory for the greatest offences, and sought not to defeat them, but their enterprises. {a}
{a} Dan., Hist., fol. 51.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 27, 30, 33 Judah speaks in the cause, as being one of…
Judah speaks in the cause, as being one of the eldest, and a person of most gravity and discretion, and readiness of speech, and most eminently concerned for his brother.
God hath found out the iniquity, viz. this iniquity, of which it seems some of us are guilty, and God hath discovered it. Or iniquity may be put for iniquities; whether we are guilty of this fact or not, we are certainly guilty of many other sins, for which God is now punishing us, to whose providence we therefore willingly submit.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v18 We have here a most ingenious and pathetic speech…
We have here a most ingenious and pathetic speech which Judah made to Joseph on Benjamin's behalf, to obtain his discharge from the sentence passed upon him. Perhaps Judah was a better friend to Benjamin than the rest were, and more solicitous to bring him off; or he thought himself under greater obligations to attempt it than the rest, because he had passed his word to his father for his safe return; or the rest chose him for their spokesman, because he was a man of better sense, and better spirit, and had a greater command of language than any of them. His address, as it is here recorded, is so very natural and so expressive of his present feelings that we cannot but suppose Moses, who wrote it so long after, to have written it under the special direction of him that made man's mouth.
I. A great deal of unaffected art, and unstudied unforced rhetoric, there is in this speech. 1. He addresses himself to Joseph with a great deal of respect and deference, calls him his lord, himself and his brethren his servants, begs his patient hearing, and ascribes sovereign authority to him: "Thou art even as Pharaoh, one whose favour we desire and whose wrath we dread as we do Pharaoh's." Religion does not destroy good manners, and it is prudence to speak respectfully to those at whose mercy we lie: titles of honour to those that are entitled to them are not flattering titles. 2. He represented Benjamin as one well worthy of his compassionate consideration (Gen 44:20); he was a little one, compared with the rest of them; the youngest, not acquainted with the world, nor ever inured to hardship, having always been brought up tenderly with his father. It made the case the more pitiable that he alone was left of his mother, and his brother was dead, namely, Joseph. Little did Judah think what a tender point he touched upon now. Judah knew that Joseph was sold, and therefore had reason enough to think that he was alive; at least he could not be sure that he was dead: but they had made their father believe he was dead; and now they had told that lie so long that they had forgotten the truth, and begun to believe the lie themselves. 3. He urged it very closely that Joseph had himself constrained them to bring Benjamin with them, had expressed a desire to see him (Gen 44:21), and had forbidden them his presence unless they brought Benjamin with them (Gen 44:23, Gen 44:26), all which intimated that he designed him some kindness; and must he be brought with so much difficulty to the preferment of a perpetual slavery? Was he not brought to Egypt, in obedience, purely in obedience, to the command of Joseph? and would he not show him some mercy? Some observe that Jacob's sons, in reasoning with their father, had said, We will not go down unless Benjamin go with us (Gen 43:5); but that when Judah comes to relate the story he expresses it more decently: "We cannot go down with any expectation to speed well." Indecent words spoken in haste to our superiors should be recalled and amended. 4. The great argument he insisted upon was the insupportable grief it would be to his aged father if Benjamin should be left behind in servitude: His father loveth him, Gen 44:20. This they had pleaded against Joseph's insisting on his coming down (Gen 44:22): "If he should leave his father, his father would die; much more if now he be left behind, never more to return to him." This the old man, of whom they spoke, had pleaded against his going down: If mischief befal him, you shall bring down my gray hairs, that crown of glory, with sorrow to the grave, Gen 44:29. This therefore Judah presses with a great deal of earnestness: "His life is bound up in the lad's life (Gen 44:30); when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will faint away, and die immediately (Gen 44:31), or will abandon himself to such a degree of sorrow as will, in a few days, make an end of him." And, lastly, Judah pleads that, for his part, he could not bear to see this: Let me not see the evil that shall come on my father, Gen 44:34. Note, It is the duty of children to be very tender of their parents' comfort, and to be afraid of every thing that may be an occasion of grief to them. Thus the love that descended first must again ascend, and something must be done towards a recompense for their care. 5. Judah, in honour to the justice of Joseph's sentence, and to show his sincerity in this plea, offers himself to become a bondsman instead of Benjamin, Gen 44:33. Thus the law would be satisfied; Joseph would be no loser (for we may suppose Judah a more able-bodied man than Benjamin, and fitter for service); and Jacob would better bear the loss of him than of Benjamin. Now, so far was he from grieving at his father's particular fondness for Benjamin, that he was himself willing to be a bondman to indulge it.
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Now, had Joseph been, as Judah supposed him, an utter stranger to the family, yet even common humanity could not but be wrought upon by such powerful reasonings as these; for nothing could be said more moving, more tender; it was enough to melt a heart of stone. But to Joseph, who was nearer akin to Benjamin than Judah himself was, and who, at this time, felt a greater affection both for him and his aged father than Judah did, nothing could be more pleasingly nor more happily said. Neither Jacob nor Benjamin needed an intercessor with Joseph; for he himself loved them.
II. Upon the whole matter let us take notice, 1. How prudently Judah suppressed all mention of the crime that was charged upon Benjamin. Had he said any thing by way of acknowledgment of it, he would have reflected on Benjamin's honesty, and seemed too forward to suspect that; had he said any thing by way of denial of it, he would have reflected on Joseph's justice, and the sentence he had passed: therefore he wholly waives that head, and appeals to Joseph's pity. Compare with this that of Job, in humbling himself before God (Job 9:15), Though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would not argue, but petition; I would make supplication to my Judge. 2. What good reason dying Jacob had to say, Judah, thou art he whom they brethren shall praise (Gen 49:8), for he excelled them all in boldness, wisdom, eloquence, and especially tenderness for their father and family. 3. Judah's faithful adherence to Benjamin, now in his distress, was recompensed long after by the constant adherence of the tribe of Benjamin to the tribe of Judah, when all the other ten tribes deserted it. 4. How fitly does the apostle, when he is discoursing of the mediation of Christ, observe, that our Lord sprang out of Judah (Heb 7:14); for, like his father Judah, he not only made intercession for the transgressors, but he became a surety for them, as it follows there (Gen 44:22), testifying therein a very tender concern both for his father and for his brethren.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–34 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house,....…
And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house,.... Judah is particularly mentioned because he was the principal spokesman, and was chiefly concerned for the safety of Benjamin, being his surety:
for he was yet there; Joseph was yet at his own house, was not as yet gone to the granaries, to look after the affairs of the corn, and the sale and distribution of it, but was waiting for the return of his brethren, which he expected quickly:
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and they fell before him on the ground; not only in a way of reverence, again fulfilling his dream, but as persons in the utmost distress and affliction, throwing themselves at his feet for mercy.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants…
God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants - Referring to the injury they had formerly done to Joseph, for which they thought God was now reckoning with them. Even in those afflictions wherein we apprehend ourselves wronged by men, yet we must own that God is righteous, and finds out our iniquity. We cannot judge what men are, by what they have been formerly, not what they will do, by what they have done. Age and experience may make men wiser and better, They that had sold Joseph, yet would not abandon Benjamin.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Verse 16. What shall we say, c.] No words…
Verse 16. What shall we say, c.] No words can more strongly mark confusion and perturbation of mind. They, no doubt, all thought that Benjamin had actually stolen the cup and the probability of this guilt might be heightened by the circumstance of his having that very cup to drink out of at dinner; for as he had the most honourable mess, so it is likely he had the most honourable cup to drink out of at the entertainment.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Gen 44:16. And Judah said, &c. — Judah speaks…
Gen 44:16. And Judah said, &c. — Judah speaks in this cause, as being one of the eldest, and a person of most gravity and readiness of speech, and most eminently concerned for his brother; and nothing can be more affecting than what he advances on this occasion. God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants — Though the cup was found only in Benjamin’s sack, yet he speaks of himself and the rest as guilty, being his brothers, and in company with him. But, probably, he refers rather to their sins in general, for which, he meant to signify that God was now punishing them, and to the injury which they had done Joseph in particular. Even in those afflictions wherein we apprehend ourselves to be wronged by men, yet we must own that God is righteous, and finds out our iniquity. We cannot judge what men are, by what they have been formerly, nor what they will do, by what they have done. Age and experience may make men wiser and better. They that had sold Joseph, yet would not abandon Benjamin.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 31, 33, 34 Juda, mindful of his engagement, (chap. xliii. 9,) and…
Juda, mindful of his engagement, (chap. xliii. 9,) and perhaps more eloquent and bolder than the rest. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v16 Judah said, What shall we say?--This address needs no…
Judah said, What shall we say?--This address needs no comment--consisting at first of short, broken sentences, as if, under the overwhelming force of the speaker's emotions, his utterance were choked, it becomes more free and copious by the effort of speaking, as he proceeds. Every word finds its way to the heart; and it may well be imagined that Benjamin, who stood there speechless like a victim about to be laid on the altar, when he heard the magnanimous offer of Judah to submit to slavery for his ransom, would be bound by a lifelong gratitude to his generous brother, a tie that seems to have become hereditary in his tribe. Joseph's behavior must not be viewed from any single point, or in separate parts, but as a whole--a well-thought, deep-laid, closely connected plan; and though some features of it do certainly exhibit an appearance of harshness, yet the pervading principle of his conduct was real, genuine, brotherly kindness. Read in this light, the narrative of the proceedings describes the continuous, though secret, pursuit of one end; and Joseph exhibits, in his management of the scheme, a very high order of intellect, a warm and susceptible heart, united to a judgment that exerted a complete control over his feelings--a happy invention in devising means towards the attainment of his ends and an inflexible adherence to the course, however painful, which prudence required.
Next: Genesis Chapter 45
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14, 18 14. Fell before him — Another fulfilling of Joseph’s…
14. Fell before him — Another fulfilling of Joseph’s dream. See on Gen_43:26.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 14. he was yet there] Joseph had not yet…
14. he was yet there] Joseph had not yet left his official dwelling.
fell before him] The third and last fulfilment of the dreams (Gen_37:7; Gen_37:9-10). See Gen_44:16.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14, 18, 32 Vers. 14-17. And Judah who is recognized as the…
Vers. 14-17. And Judah who is recognized as the leader in this second embassy to Egypt (Gen_43:8) and his brethren came to Joseph"s house; for he was yet there: no doubt, the result which he anticipated" (Murphy)and they fell before him on the ground. The expression indicates a complete prostration of the body. It was a token of their penitence, and a sign that they craved his forgiveness. And Joseph said unto them, in a speech not of "cruel and haughty irony" (Kalisch), but simply of assumed resentmentWhat deed is this that we have done! were ye not (or, did you not know?) that such a man as I can certainly divine? literally, divining can divine (vide on ver. 5). Though Joseph uses this language, and is represented by his steward as possessing a divining cup, there is no reason to suppose that he was in the habit of practicing this heathen superstition. And Judah said (acting throughout this scene as the spokesman of his brethren), What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? (i.e. justify ourselves, or purge ourselves from suspicion). God (literally, the Elohim) hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord"s servants (literally, servants to my lord), both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. And he ( i.e. Joseph) said, God forbid that I should do so (vide ver. 9): but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father. Thus they were once more tested as to whether they could, as before, callously deliver up their father"s favorite, and so bring down the gray hairs of their father to the grave, or would heroically and self-sacrificingly offer their own lives and liberties for his protection (Rosenm Keil, Lange, Murphy, and others). How nobly they stood the test Judah"s pathetic supplication reveals.
HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS Vers. 14-34.
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The conversion of Judah.
I THE EVIDENCE OF IT.
1. The unexpected confession of guilt which he makes. "God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants.
2. The sensitive appreciation of the terrible blow which Benjamin"s loss would be to Jacob. "When he seeth the lad is not with us he will die.
3. The noble sacrifice he proposes to make for Benjamin. "Let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my lord.
II THE CAUSE OF IT.
1. The memory of his old sin, which appears to have haunted his conscience.
2. The arrestment of Divine Providence, which in his Egyptian experience he suffered.
3. The inward operation of God"s grace upon his heart.
Learn
1. That no living sinner is beyond the reach of conversion.
2. That for the most part the work of conversion is gradually consummated; and
3. That when once it is completed it appears in a change of character and life. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv16, 30 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my…
Gen_44:16-34
And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord?
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--
Judahs intercession
I. IT WAS ABLE.
II. IT WAS NOBLE.
III. IT GAVE PROMISE OF FUTURE GREATNESS,
IV. IT SUGGESTS SOME FEATURES OF OUR LORDS INTERCESSION FOR US.
V. IT SUGGESTS THE QUALITIES OF TRUE PRAYER. In true prayer the soul is stirred to its depths. I would give very much, says Luther, if I could pray to cur Lord God as well as Judah prays to Joseph here; for it is a perfect specimen of prayer--the true feeling there ought to be in prayer. (T. H.Leale.)
Judahs intercession
The whole of this intercession, taken together, is not one twentieth part of the length which our best advocates would have made of it in a court of justice; yet the speaker finds room to expatiate upon those parts which are the most tender, and on which a minute description will heighten the general effect. We are surprised, delighted, and melted with his charming parenthesis: Seeing his life is bound up with the lads life. It is also remarkable how he repeats things which are the most tender; as, when I come, and the lad be not with us . . . it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us . . . So also in describing the effect which this would produce: When he seeth that the lad is not with us, he will die; and we shall bring down the grey hairs of thy servant, my father, with sorrow to the grave. And now, having stated his situation, he presumes to express his petition. His withholding that to the last was holding the mind of his judge in a state of affecting suspense, and preventing the objections which an abrupt introduction of it at the beginning might have created. Thus Esther, when presenting her petition to Ahasuerus, kept it back till she had, by holding him in suspense, raised his desire to the utmost height to know what it was, and induced in him a predisposition to grant it. And when we consider his petition, and the filial regard from which it proceeds, we may say, that if we except the grace of another and greater Substitute, never surely was there a more generous proposal! (A. Fuller.)
Josephs love, and Judahs charge
I. BENJAMINS SURETY.
II. THE FRIENDLY BANQUET.
III. THE STRANGE STRATAGEM.
IV. THE ELOQUENT APPEAL. Judah makes a speech which is very natural, simple, and pathetic. It is conciliatory towards Joseph. Josephs greatness, power, and high rank are fully recognized (Thou art as Pharaoh). It is considerate in reference to the statements about Jacobs peculiar reasons for sorrow. It is courageous in its announcement of Judahs own responsibility, and of his readiness to be a substitute for his brother. And all through the speech tenderness and sympathy are exhibited in a very simple but touching manner. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Judahs argument
To point out the force of this overwhelming argument requires a view of the human mind, when, like a complicate machine in motion, the various powers and passions of it are at work. The whole calamity of the family arising from obedience to the judges own command; an obedience yielded to on their part with great reluctance, because of the situation of their aged father; and on his part with stiff greater, because his brother was, as he supposed, torn in pieces, and he the only surviving child of a beloved wife; and the declaration of a venerable grey-headed man, that if he lose him it will be his death--was enough to melt the heart of any one possessed of human feelings. If Joseph had really been what he appeared, an Egyptian nobleman, he must have yielded the point. To have withstood it would have proved him not a man, much less a man who feared God, as he professed to be. But if such would have been his feelings even on that supposition, what must they have been to know what he knew? It is also observable with what singular adroitness Judah avoids making mention of this elder brother of the lad, in any other than his fathers words. He did not say he was torn in pieces. No, he knew it was not so! But his father had once used that language, and though he had lately spoken in a manner which bore hard on him and his brethren, yet this is passed over, and nothing hinted but what will turn to account. (A. Fuller.)
Judahs intercession
I. HE REHEARSES THE PAST (Gen_44:18-29).
1. The speaker. Judah. Well that it was he. Had it been Reuben the proof of penitence had not been so clear. It had been too much like the old Reuben Gen_37:22 with Gen_42:22). It was Judah, and not like the old Judah (Gen_37:26-27). The last time Joseph heard Judah speak of his fathers favourite was when he (Joseph) was in the pit, and Judah, on the edge, was proposing to sell him into Bondage. Now he intercedes to save Benjamin from bondage.
2. The subject. He
(1) recalls the former visit, and the conversation of that time (Gen_42:18-20). He then
(2) proceeds to remind Joseph of his command (Gen_42:21), but for which they had not brought their brother. Of their expostulations (Gen_42:22) and of his firmness of purpose (Gen_42:23). He then drew the portrait of the old man, described the long time they bore the pangs of hunger before Jacob at last would suffer Benjamin to go; and, having hinted at the loss of one other son, repeated the final words of the old man (Gen_42:29).
II. HE PICTURES THE FUTURE. This he was the better able to do, from his memory of a former occasion. That picture of sorrow and wail of agony had ever since haunted him. It might be repeated with still more painful consequences. It might hasten the death of his father. He records, without a censure, the endearing union of the old father and his younger brother. There was one life between them. The death or loss of Benjamin might be the death of the father. He relates that he had become a surety for the safe return of the lad. As he thus earnestly and most pathetically pleads for the release of Benjamin, what feelings must have risen in the mind of Joseph. Chiefly of joy that Judah was so changed; but also of attachment to a father who had mourned his own supposed death so long and truly.
III. HE PROPOSES A COMPROMISE.
1. Its nature. If one must be held in bondage for this supposed crime, let it be himself, who is confessedly innocent, in place of Benjamin, whose guilt is assumed. Judah has wife and children at home, yet will leave all rather than abandon his brother. He will be henceforth a slave, if only Benjamin may be free. Was ever love like this? Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (Joh_15:13; see especially Rom_5:6-8).
2. The motive. To spare his father all needless pain, he would accept the position of being less loved than Benjamin. His father might grieve at his loss, as he had at Simeons, but the loss of Benjamin would affect him more.
3. The result. The test had proved to Joseph that Judah repented the past. It was a happy discovery. What can give greater joy to a brother than to see a right moral change in a brother? Learn:
1. Fearlessly to take the side of the innocent and the aged.
2. To bring forth fruit meet for repentance.
3. Not to be ashamed of an honourable change of heart and mind.
4. To love and honour Him who became a surety for us. (J. C. Gray.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v16 Gen_44:21. That I may set mine eyes upon him.]…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_44:21. That I may set mine eyes upon him.] An expression meaning the exercising of a tender care towards him. Thus (Jer_29:12.) “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm.” Heb. “Set thine eyes upon him.”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_44:16-34
JUDAH’S INTERCESSION
There are some remarkable features in this intercession—
I. It was able. Judah was the man of eloquence among his brethren. His eloquence proposed and carried out the measure of Joseph’s sale, prevailed on Jacob to send Benjamin with the rest to Egypt; and now it persuades and overcomes this unknown Joseph who cannot endure any longer the restraint which he put upon himself. Judah confines himself to facts, but arranges them in the best order for effect. They are all speaking facts, each one has a tender memory or sorrow of its own. They suggest so much to the hearer that the whole speech is fired with the passion of true eloquence. Kalisch justly calls this pleading speech of Judah’s, “one of the masterpieces of Hebrew composition.” The facts narrated are simple, but they are told with the true touches of nature. What fiction can surpass the pathos of Gen_44:20? “And we said unto my lord, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age; a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.”
II. It was noble. He does not insist upon the innocence of Benjamin, nor does he confess the theft; but acknowledges the general iniquity of his life. He generously offers himself as a surety for Benjamin. This heroic and self-sacrificing deed speaks louder than any words. He accepts slavery in his brother’s stead. Here was an appeal to Joseph’s sense of a self-forgetting devotion. In Judah there were many faults, and yet we find in him fond love for his father, and compassion for a brother stronger than even the desire of life.
III. It gave promise of future greatness. In sacred history, Judah’s name becomes great, is associated with all that is strong and noble. He is the pleader, “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah.” (Deu_33:7.) “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.” (Gen_49:10.) David was chosen to be king of the tribe of Judah. (Psa_78:67-68.)
IV. It suggests some features of our Lord’s intercession for us. Judah was a type of Christ. “Our Lord sprang out of Judah.” (Heb_7:14.) He was “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” (Rev_5:5.) His human ancestor was a remarkable type of Him, of His power, His wisdom, His triumphs, His preeminence. A type also, as here, of His intercession. Christ appears in the presence of God for us. He “maketh intercession for us.” (Rom_8:34.) He bears the curse that would otherwise fall upon us. Though Himself the birthright son, He bears the cross that we, the humblest and the least, might be free.
V. It suggests the qualities of true prayer. In true prayer the soul is stirred to its depths. “I would give very much,” says Luther, “if I could pray to our Lord God as well as Judah prays to Joseph here; for it is a perfect specimen of prayer—the true feeling that there ought to be in prayer.”
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_44:16. They well knew that they had sold Joseph for a slave, and filled up many of the years of their father’s life with bitter anguish; and they admit that it were a righteous thing with God to make them all slaves for crimes which their consciences charged upon them, but of which they supposed Joseph to be profoundly ignorant.—(Bush.)
An ingenuous and penitent confession, joined with self-loathing and self-judging; teaching us how to confess to God.—(Trapp.)
Gen_44:17. This was to try the truth of their love to Benjamin, and whether they would stick to him in his utmost peril. God hath like ends in afflicting His children. “The King of Babylon stood at the parting-way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination” (Eze_21:21.) So doth God. He knows that the best divining of men is at the parting-way; there every dog will show to what master he belongs.—(Trapp.)
Gen_44:18. He asks the privilege of speaking a word.
“Say, what is prayer, when it is prayer indeed?
The mighty utterance of a mighty need.”
He begs that the lord’s anger may not burn against him. He is in his power; the evidence is against him. But he will press his suit, if possible to get a hearing. He owns the royal authority which he addresses; but he must tell the facts in some faint hope of prevalence.—(Jacobus.)
The surety here becomes the advocate, and presents one of the most powerful pleas ever uttered. Though he knew nothing of the schools or the rules of the rhetoricians, yet no orator ever pronounced a more moving oration. His good sense, and his affection for his venerable father, taught him the highest strains of eloquence.—(Bush.)
This brief introduction was admirably calculated to soften resentment, and obtain a patient hearing. The respectful title given him, “my lord;” the entreaty for permission to “speak;” the intimation that it should be but as it were “a word;” the deprecation of his anger, as being in a manner equal to that of “Pharaoh;” and all this prefaced with an interjection of sorrow, as though nothing but the deepest distress should have induced him to presume to speak on such a subject, showed him to be well qualified for his undertaking.—(Fuller.)
Gen_44:19-29. It is observable that Judah said nothing but what was true, although he did not tell all the truth. It was not to be expected that he would tell how Benjamin’s brother was lost. He only told his father’s opinion concerning it, and that was enough to melt any man’s heart into compassion for a father bereaved in such a cruel manner of one son, and trembling in apprehension of the loss of another.—(Bush.)
Gen_44:30-34. The whole of this intercession, taken together, is not one twentieth part of the length which our best advocates would have made of it in a court of justice; yet the speaker finds room to expatiate upon those parts which are the most tender, and on which a minute description will heighten the general effect. We are surprised, delighted, and melted with his charming parenthesis: “Seeing his life is bound up with the lad’s life” It is also remarkable how he repeats things which are the most tender; as, “when I come, and the lad be not with us … it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us”.… So also in describing the effect which this would produce: “When he seeth that the lad is not with us, he will die; and we shall bring down the grey hairs of thy servant, my father, with sorrow to the grave. And now, having stated his situation, he presumes to express his petition. His withholding that to the last was holding the mind of his judge in a state of affecting suspense, and preventing the objections which an abrupt introduction of it at the beginning might have created. Thus Esther, when presenting her petition to Ahasuerus, kept it back till she had, by holding him in suspense, raised his desire to the utmost height to know what it was, and induced in him a predisposition to grant it. And when we consider his petition, and the filial regard from which it proceeds, we may say, that if we except the grace of another and greater Substitute, never surely was there a more generous proposal!—(Fuller.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v29 grave Heb. Sheol, (See Scofield "Hab 2:5").
grave Heb. Sheol, (See Scofield "Hab 2:5").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v14 Judah’s Heroic Behavior
Judah’s Heroic Behavior
v. 14. And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there, having waited for their return. Judah is now the leader among the brothers, a position which was later confirmed to him. And they fell before him on the ground, in speechless terror and abject surrender. This showed the spirit which now lived in them, as well as the fact that they had not permitted Benjamin to return alone and that they willingly placed themselves under the direction of Judah.
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v. 15. And Joseph said unto them, in apparent indignation, What deed is this that ye have done? Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? He intimated that a man in his position and of his wisdom was able to discover the most carefully hidden things. Cf v. 5.
v. 16. And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? He felt that the circumstantial evidence against them was so strong as to oblige the ruler to decide against them. God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; he and his brothers recognized in this strange shaping of events the judgment of God upon their former guilt, and their repentance was certainly genuine. Behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also with whom the cup is found. Thus Judah includes all the brothers with himself as champions of Benjamin, whom they would not permit to enter slavery alone. Judah exhibited a wonderful self-denial, magnanimity, and generosity, even while he was struggling with despair.
v. 17. And he said, God forbid that I should do so; far be it from me to act upon this suggestion; but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father. This is the climax of the test which Joseph had proposed, for now the brothers could show whether they would take this opportunity to get rid of the second son of Rachel, as they had gotten rid of the first: Benjamin would remain in Egypt as Joseph’s slave, while the others would go scot-free.
v. 18. Then Judah came near unto him and said, stepping forward in his great agitation, O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh. His request was made in the greatest humility, in the full consciousness of his own unworthiness.
v. 19. My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
v. 20. And we said unto my lord, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. With unconscious, artless skill the love of Jacob for the one remaining son of his old age from his beloved Rachel is here pictured,
v. 21. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me that I may set mine eyes upon him. The pleading here is less formal, and more fervent.
v. 22. And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die. From this we may conclude that the refusal of the brothers to bring Benjamin had caused their first imprisonment. It was the prospect of a favorable reception on the part of Joseph that had made the brothers consent.
v. 23. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more, which was equivalent to telling them that they could purchase no more grain, unless they complied with this condition.
v. 24. And it came to pass, when we came up unto thy servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord.
v. 25. And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.
v. 26. And we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us.
v. 27. And thy servant, my father, said unto us, Ye know that my wife, Rachel, whom only he really considered such in the full name of the word, bare me two sons;
v. 28. and the one went out from me, he was taken from Jacob in a violent manner, and I said, Surely, he is torn in pieces, that was the only conclusion he could reach from the evidence presented; and I saw him not since;
v. 29. and if ye take this also from me, and mischief, some harm or danger, befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. It was a masterly presentation of the love and devotion which now characterized the relationship in the family of Jacob. With these words Judah reached the conclusion of his plea, in a remarkably eloquent outburst.
v. 30. Now, therefore, when I come to thy servant, my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life, his soul was literally tied to the soul of Benjamin;
v. 31. it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die; and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with sorrow to the grave, to the realm of the dead.
v. 32. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, if I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.
v. 33. Now, therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. This entreaty was a wonderful exhibition of love, both for the aged father and for Benjamin, since it involved becoming a slave in Egypt without hope of redemption.
v. 34. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? Lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on (find or strike) my father. This lofty and impressive, vivid and passionate prayer, culminating in the last touching appeal with its self-sacrificing offer, is one of the sublimest passages in the entire Old Testament, reminding us, incidentally, of the infinitely greater sacrifice which the Champion out of the tribe of Judah, who became surety for His brethren according to the flesh, made by giving His life for theirs.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 27, 30, 33 He was still there
He was still there
"Joseph was still there"
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they bowed before him
"they fell before him." This is a sign of the brothers wanting the lord to be merciful to them. (See: Symbolic Action)
Do you not know that a man like me practices divination?
Joseph uses a question to scold his brothers. AT: "Surely you know that a man like me can learn things by magic!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
Judah
bow
divination
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 18, 32 44:14 This time, the brothers did not bow politely…
44:14 This time, the brothers did not bow politely (see 42:6-7; 43:26); they fell to the ground in desperation, fulfilling Joseph’s first dream for the third time (see 37:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.