Genesis · Pentateuch (Law)

Genesis 43

The brothers return with Benjamin, and Joseph’s identity remains concealed.

c. 1876 BCKey verses Genesis 43:8-9, 43:14, 43:23, 43:30, 43:33-34Read Genesis 43 in the ESVopens BibleGateway
Haran, about 1,250 ftAbram’s road from Haran into Canaan (Genesis 12:4-6), about 420 milesShechem, about 1,900 ft

43:9

“I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.”

Genesis 43:9, ESV

The chapter at a glance

  1. 1–10Judah’s pledgeJudah puts himself under the blame
  2. 11–15Jacob lets Benjamin goA prayer for mercy, and a surrender
  3. 16–25Fear at the steward’s doorGrace read as a trap; peace spoken
  4. 26–34The mealCompassion hidden; favor tested

The chapter in brief

As the famine deepens and the grain runs out, Jacob tells his sons to go again. Judah reminds him that the man warned, “You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you,” and offers himself as a pledge for Benjamin’s safety. Jacob yields, sends a present, double money and Benjamin, and prays that God Almighty will grant them mercy before the man. In Egypt the brothers, brought into Joseph’s house, fear a trap over the returned money, but the steward answers, “Peace to you, do not be afraid,” tells them their God has put treasure in their sacks, and brings Simeon out to them. When Joseph sees Benjamin, his compassion grows warm and he leaves the room to weep. At the meal the brothers are seated in order of age, to their amazement, Benjamin’s portion is five times larger than the others’, and they “drank and were merry with him.”

The turning figure is Judah. The brother who once proposed selling Joseph for profit (Genesis 37:26-27), and who at the end of his own story in chapter 38 confessed, “She is more righteous than I,” now puts himself under the blame for his father’s beloved son. The meal tests the brothers a second way: will they resent a favored son of Rachel again? Over all of it stands Jacob’s prayer for mercy (v. 14), already answered in a way he cannot see, because the man who holds their lives is the son he mourns. Many readers see in Judah’s pledge a faint shadow of the greater Son of Judah, Jesus, “the guarantor of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22), and in a feast where the guilty sit at the table of the one they wronged, a hint of the gospel: grace sets a place for us before we understand it (Romans 5:8).

Points for discussion

vv. 1–10

Judah’s pledge

Reuben offered his sons (Genesis 42:37); Judah offers himself. The verb arav means to stand surety, to put yourself in the place of another’s debt: “From my hand you shall require him.” Judah also speaks the hard practical truth, that they must go “that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones” (v. 8). Leadership in the family is passing to him, which prepares for his great plea in chapter 44 and his blessing in Genesis 49:8-12.

For discussion

What is the difference between Reuben’s offer (Genesis 42:37) and Judah’s (43:9)? What does each one cost the man who makes it?

vv. 11–15

“If I am bereaved”

Jacob sends “a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh,” the very goods the Ishmaelite caravan was carrying when it took Joseph down to Egypt (Genesis 37:25). He sends the returned money back, choosing honesty. He prays, “May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man,” calling on El Shaddai, the name of the covenant promise of fruitfulness (Genesis 17:1; 35:11). And he lets go: “if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” It is not yet joyful faith, but it is surrender, close to Esther’s “if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

vv. 16–25

Peace at the door

Brought into the governor’s house, the brothers fear he will “make us servants and seize our donkeys” (v. 18), the very fate they once sold Joseph into. They confess the money honestly at the door. The steward’s reply is astonishing: “Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you.” He gives God the credit for what Joseph did, and he is right to. The gift came before they understood it, and peace is spoken before they have done anything to earn it.

vv. 26–34

Compassion and the seating

Now eleven brothers bow, as eleven stars bowed in the second dream (Genesis 37:9). Jacob prayed for rachamim, “mercy” (v. 14); when Joseph sees Benjamin “his compassion grew warm” (v. 30), the same word. The answer to the father’s prayer is already burning in the son’s heart. The separate tables reflect Egypt’s custom, for eating with Hebrews was “an abomination to the Egyptians” (v. 32). The brothers are seated by age and look at one another in amazement: this man knows them. Then Benjamin is given five times as much. Once a robe of favor bred murder (Genesis 37:3-4); now the brothers eat and are merry.

For discussion

How does Benjamin’s fivefold portion test whether the brothers have changed? Compare Genesis 37:3-4 with 1 Corinthians 13:4.

Threads across the chapter

  • Judah’s rise. Judah speaks for the brothers (vv. 3-5, 8-10), preparing for his plea in Genesis 44:18-34 and the blessing of Genesis 49:8-12.

  • Mercy prayed for and already given. Jacob prays for mercy (v. 14), the steward speaks of God’s treasure (v. 23), and Joseph’s compassion grows warm (v. 30).

  • Fear and peace. The brothers fear a trap (v. 18) and are answered, “Peace to you, do not be afraid” (v. 23).

  • Favor without envy. The seating and Benjamin’s portion (vv. 33-34) replay the favoritism of Genesis 37:3-4 to see what the brothers will do now.

Key words

43:9
עָרַב arav“Be a pledge”; to stand surety, putting oneself in the place of another’s debt
43:14
אֵל שַׁדַּי El Shaddai“God Almighty”; the covenant name of Genesis 17:1 and 35:11
43:14, 30
רַחֲמִים rachamim“Mercy,” “compassion”; prayed for by Jacob and already stirring in Joseph

Cross-references

Questions for your group

  1. 1

    Why does Judah, of all the brothers, step forward in this chapter, and how does Genesis 38 help explain the change in him?

  2. 2

    Jacob prays for mercy “before the man.” How was that prayer already being answered in ways he could not see?

  3. 3

    The brothers fear the returned money is a trap. Why do guilty hearts so often find grace hard to believe?

  4. 4

    How would you have reacted to Benjamin’s fivefold portion, and what would your reaction have revealed?

  5. 5

    In what sense is Judah’s pledge a shadow of Christ, and how is Christ’s work as our guarantor greater?

My notes