Genesis 44

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

The silver cup

¹ Then he commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack. ² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain." And he did as Joseph told him. ³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. ⁴ They had gone only a short distance from the city when Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.'" ⁶ When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. ⁷ They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ⁸ See, the money that we found in the mouth of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? ⁹ Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord's slaves." ¹⁰ He said, "Let it be as you say, but only he who is found with it shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be innocent." ¹¹ Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. ¹² And he searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. ¹³ Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was still there, and they fell before him to the ground. ¹⁵ Joseph said to them, "What is this deed that you have done? Did you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?" ¹⁶ And Judah said, "What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? Elohim has found out the iniquity of your servants. See, we are my lord's slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found." ¹⁷ But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my slave. But as for you, go up in peace to your father."

Judah's plea

¹⁸ Then Judah went up to him and said, "Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. ¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?' ²⁰ And we said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.' ²¹ Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.' ²² We said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.' ²³ Then you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.' ²⁴ When we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵ And our father said, 'Go back, buy us a little food.' ²⁶ But we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down, for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.' ²⁷ Then your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸ One left me, and I said, "Surely he has been torn to pieces," and I have not seen him since. ²⁹ If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hair in misery to Sheol.' ³⁰ 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, ³¹ as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. ³² For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.' ³³ Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a slave to my lord, and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴ For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father."

Notes

• 44:5 "Practices divination" is nachesh yenachesh. In the ancient Near East some diviners poured liquid into a cup and read omens from the patterns, and the Torah later uses the same verb when it forbids divination to Israel (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10). The text does not say that Joseph actually used the cup this way; he is playing the part of an Egyptian lord, and the claim makes the "theft" look all the more serious. Elsewhere he gives the credit for his insight to God (41:16).
• 44:16 Judah knows they did not steal the cup, yet he says "Elohim has found out the iniquity of your servants." He seems to be thinking of the old guilt they confessed in 42:21, their sin against Joseph. Instead of abandoning Benjamin, all the brothers accept slavery together.
• 44:18 "Went up to him" is vayyigash, "drew near." Judah, who once proposed selling Joseph (37:26-27), now steps forward to speak for the whole family; his speech is one of the longest in Genesis. In the synagogue's cycle of Torah readings a new portion, called Vayigash, begins with this verse.
• 44:30 Literally "his soul is bound up with his soul" (nafsho qeshurah venafsho). The same image describes Jonathan's love for David (1 Samuel 18:1). Judah now speaks tenderly of the father's love for Rachel's son, a love that once filled the brothers with jealousy.
• 44:33 Judah offers himself as a slave in Benjamin's place (tachat ha-na'ar, "instead of the boy"). The brother who once helped sell Rachel's first son into slavery is now willing to become a slave to save her second son; right after it, Joseph can no longer restrain himself and makes himself known (45:1).

Genesis 43 · Genesis 45

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