Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 42:7
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
7. knew them ] Joseph at once recognized his brethren. They did not recognize him. From a boy he had become a man; they were grown men when they sold him, and were comparatively unaltered. He in stature, dress, hair, and ornament must have been wholly changed from the rough shepherd lad of Canaan. According to E (Gen 41:1; Gen 41:47) more than nine years, according to P (Gen 37:2, Gen 41:46) more than twenty years had elapsed, since he had been separated from his home in Canaan.
made himself strange ] In order to account for Joseph’s treatment of his brethren, the two most common explanations have been that he sought (1) to prove them, and (2) to punish them. His motives were, doubtless, mixed. The welfare of his father and of his own brother is uppermost in his thoughts. As he does not see them, he doubts whether the brethren who had treated him so shamefully will have maintained any regard for the life of his aged father or his young brother. He assumes a tone of harshness which he does not feel; and suffers a vein of generous hospitality and munificence to mingle with severity in the treatment of his brethren, so as to add to their mystification and confusion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He spake roughly unto them; partly, to bring their sin to remembrance; partly, to get the knowledge of the true state of his father and family; and partly, to further the following design, and make way for his and their greater happiness.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7, 8. Joseph saw his brethren, andhe knew them, . . . but they knew not himThis is not strange.They were full-grown menhe was but a lad at parting. They were intheir usual garbhe was in his official robes. They never dreamt ofhim as governor of Egypt, while he had been expecting them. They hadbut one face; he had ten persons to judge by.
made himself strange untothem, and spake roughlyIt would be an injustice to Joseph’scharacter to suppose that this stern manner was prompted by anyvindictive feelingshe never indulged any resentment against otherswho had injured him. But he spoke in the authoritative tone of thegovernor in order to elicit some much-longed-for informationrespecting the state of his father’s family, as well as to bring hisbrethren, by their own humiliation and distress, to a sense of theevils they had done to him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joseph saw his brethren,…. Among those that came to buy corn, and when they prostrated themselves before him:
and he knew them; some of them being at man’s estate, and their beards grown when they sold him, and their habits and dress now being much the same it was then, and by them he knew the younger:
but made himself strange unto them; took no notice of them as his relations, but carried himself to them as he did to other foreigners, and yet more strangely:
and spake roughly unto them; or hard z things or words; put on a stern countenance, and spoke with a high tone and in a rough surly manner to them:
and he said unto them, whence come ye? who are ye? of what country are ye? what is your business here?
and they said, from the land of Canaan to buy food; which they could not get in Canaan, the famine being there so great.
z “dura”, Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Piscator, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Joseph recognised his brothers at once; but they could not recognise a brother who had not been seen for 20 years, and who, moreover, had not only become thoroughly Egyptianized, but had risen to be a great lord. And he acted as a foreigner ( ) towards them, speaking harshly, and asking them whence they had come. In Gen 42:7, according to a truly Semitic style of narrative, we have a condensation of what is more circumstantially related in Gen 42:8-17.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Joseph Speaks Roughly to His Brethren. | B. C. 1706. |
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. 8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. 11 We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. 12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. 14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: 15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. 16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. 17 And he put them all together into ward three days. 18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: 19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: 20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
We may well wonder that Joseph, during the twenty years that he had now been in Egypt, especially during the last seven years that he had been in power there, never sent to his father to acquaint him with his circumstances; nay, it is strange that he who so often went throughout all the land of Egypt (Gen 41:45; Gen 41:46) never made an excursion to Canaan, to visit his aged father, when he was in the borders of Egypt, that lay next to Canaan. Perhaps it would not have been above three or four days’ journey for him in his chariot. It is a probable conjecture that his whole management of himself in this affair was by special direction from Heaven, that the purpose of God concerning Jacob and his family might be accomplished. When Joseph’s brethren came, he knew them by many a satisfactory token, but they knew not him, little thinking to find him there, v. 8. He remembered the dreams (v. 9), but they had forgotten them. The laying up of God’s oracles in our hearts will be of excellent use to us in all our conduct. Joseph had an eye to his dreams, which he knew to be divine, in his carriage towards his brethren, and aimed at the accomplishment of them and the bringing of his brethren to repentance for their former sins; and both these points were gained.
I. He showed himself very rigorous and harsh with them. The very manner of his speaking, considering the post he was in, was enough to frighten them; for he spoke roughly to them, v. 7. He charged them with bad designs against the government (v. 9), treated them as dangerous persons, saying, You are spies, and protesting by the life of Pharaoh that they were so, v. 16. Some make this an oath, others make it no more than a vehement asseveration, like that, as thy soul liveth; however it was more than yea, yea, and nay, nay, and therefore came of evil. Note, Bad words are soon learned by converse with those that use them, but not so soon unlearned. Joseph, by being much at court, got the courtier’s oath, By the life of Pharaoh, perhaps designing hereby to confirm his brethren in their belief that he was an Egyptian, and not an Israelite. They knew this was not the language of a son of Abraham. When Peter would prove himself no disciple of Christ, he cursed and swore. Now why was Joseph thus hard upon his brethren? We may be sure it was not from a spirit of revenge, that he might now trample upon those who had formerly trampled upon him; he was not a man of that temper. But, 1. It was to enrich his own dreams, and complete the accomplishment of them. 2. It was to bring them to repentance. 3. It was to get out of them an account of the state of their family, which he longed to know: they would have discovered him if he had asked as a friend, therefore he asks as a judge. Not seeing his brother Benjamin with them, perhaps he began to suspect that they had made away with him too, and therefore gives them occasion to speak of their father and brother. Note, God in his providence sometimes seems harsh with those he loves, and speaks roughly to those for whom yet he has great mercy in store.
II. They, hereupon, were very submissive. They spoke to him with all the respect imaginable: Nay, my lord (v. 10)–a great change since they said, Behold, this dreamer comes. They very modestly deny the charge: We are no spies. They tell him their business, that they came to buy food, a justifiable errand, and the same that many strangers came to Egypt upon at this time. They undertake to give a particular account of themselves and their family (v. 13), and this was what they wanted.
III. He clapped them all up in prison for three days, v. 17. Thus God deals with the souls he designs for special comfort and honour; he first humbles them, and terrifies them, and brings them under a spirit of bondage, and then binds up their wounds by the Spirit of adoption.
IV. He concluded with them, at last, that one of them should be left as a hostage, and the rest should go home and fetch Benjamin. It was a very encouraging word he said to them (v. 18): I fear God; as if he had said, “You may assure yourselves I will do you no wrong; I dare not, for I know that, high as I am, there is one higher than I.” Note, With those that fear God we have reason to expect fair dealing. The fear of God will be a check upon those that are in power, to restrain them from abusing their power to oppression and tyranny. Those that have no one else to stand in awe of ought to stand in awe of their own consciences. See Neh. v. 15, So did not I, because of the fear of God.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
7. He made himself strange unto them. It may be asked for what purpose Joseph thus tormented his brethren with threats and with terror. For if he was actuated by a sense of the injury received from them, he cannot be acquitted of the desire of revenge. It is, however, probable, that he was impelled neither by anger nor a thirst of vengeance, but that he was induced by two just causes to act as he did. For he both desired to regain his brother Benjamin, and wished to ascertain, — as if by putting them to the torture, — what was in their mind, whether they repented or not; and, in short, what had been their course of life since he had seen them last. For, had he made himself known at the first interview, it was to be feared lest they, keeping their father out of sight, and wishing to cast a vail over the detestable wickedness which they had committed, should only increase it by a new crime. There lurked, also, a not unreasonable suspicion concerning his brother Benjamin, lest they should attempt something perfidious and cruel against him. It was therefore important that they should be more thoroughly sifted; so that Joseph, being fully informed of the state of his father’s house, might take his measures according to circumstances; and also, that previous to pardon, some punishment might be inflicted which would lead them more carefully to reflect upon the atrocity of their crime. For whereas he afterwards showed himself to be placable and humane; this did not arise from the fact, that his anger being assuaged, he became, by degrees, inclined to compassion; but rather, as Moses elsewhere subjoins, that he sought retirement, because he could no longer refrain himself; herein intimating at the same time, that Joseph had forcibly repressed his tears so long as he retained a severe aspect; and, therefore, that he had felt throughout the same affection of pity towards them. And it appears that a special impulse moved him to this whole course of action. For it was no common thing, that Joseph, beholding so many authors of his calamities, was neither angry nor changed in his manner, nor broke out into reproaches; but was composed both in his countenance and his speech, as if he had long meditated at leisure, respecting the course he would pursue. But it may be inquired again, whether his dissimulation, which was joined with a falsehood, is not to be blamed; for we know how pleasing integrity is to God, and how strictly he prohibits his own people from deceit and falsehoods. Whether God governed his servant by some special movement, to depart without fault, from the common rule of action, I know not; seeing that the faithful may sometimes piously do things which cannot lawfully be drawn into a precedent. Of this, however, in considering the acts of the holy fathers, we must always beware; lest they should lead us away from that law which the Lord prescribes to all in common. By the general command of God, we must all cultivate sincerity. That Joseph feigned something different from the truth, affords no pretext to excuse us if we attempt anything of the same kind. For, though a liberty granted by privilege would be pardoned, yet if any one, relying on a private example, does not scruple to subvert the law of God, so as to give himself license to do what is therein forbidden, he shall justly suffer the punishment of his audacity. And yet I do not think that we ought to be very anxious to excuse Joseph, because it is probable that he suffered something from human infirmity, which God forgave him; for by Divine mercy alone could that dissimulation, which in itself was not without fault, escape condemnation.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Joseph . . . spake roughly unto them.Joseph has been accused of harshness in his treatment of his brethren, and still more so of his father in forcing him to send away Benjamin. The latter was, no doubt, the result of his great longing to see his only brother, and he may not have known how dear he was to Jacob, or have reflected upon the pain which his father would feel in parting with him. Still it was but a temporary separation, to prepare for a happy re-union. As regards his half-brethren, Joseph was obliged to prove them, and he did nothing to them which they did not richly deserve. From the first he probably wished to have his father and Benjamin to dwell with him, and share his good fortune; but if his brethren were still the cruel and heartless wretches which they had shown themselves to have been in their conduct to him twenty years before, we may well suppose that he would justly have left them to their fate. Possibly his first emotion towards them was one of indignation, but it melted away, when, even in but one of them, he saw proof that they were not entirely destitute of better feeling (see Gen. 42:22; Gen. 42:24).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Made himself strange , acted like a foreigner, speaking to them through an interpreter . Gen 42:23. He dissembled, and spoke harsh things to them . Perhaps he had anticipated their coming, and had, therefore, arranged to have all foreigners presented to him personally; but in that moment of interest and excitement, noticing that Benjamin was not among them, he must find out the reason, and deems it best to treat them with severity .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Joseph saw his brothers, and he knew them, but he made himself a stranger to them and spoke harshly to them. And he said to them, “From where have you come?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
When Joseph saw his brothers he knew them immediately, but he did not make himself known. Rather he signalled to his underlings to bring them forward so that he could speak with them. They were probably quite apprehensive at being selected out to speak to this great Egyptian overlord, and were even more so when he addressed them harshly. They must have wondered why they should be picked out. All they could do was answer his questions and hope for the best.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Reader! I charge you not to overlook the precious things contained in this verse. How little doth the sinner think, in his first approaches to JESUS, while the HOLY GHOST is leading him, and his necessities, like Jacob’s sons, compel him to the mercy seat, that He is a brother, as well as a governor, to whom he is come. How unconscious is he, when JESUS seems to make himself strange and speak roughly to him, that grace is at the bottom. My Christian Reader! never forget this one precious truth, however outward things vary, the heart; of our JESUS is the same. While we fear his power let us not lose sight of his love. Heb 4:14-16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
Ver. 7. Spake roughly unto them. ] To bring them the sooner to a sight of their sin. God also, for like purpose, writes bitter things against his people, stands afar off, hides his love, as Joseph, out of increasement of love; fights against them with his own hand, as he threw his brethren into prison; – than the which there is no greater affliction, saith Luther; and all to show them their sin, and to bring them home to himself by repentance. a
a Nihil est tentatio vel universi mundi et totius inferni in unum conflata, ad eam qua Deus contrarius homimi penitur. – Luther.
roughly. Each step in Joseph’s treatment must be noted, all tending to one end: viz.: to bring them back to the pit at Dothan, convict them of their sin, and compel their confession of it. That climax is not reached till verse Gen 42:21. Judah’s words voice it, Gen 44:18-34.
roughly unto them: Heb. hard things with them, Gen 42:9-12, Gen 42:14-17, Gen 42:19, Gen 42:20, Mat 15:23-26
Reciprocal: Gen 42:15 – By the life Gen 42:30 – roughly to us Gen 44:19 – General 1Sa 20:10 – answer thee 1Ki 12:13 – answered 2Ch 10:13 – answered Job 19:3 – make yourselves strange to me Pro 18:23 – rich Luk 24:28 – he made
Gen 42:7. We may well wonder that Joseph, during the twenty years he had been in Egypt, especially during the last seven years that he had been in power there, never sent to his father to acquaint him with his circumstances; nay, it is strange that he, who so oft went through all the land of Egypt, never made a step to Canaan, to visit his aged father. When he was in the borders of Egypt that lay next to Canaan, perhaps it would not have been above three or four days journey for him in his chariot. It is a probable conjecture, that his whole management of himself in this affair was by special direction from Heaven, that the purpose of God, concerning Jacob and his family, might be accomplished. When Josephs brethren came, he knew them by many a good token, but they knew not him, little thinking to find him there.
42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but {c} made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
(c) This concealing is not to be followed, nor any actions of the father’s not approved by God’s word.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes