Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 44:18
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh 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.
18. Then Judah ] The prominence of Judah has been noticeable in Gen 43:3; Gen 43:8 and in Gen 44:14 ; Gen 44:16 of this chapter. Benjamin, though present, is silent; Reuben takes no part.
Oh my lord ] See Gen 43:20.
thou art even as Pharaoh ] Judah’s opening words are those of graceful deference, referring to Joseph’s enquiry in Gen 44:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 34. Judah’s Intercession
This is one of the most beautiful and pathetic passages in Hebrew narrative. Judah’s speech falls into two unequal divisions: (1) Gen 44:18-31 a simple recapitulation of the story, (2) Gen 44:31-34 his self-sacrificing offer of himself as a substitute for Benjamin. The points emphasized are ( a) Joseph’s previous demand to see Benjamin, ( b) the aged father’s unwillingness to let him go, ( c) the certainty that the loss of Benjamin would be Jacob’s death, ( d) the offer to stay in Benjamin’s place.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 18. Thou art even as Pharaoh.] As wise, as powerful, and as much to be dreaded as he. In the Asiatic countries, the reigning monarch is always considered to be the pattern of all perfection; and the highest honour that can be conferred on any person, is to resemble him to the monarch; as the monarch himself is likened, in the same complimentary way, to an angel of God. See 2Sa 14:17-18. Judah is the chief speaker here, because it was in consequence of his becoming surety for Benjamin that Jacob permitted him to accompany them to Egypt. See Ge 43:9.
“EVERY man who reads,” says Dr. Dodd, “to the close of this chapter, must confess that Judah acts here the part both of the affectionate brother and of the dutiful son, who, rather than behold his father’s misery in case of Benjamin’s being left behind, submits to become a bondman in his stead: and indeed there is such an air of candour and generosity running through the whole strain of this speech, the sentiments are so tender and affecting, the expressions so passionate, and flow so much from artless nature, that it is no wonder if they came home to Joseph’s heart, and forced him to throw off the mask.” “When one sees,” says Dr. Jackson, “such passages related by men who affect no art, and who lived long after the parties who first uttered them, we cannot conceive how all particulars could be so naturally and fully recorded, unless they had been suggested by His Spirit who gives mouths and speech unto men; who, being alike present to all successions, is able to communicate the secret thoughts or forefathers to their children, and put the very words of the deceased, never registered before, into the mouths or pens of their successors born many ages after; and that as exactly and distinctly as if they had been caught, in characters of steel or brass, as they issued out of their mouths. For it is plain that every circumstance is here related with such natural specifications, as if Moses had heard them talk; and therefore could not have been thus represented to us, unless they had been written by His direction who knows all things, fore-past, present, or to come.”
To two such able and accurate testimonies I may be permitted to add my own. No paraphrase can heighten the effect of Judah’s address to Joseph. To add would be to diminish its excellence; to attempt to explain would be to obscure its beauties; to clothe the ideas in other language than that of Judah, and his translators in our Bible, would ruin its energy, and destroy its influence. It is perhaps one of the most tender, affecting pieces of natural oratory ever spoken or penned; and we need not wonder to find that when Joseph heard it he could not refrain himself, but wept aloud. His soul must have been insensible beyond what is common to human nature, had he not immediately yielded to a speech so delicately tender, and so powerfully impressive. We cannot but deplore the unnatural and unscientific division of the narrative in our common Bibles, which obliges us to have recourse to another chapter in order to witness the effects which this speech produced on the heart of Joseph.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Judah made a little nearer approach to him, that he might present his humble petition to him.
In my lords ears, in thy hearing; for this phrase doth not necessarily imply that he whispered in his ears; as appears from Num 14:28; Deu 32:44; Jdg 17:2.
Thou art even as Pharaoh; as thou representest his person, so thou art invested with his majesty and authority, and therefore thy word is a law; thou canst do with us what thou pleasest, either spare or punish us, and therefore we do justly deprecate thine anger, and most humbly entreat thy favourable audience and princely compassion to us.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then Judah came near unto him,…. Being the spokesman of his brethren, and the surety of Benjamin: he plucked up a spirit, put on courage, and drew nearer to the governor, and with much freedom and boldness, and in a very polite manner, addressed him:
and said, O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears; not admit him to private audience, or suffer him to whisper something to him, but give him the hearing of a few words he had to say to him:
and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; do not be displeased with his boldness, and the freedom he takes, but hear him patiently:
for thou [art] even as Pharaoh; next, if not equal in power and authority with him; could exercise justice or show mercy, punish or release from punishment, at his pleasure; and having leave granted him, he began his speech, and made the following narrative.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But that the brothers could not do. Judah, who had pledged himself to his father for Benjamin, ventured in the anguish of his heart to approach Joseph, and implore him to liberate his brother. “I would give very much,” says Luther, “to be able to 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.” Beginning with the request for a gracious hearing, as he was speaking to the ears of one who was equal to Pharaoh (who could condemn or pardon like the king), Judah depicted in natural, affecting, powerful, and irresistible words the love of their aged father to this son of his old age, and his grief when they told him that they were not to come into the presence of the lord of Egypt again without Benjamin; the intense anxiety with which, after a severe struggle, their father had allowed him to come, after he (Judah) had offered to be answerable for his life; and the grievous fact, that if they returned without the youth, they must bring down the grey hairs of their father with sorrow to the grave.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Judah’s Appeal on Behalf of Benjamin. | B. C. 1707. |
18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh 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. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? 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. 21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. 22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die. 23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food. 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. 27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: 28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since: 29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. 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; 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. 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 for ever. 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. 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 my father.
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 (v. 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 (v. 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 (ch. xliii. 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, v. 20. This they had pleaded against Joseph’s insisting on his coming down (v. 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, v. 29. This therefore Judah presses with a great deal of earnestness: “His life is bound up in the lad’s life (v. 30); when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will faint away, and die immediately (v. 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, v. 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, v. 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.
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 ix. 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 thy brethren shall praise (ch. xlix. 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. vii. 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 (v. 22), testifying therein a very tender concern both for his father and for his brethren.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 18-34:
Judah’s intercessory plea on behalf of Benjamin in one of the most moving speeches in the Old Testament. He reviewed the events leading up to their return to Egypt. He expressed deep concern for the well-being of his aged father. he was unwilling to bring such sorrow on Jacob’s venerable head. He offered himself as substitute for his younger brother. All this was in the deepest sincerity and spirit of self denial.
The old proud, selfish, envious attitude of the brothers was all in the past. They were fully repentant. Likely they saw what their wicked actions had done to their father. They regretted their former actions toward Joseph, and the deception they practiced upon Jacob to cover up their misdeeds.
The test was over. The brothers had been brought in deepest humility to recognize their past guilt, and to express deep sorrow for the heartbreak and suffering they had caused their father. Now they were in a position for grace to come to their rescue. This principle is operative in all ages. “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble” (Jas 4:6; Pr 3:34; 1Pe 5:5).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
18. Let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word. Judah suppliantly asks that leave may be given him to speak, because his narrative was about to be prolix. And whereas nobles are offended, and take it angrily, if any address them with too great familiarity, Judas begins by declaring that he is not ignorant of the great honor which Joseph had received in Egypt, for the purpose of showing that he was becoming bold, not through impertinence, but through necessity. Afterwards he recites in what manner he and his brethren had departed from their father. There are two principal heads of his discourse; first, that they should be the means of bringing a sorrow upon their father which would prove fatal; and secondly, that he had bound himself individually, by covenant, to bring the youth back. With respect to the grief of his father, it is a sign of no common filial piety, that he wished himself to be put in Benjamin’s place, and to undergo perpetual exile and servitude, rather than convey to the miserable old man tidings which would be the cause of his destruction. He proves his sincerity by offering himself as a surety, in order that he may liberate his brother. Because חטא ( chata) among the Hebrews, sometimes signifies to be in fault, and sometimes to be under penalty; some translate the passage, “I shall have sinned against my father;” or, “I shall be accused of sin;” while others render it, “I shall be deemed guilty, because he will complain of having been deceived by my promise.” The latter sense is the more appropriate, because, truly, he would not escape disgrace and censure from his father, as having cruelly betrayed a youth committed to his care.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
18. Judah came near and said Nothing in all literature surpasses this appeal of Judah in behalf of his brother and his father . It is remarkable that he makes no attempt to deny the charge of taking the cup; he makes no plea of innocence, but assumes, in utter helplessness through other sins, that God was in all this discovering the iniquity of himself and his brethren. Luther says: “I would give very much to be able to pray to our Lord God as well as Judah here prays to Joseph.” Kalisch observes: “Judah, the lion, could never degrade his dignity by an outburst of impotent rage; the tempest of his feelings was checked by controlling reason, and the chaotic confusion of his emotions gave way to manly composure and lucid thought. Stepping forward towards the inexorable man with the courage and modesty of a hero, he delivered that address which is one of the masterpieces of Hebrew composition. It is not distinguished by brilliant imagination, or highly poetical diction; its inimitable charm and excellence consist in the power of psychological truth, easy simplicity, and affecting pathos. It possesses the eloquence of facts, not of words; it is, in reality, scarcely more than a simple recapitulation of past incidents; but the selection, arrangement, and intrinsic emphasis of the facts produce an effect attainable only by consummate art. The deep and fervent love of the aged father for his youngest son forms the center, round which the other parts of the speech, the allusion to Joseph, to Rachel, and to the struggle of the brothers before their departure from Canaan are skilfully grouped. Jacob would never survive the loss of Benjamin; and if the brothers returned without him, they would see their father expire in agony before their eyes. Could Joseph still remain unmoved? One trait more completed the victory over his heart. Anxious to seal his filial love by the greatest sacrifice he could possibly offer, Judah was ready to renounce his home, his wife, and his children, and forever to toil in the drudgery of Egyptian bondage.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The Judah came near to him and said, “Oh my lord, let your servant I pray you speak a word in my lord’s ears. And do not let your anger burn against your servant for you are as Pharaoh.”
Judah assures the great man that he recognises his greatness. Indeed he is depending on it. He is surely great enough to listen to a case that a lesser man may not be able to listen to. He is above accountability for he is as Pharaoh himself with total power. He begs that he will listen patiently to what he has to say.
He probably feels he has little hope in succeeding, recognising that his words may well bring wrath on himself, but he is determined to do what he can whatever the cost. He does not know, as we do, that this is exactly what Joseph is waiting and longing for.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 44:18. Then Judah came near unto him After the terrible sentence which Joseph had passed, Gen 44:17. Judah became more immediately interested, and was concerned to plead the cause of his brother; and every man, who reads to the close of this chapter, must confess, that Judah acts here the part both of the faithful brother and dutiful son, who, rather than behold his father’s misery, in case of Benjamin’s being left behind, submits to become a bondsman in his stead; and, indeed, there is such an air of candour and generosity runs through the whole strain of his speech; the sentiments are so tender and affecting, the expressions are so passionate, and flow so much from artless nature, that it is no wonder, if they came home to Joseph’s heart, and forced him to throw off the mask, as we find he does in the next chapter. The phrase, for thou art even as Pharaoh, signifies, for thou art of power and authority equal to Pharaoh; and therefore thy anger is as much to be dreaded, as even that of the king himself, Pro 19:12. Josephus and Philo have both largely paraphrased this speech of Judah; but there needs nothing more than a bare perusal of them to see the infinite superiority of that before us, in which true nature speaks. Dr. Jackson’s remarks upon it cannot be too well observed: “When one sees,” says he,* “such passages related by men, who affect no art, and who lived long after the parties that first uttered them; we cannot conceive how all particulars could be so naturally and fully recorded, unless they had been suggested by his Spirit, who gives mouths and speech to men; who, being alike present to all successions, is able to communicate the secret thoughts of forefathers to their children, and put the very words of the deceased (never registered before) into the mouths or pens of their successors for many generations after; and that, as exactly and distinctly, as if they had been caught and written in characters of steel or brass, as they issued out of their mouth. For it is plain, every circumstance is here related with such natural specifications, as if Moses had heard them talk; and therefore could not have been thus represented to us, unless they had been written by His direction, who knows all things, as well fore-past, as present, or to come.”
* On the Creed, b. i. c. 4.
REFLECTIONS.Bitter was the distress which now harassed the minds of the sons of Jacob. What shall they say? To confess the charge, were to acknowledge guilt they did not believe; to deny it, were still more dangerous, as a reflection on the governor’s justice. In this dilemma, Judah, as most engaged, with rhetoric such as distress and nature taught, addresses with humblest submission the supposed offended ruler; and pleads with arguments, which, I doubt not, filled Joseph’s bosom with deeper agitation, than even Judah felt. Benjamin’s youth, the only son of a beloved mother; another brother he had, but dead; the aged father’s life is bound up in the darling boy; it was at his command he was brought with reluctance; extorted from his father: should they return without him, death would instantly seize the good old man, and they be accessary to it: himself had become surety for the lad, and begs now to exchange; himself the bondsman, if Benjamin might be free. The thought of his father’s sorrow recurs upon him; he can never think of seeing his face without the lad: he therefore casts himself upon the mercy of the Judge, and waits with terrible suspense to receive that sentence, on which the happiness or misery of Jacob’s family depended. Note; 1. Every good child will make his parent’s comfort one great business of his life. 2. When we address a ruler, title and honour are his due.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 44:18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh 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.
Ver. 18. For thou art even as Pharaoh. ] This he saith the better to insinuate; for great men love to hear of their honour, and are tickled with their great titles. Paulus Jovius, writing of Pompey Colomia, Bishop of Reatino, saith, that when the said bishop, by the means of many great personages, was reconciled again, and brought into favour with the Pope, whom he had formerly offended; and that when they signified so much unto him in a short letter, in whose superscription, Bishop of Reatino, by chance, was left out; he receiving the letter, threw it away, and bade the messenger go seek some other Pompeio, to whom the letter was directed.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 44:18-34
18Then Judah approached him, and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh. 19My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ 20We said to my lord, ‘We have an old father and a little child of his old age. Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’ 21Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22But we said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23You said to your servants, however, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24Thus it came about when we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25Our father said, ‘Go back, buy us a little food.’ 26But 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.’ 27Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; 28and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces,” and I have not seen him since. 29If you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’ 30Now, therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, 31when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die. Thus your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then let me bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. 34For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me-for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?”
Gen 44:18-34 Judah retells what has happened in the discussion about the brother’s two trips to Egypt to buy food and the tensions at home about the second trip with Benjamin.
Gen 44:18 “in my lord’s ears” This is an idiom for “may I speak clearly with you” (cf. Gen 20:8; Gen 23:10; Gen 23:13; Gen 23:16; Gen 50:4; Deu 5:1; Deu 31:11; Deu 31:28; Deu 31:30).
“do not be angry” Judah requests (BDB 354, KB 351, Qal JUSSIVE) Joseph not to become more angry (cf. Gen 30:2; Gen 39:19), but to let him explain their family situation in connection with this youngest brother.
Gen 44:28 “Surely he is torn in pieces” This is an intensified grammatical structure (INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and PERFECT VERB of the same root, BDB 382, 380), which is also found in Gen 37:33.
Gen 44:30 “Now, therefore, when I come to your servant, my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life” This shows something of Jacob’s doting on Benjamin. This concept of the life being bound up (BDB 905, KB 1153, Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE) is also used to describe the tremendous love and friendship between David and Jonathan in 1Sa 18:1. Jacob had been melancholy since the loss of Joseph and had taken comfort by focusing on the only other son of his favorite dead wife, Rachel.
Gen 44:33 This verse has two JUSSIVES. Judah is pleading for Benjamin’s release and return.
1. let your servant (i.e., Judah) remain (lit. “sit”), BDB 442, KB 444, Qal JUSSIVE
2. let the lad go up with his brothers, BDB 748, KB 828, Qal JUSSIVE
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. Why did Joseph act in such cruel ways toward his brothers?
2. Why does Joseph seem to do such strange things in this chapter in relation to his brothers?
3. Why did Joseph want Benjamin to come to Egypt?
4. List the theological implications of premeditated sin controlling one’s destiny.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Judah. He who proposed to sell Joseph and save his life (Gen 37:26, Gen 37:27), now proposes to remain a bondman for Benjamin. He had already become surety for his Safety (Gen 43:8, Gen 43:9).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Judah Pleads for Benjamin
Gen 44:18-34
No portion in Genesis could be more suitable for Good Friday. Judahs proposal to give himself instead of Benjamin reminds us of Him who freely gave Himself up for us all. It was with such love, but of infinite intensity, that Christ loved us. In Judahs words we find the loftiest type of pleading which man has ever put forth for man. It is extraordinary to get this glimpse of the strong and noble emotions that slumber in hearts where we should least expect them! But these words are poor and cold compared with those that Jesus utters on our behalf. It must have required extraordinary self-command on Josephs part to make his brethren suffer thus. But he dared to enforce it, because he knew the goal they were approaching. Christ often turns aside to hide His sorrow at our griefs, which are the necessary pathway to where all tears are wiped away.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Oh my Lord: “No paraphrase,” says Dr. A. Clarke, “can heighten the effect of Judah’s address to Joseph. To add, would be to diminish its excellence; to attempt to explain, would be to obscure its beauties; to clothe the ideas in other language than that of Judah, and his translators in our Bible, would ruin its energy, and destroy its influence. It is perhaps one of the most tender, affecting pieces of natural oratory ever spoken or penned, and we need not wonder to find that, when Joseph heard it, he could not refrain himself, but wept aloud. His soul must have been insensible beyond what is common to human nature, had he not immediately yielded to a speech so delicately tender, and so powerfully impressive.”
let thy: Gen 18:30, Gen 18:32, 2Sa 14:12, Job 33:31, Act 2:29
anger: Exo 32:22, Est 1:12, Psa 79:5
as Pharaoh: Gen 41:40, Gen 41:44, Pro 19:12, Dan 3:15, Dan 3:19-23, Dan 5:19, Joh 5:22
Reciprocal: Gen 29:35 – called Gen 37:6 – Hear Gen 49:8 – shall praise 1Sa 25:24 – let thine 1Sa 26:19 – let my lord Ecc 3:7 – and a time to speak Act 7:10 – gave
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 44:18-34. And Judah said We have here a most pathetic speech which Judah made to Joseph on Benjamins behalf. Either Judah was a better friend to Benjamin than the rest, and more solicitous to bring him off; or he thought himself under greater obligations to endeavour it than they were, because he had passed his word to his father for his safe return. His address, as it is here recorded, is so very natural, and so expressive of his present passion, that we cannot but suppose Moses, who wrote it so long after, to have written it under the special direction of Him that made mans mouth. Indeed the whole speech is most exquisitely beautiful, and perhaps the most complete piece of genuine and natural eloquence to be found in any language. 1st, He addressed himself to Joseph with a great deal of respect, calls him his lord, himself and his brethren his servants, begs his patient hearing, and passeth a mighty compliment upon him, Thou art even as Pharaoh A person whose favour we desire, and whose wrath we dread, as we do Pharaohs. 2d, He represented Benjamin as one well worthy of his compassionate consideration; he was a little one, compared with the rest; the youngest, not acquainted with the world, nor inured to hardship, having been always brought up tenderly with his father. It made the case the more piteous 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 not alive. 3d, He urged it closely that Joseph had himself constrained them to bring Benjamin with them, had expressed a desire to see him, had forbidden them his presence, unless they brought him with them, 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 not he show him some mercy? 4th, The great argument he insists 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. Thus they had pleaded against Josephs insisting on his coming down, Gen 44:22. If he should leave his father, his father would die Much more, if he now be left behind, never to return. This the old man of whom they spake had pleaded against his going down: If mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs, that crown of glory, with sorrow to the grave. This therefore Judah pressed with a great deal of earnestness. His life is bound up in the lads life When he sees that the lad is not with us, he will faint away and die immediately, 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. 5th, Judah, in honour to the justice of Josephs sentence, and to show his sincerity in this plea, offers himself to become a bondman instead of Benjamin. Thus the law would be satisfied; Joseph would be no loser, for we may suppose Judah a more able-bodied man than Benjamin; Jacob would better bear that than the loss of Benjamin. Now, so far was he from grieving at his fathers particular fondness for Benjamin, that he is himself willing to be a bondman to indulge it.
Now, had Joseph been, as Judah supposed, 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, and who, at this time, felt a greater passion 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. Upon the whole, let us take notice, 1st, 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 had reflected on Benjamins honesty. Had he said any thing by way of denial of it, he had reflected on Josephs justice; therefore he wholly waives that head, and appeals to Josephs pity. 2d, What good reason dying Jacob had to say, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; (Gen 49:8;) for he excelled them all in boldness, wisdom, eloquence, and especially tenderness for their father and family. 3d, Judahs 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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
44:18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh 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 {e} as Pharaoh.
(e) Equal in authority or, next to the king.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Judah explained the whole story. He did not try to hide or excuse the brothers’ guilt. This is the longest speech in Genesis. Key words are "servant" (10 times), "my lord" (7 times), and "father" (13 times).
"No orator ever pronounced a more moving oration." [Note: Bush, 2:329.]
"I would give very much to be able to pray before our Lord God as well as Judah prays here before Joseph. For this is a perfect pattern of prayer, yes, of the true feeling which should be in a prayer." [Note: Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, 7:368.]
Jacob had not changed in that he still doted on his youngest son. However the brothers had changed; they now loved their father and Benjamin. Note Judah’s appeal to Jacob’s old age and Benjamin’s youth (Gen 44:20), descriptions designed to stress each one’s vulnerability and so elicit Joseph’s pity. Judah manifested concern for Jacob as well as Benjamin (Gen 44:31). Rather than hating their father for favoring Joseph and then Benjamin, the brothers were now working for his welfare. The supreme proof of Judah’s repentance, and the moral high point of his career, was his willingness to trade places with Benjamin and remain in Egypt as a slave (Gen 44:33-34; cf. Joh 15:13). This is the first instance of human substitution in Scripture (cf. Gen 22:13).
"A spiritual metamorphosis for the better has certainly taken place in Judah. . . . He who once callously engineered the selling of Joseph to strangers out of envy and anger is now willing to become Joseph’s slave so that the rest of his brothers, and especially Benjamin [whom Jacob loved more than Judah], may be freed and allowed to return to Canaan to rejoin their father." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 570.]
Jesus Christ, Judah’s descendant, demonstrated the same attitude.
"Jacob will crown Judah with kingship [Gen 49:10] because he demonstrates that he has become fit to rule according to God’s ideal of kingship that the king serves the people, not vice versa. Judah is transformed from one who sells his brother as a slave to one who is willing to be the slave for his brother. With that offer he exemplifies Israel’s ideal kingship." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, p. 567.]
God teaches His people to be loyal to one another by convicting them of previous disloyalty to get them to love one another unselfishly. Such self-sacrificing love is essential for the leaders of God’s people.