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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 42:25

Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 42:25

Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

Gen 42:25-28

My money is restored; and lo, it is even in my sack: and their hearts failed them

The miseries of an awakened conscience


I.

THEY PURSUE THE SINNER EVERYWHERE.


II.
THEY DRIVE THE SINNER TO PUT THE WORST CONSTRUCTION UPON EVERY EVENT.


III.
THEY ARE INTENDED TO LEAD THE SINNER TO REPENTANCE. (T. H.Leale.)

The money returned


I.
THE RETURN. Affairs in Egypt strangely settled, they set out on their return. They have been treated with a perplexing mixture of kindness and harshness. They have provision for their journey; but they remember the prison, and the hostage they have left behind. What shall they say to their father? Once they returned without Joseph. He scarcely recovered from that blow. Now they are without Simeon, and must demand Benjamin. How great their perplexity! They thought of Joseph when in the presence of the lord of Egypt; do they think of him now? By the very road they were travelling they saw him borne away years before. They were enveloped in mystery. The old man at home among his hungry household, and their own children awaiting their return. Simeons children, too, to meet; and no father brought back to them.


II.
THE DISCOVERY. Thus perplexed, and anxiously anticipating the result, they arrive at one of the inns, or khans, at which the caravans stopped to rest. An ass needs provender. A sack is opened. The money is discovered. Consternation. What can it all mean? Did they reflect on the money for which they had once sold a brother? Probably Josephs purchasers once lodged with their newly bought slave in that very inn, and talked of the sum they had given, as these men were now talking of the money they had found. This money boded no good. An unheard-of thing, that a seller should return the money. Joseph very likely returned the money to ensure their return; lest they might need food and not have money to buy it. A new thing to tell their father.


III.
THE FAMILY CONSTERNATION. They arrive at home. The first greetings over, inquiries are made. Where is Simeon? They relate the history of their adventures and Simeons detention. While they relate this strange history they open their sacks. A new discovery. All the money returned! Fear seizes the whole family. It is a new thing in the story of trade. May have been regarded by them as a pretext for the Egyptians coming and carrying them all away into captivity. Jacob especially filled with dread. He has now lost two sons, and sees in the returned money a new occasion of alarm. All these things are against me. But they were all for him, because a son was in it all. All things shall work together for the good of them who love God, because another Son–Jesus Christ–is concerned in our welfare. Learn:


I.
Past sins cast their shadow on the present, and overcast the future.


II.
The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth.


III.
Conscience converts things strange into things ominous.


IV.
Our ignorance of Divine plans causes us to charge God foolishly.


V.
No money needed to procure the bread of life. In my hand no price I bring. Jesus Christ is an unspeakable GIFT. (J. C. Gray.)

A sorrowful company

They said one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? They all spoke the same language of despondency. None of them, as far as we find, administered any comfort to his companions. It is an unhappy thing, when, in a company of men, not one is found who can speak a word in season, for advice or consolation to his companions in trouble. It is reported, that in a time of persecution, some faithful ministers met together to deliberate about their duty. All of them for a time were silent, or if anything was said, it tended only to increase the general dejection. At last they all recovered their spirits, at hearing one of their number say, We are all immortal till our work is done. These few words gave effect to a truth, which they already knew, that their days were numbered by a Divine decree, and that it was not in the power of all the men on earth to cut them off from the land of the living a moment before the time appointed by the wisdom and love of that God whom they served. (G. Lawson, D. D.)

The money found in the sack

1. See how sin pursues the sinner. Like an enemy that he cannot shake off, ready at any moment to accuse and torment. And it will do more against him hereafter, unless taken away.

2. Observe the fear of these men. They were bold, hard men; yet see how their heart fails them. Whom do they fear? The stern Egyptian ruler? No. Their own thoughts, their own secret, their own sin. Nothing makes men so fearful as an evil conscience.

3. But their thoughts turned not to their sin alone, but to God. They saw His hand in what befell them. This, as far as it went, was a wholesome thought. What they said was quite true; it was God that was dealing with them. It was well that they should feel it. (F. Bourdillon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 25. Commanded to fill their sacks] keleyhem, their vessels; probably large woollen bags, or baskets lined with leather, which, as Sir John Chardin says, are still in use through all Asia, and are called tambellet; they are covered with leather, the better to resist the wet, and to prevent dirt and sand from mixing with the grain. These vessels, of whatever sort, must have been different from those called sak in the twenty-seventh and following verses, which was probably only a small sack or bag, in which each had reserved a sufficiency of corn for his ass during the journey; the larger vessels or bags serving to hold the wheat or rice they had brought, and their own packages. The reader will at once see that the English word sack is plainly derived from the Hebrew.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

25-28. Joseph commanded to filltheir sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s moneyThisprivate generosity was not an infringement of his dutya defraudingof the revenue. He would have a discretionary powerhe was dailyenriching the king’s exchequerand he might have paid the sum fromhis own purse.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn,…. Which was as much as they came for:

and to restore every man’s money into his sack; the money paid by each for his quantity of corn delivered to him, not into the person’s hands, but to be put into his sack privately, and unknown to him;

and to give them provision for the way; sufficient both for themselves and for their cattle, that they might carry the whole of what corn they bought to their families:

and thus did he unto them; that is, not Joseph, but his steward or deputy, or however the servant that he gave the above order to.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 25-28:

Joseph sent the nine brothers on their way. He ordered their sacks loaded with provision of food-grain. Then, privately he order that the purchase price of the grain be placed in each man’s sack. When they stopped for the night at the khan (inn), one of the brothers opened his sack to get grain for his donkey. He was astounded and frightened to see the money which he had paid for the grain, nestled in the sack’s mouth. All the brothers were plunged deeper into fear, recognizing the hand of God in the matter, but still unaware of God’s purpose in it.

This reminds of God’s dealings with the guilty today. He causes the rain to fall upon both the just and the unjust (Mt 5:45), to give the blessing of nature’s bounty to all alike. The purpose; to bring the guilty to repentance (Ro 2:4).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES.

Gen. 42:27. In the Inn.] A camping place for the night rather than a caravansera. The term is from a verb meaning to lodge, and has the local prefix. These halting grounds are well understood by travellers, and are fixed according to the distance and the convenience of water for man and beast.(Jacobus.) There are no places of entertainment; even at the present day, in this desert over which they had to pass.

Gen. 42:28. And their heart failed them.] Heb. And their heart went forth. Thus, Son. 5:6., My soul failed when he spake. (Heb. Went forth.) They had no courage left.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 42:25-28

THE MISERIES OF AN AWAKENED CONSCIENCE

I. They pursue the sinner everywhere. In a strange land, and far from any human habitation, these men are suddenly alarmed. Time and place are nothing to conscience. When once awakened it will not allow the sinner to rest.

II. They drive the sinner to put the worst construction upon every event. Josephs real motive in treating his brethren thus, was love; but that love was now operating so as to confound, perplex, and dismay them. They read it as a design to ensnare and find occasion against them. Thus when our conscience is awakened, we are alarmed and confounded even by those things which may be really working for our peace.

III. They are intended to lead the sinner to repentance. By this harsh treatment Joseph designed, as an immediate purpose, to fill the minds of his brethren with consternation and fear. But he had a deeper purpose of love. He hoped to bring them to humble their souls in penitence before God, so that they might feel the guilt of their sin and obtain forgiveness. In this way God deals with the sinner when He would bring him to a right mind; leads him into dark and perplexing situations so that he is utterly unable to perceive the design. By turns his hopes and his fears are awakened, so that he might be forced to bring his sin to remembrance and feel his utter danger and helplessness. The evil which God thus brings upon awakened souls is only that deep darkness which precedes the dawn. Had Josephs brethren known all, they could not have been brought to the right state of mind. And so, if we knew all Gods designs concerning us, it is possible that we might be spared some pain, yet might we miss many a salutary lesson. If we are in Gods way at all, there is a meaning of goodness for usa purpose of love and blessing. But Gods order is this,that it is only by the law, which brings home to us the knowledge of sin, that we can obtain the blessings of the Gospel.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Gen. 42:25-28. They construe this circumstance to mean something against them; but in what way they know not. They do not reproach the man, the lord of the land, though it is likely from his treatment of them that they would suspect some ill design against them: but overlooking second causes they ask, What is this that God hath done to us! To His righteous judgment they attributed what they had already met with (Gen. 42:21-22), and now it seems to them that He is still in a mysterious way, and with a design to require their brothers blood at their hand. Such a construction, though painful for the present, was the most useful to them of any that could have been put upon it.(Fuller.)

Simeon is left in pawn, in fetters; the rest return with their corn, with their money, paying nothing for their provision but their labour; that they might be as much troubled with the beneficence of that strange Egyptian lord, as before with his imperious suspicion. Their wealth was now more irksome to them than their need; and they fear God means to punish them more in this superfluity of money than in the want of victuals. It is a wise course to be jealous of our gain; and more to fear, than desire abundance.(Bp. Hall.)

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

(25) To fill their sacks.Heb., their vessels. The word includes all their means of transport, and probably they had come with materials sufficient for the removal of a large quantity of corn. They had sacks as well. So in Gen. 42:19, Joseph had commanded them to carry corn for the famine of their houses. And as their households were numerous, what would nine sacks of corn avail for their maintenance?

To restore every mans money into his sack.It is evident that each one had made his own separate purchase for his own household. The restoration of the money frightened Josephs brethren, as they saw in it a pretext for their detention on their next visit. But Joseph could not have meant thus to alarm them, as their fear would act as an obstacle to their coming again accompanied by Benjamin. It is more likely that he intended it as an encouragement, and sign of secret good will.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

25. Restore every man’s money He would not take pay for his father’s and brothers’ food, but he would not openly decline it, lest he inadvertently betray himself and his feelings. He also, probably, furnished them provision for the way that they might not open their sacks until they reached their home.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Then Joseph commanded that their vessels be filled with corn, and to restore every man’s silver into his sack, and to give them provision for the way, and this was done to them. And they loaded their asses with their corn and went on their way.’

Joseph now makes sure they are well provided for. Abundance of corn, provisions for the journey and their silver returned, hidden in their sacks.

“Their vessels.” This must refer to their sacks but usually means a vessel. It may, however, signify that anything that could carry corn was filled.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Return to Canaan

v. 25. Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and thus did he unto them. Since it was not advisable, at this time, for him to reveal the reasons for acting thus, Joseph resorted to this secret measure, his object being to keep his brothers in a state of bewilderment and fear for the present. Provisions for the way he sent along, lest they be obliged to open their sacks very soon.

v. 26. And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence. The grain which they had brought for their needs made a big load, and they had a journey of several days.

v. 27. And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, at the place where they encamped for the night, probably in one of the shed-like buildings which are found along the caravan roads, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.

v. 28. And he said unto his brethren, my money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack; and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? In their great consternation over this unexplainable happening they hastily conclude that it was another way in which God was visiting their transgression upon them.

v. 29. And they came unto Jacob, their father, unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,

v. 30. The man who is the lord of the land spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

v. 31. And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies;

v. 32. we be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

v. 33. And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone;

v. 34. and bring your youngest brother unto me; then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men; so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land, have the right to trade, to buy and sell in the country. Thus the brethren gave their father a complete account of the strange happenings which had befallen them on their journey; and yet, there was missing a frank confession of their great sin. What they had confessed to one another they did not yet dare to tell their father. It was necessary to employ still sterner measures to reach that point.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Is not this a striking resemblance to our spiritual Joseph, in commanding his servants the ministers, to supply the wants of his people in gospel mercies, without money and without price? Isa 55:1 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Gen 42:25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

Ver. 25. Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks. ] This was the revenge he took upon them for their many misusages. So Joshua marched all night, and fought all day for the Gibeonites that had deceived him. So Elisha set bread and water before the Syrians that came to surprise him. So St Paul bids, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him,” &c. Injuries are more bravely overcome with benefits than recompensed with the pertinacy of a mutual hatred, said a very heathen. a

a Speciosius aliquanto iniuriae beneficiis vincuntur, quam mutui odii pertinacia pensantur. Val. Vax., lib. iv. cap. 2.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

commanded: Gen 44:1, Gen 44:2, Isa 55:1

to give them: Gen 45:21, Mat 6:33

and thus: Mat 5:44, Rom 12:17-21, 1Pe 3:9

Reciprocal: Gen 43:12 – mouth Gen 45:17 – lade your

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Though Joseph entertained such tender feeling towards his brethren that he wept over them, he did not allow it to deflect him from the stern dealing that was necessary, if they were to be brought to a proper spirit of repentance as to the great wrong they perpetrated against him, and against their father also, many years before. Simeon was held as hostage, but the rest were sent off with full loads of corn and provision for the way, but each man with his money placed in his sack.

Only one of them discovered this while at the inn, and the effect of the discovery on their minds is recorded in verse Gen 42:28. They suspected that some plot or pretext lay behind it and it filled them with fear. Their consciences were still at work and they saw in it an act of retribution on the part of God. We too can recognize that truly the hand of God was in it.

Arrived home, they related their experiences to Jacob, and their fears were increased by the discovery that each man had his money returned in his sack. Poor Jacob’s reaction to it all, recorded in verse Gen 42:36, is very characteristic of him. When he said, “Me have ye bereaved… Joseph is not…” he spoke more truly than he knew. His bereavement, as regards Joseph, did indeed lie at their door, so this must have been a further stab to their consciences.

His complaint was, “All these things are against me.” And so indeed it appeared. He had yet to learn that all these things were a part of God’s plan for his ultimate good, so that at the end of his life he might be able to refer to “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil” (Gen 48:16). The fact was that “all these things” were going to “work together for good,” and therefore provide us with an effective illustration of the truth of Rom 8:28.

For the moment Jacob flatly refused to part with Benjamin, but Gen 43:1-34 shows us how his stubborn refusal had to give way before the hard logic of facts. There would be no obtaining of the needed food except Benjamin were permitted to go with his brothers down to Egypt. In the words of Judah, recorded in verses Gen 42:8-9, we find disclosed an attitude towards him quite the opposite to his attitude towards Joseph years before. A repentant spirit was beginning to disclose its fruits.

In Heb 7:22, we read of Jesus being made “a Surety of a better testament.” In verse Gen 42:9 of our chapter we have an excellent illustration of what surety-ship involves. If there be any breakdown the blame of it must lie for ever on the surety, and all must be required at his hand. Were there any breakdown in the new covenant, the blame of it would rest upon Christ for ever. But, No! Its stability and the security of all its blessings are ensured for eternity.

Jacob’s scheming propensities come again to light in verses Gen 42:11-12, but at the same time there was a measure of trust in the mercy of God. With his permission the brethren at last depart for Egypt, taking Benjamin with them, and arrive in the presence of Joseph. Seeing that they had complied, and brought Benjamin with them, he was prepared to bring them into his house to dine at noon. This kindly attitude only stirred up more alarm in their minds, since they remembered the episode of the money in their sacks and they still had no idea of the identity of the man who was now lord of all Egypt.

Their ignorance made all Joseph’s actions seem the more remarkable and their uneasiness and suspicions increased. On his part we are permitted to see again how true were his affections, particularly for Benjamin. He was again moved to tears, as verse Gen 42:30 records. But he was marked by wisdom as well as love. At the dinner the rift between Hebrew and Egyptian was manifest, but the brethren sat before Joseph, and he placed them in the exact order of their ages, with Benjamin’s portion five times as much as any of the others. All this must have seemed to indicate almost superhuman discernment on the part of the great man, and increased the uneasy feeling that they had.

Their consciences had already been aroused as we saw when reading Gen 42:21, but the work of repentance needed to be yet deepened. Hence Joseph’s further dealings with them as recorded in Gen 44:1-34. The incident is so well known that we need only to point out a few of its salient details. Things were so ordered that the apparent guilt should fall upon Benjamin, for whom Judah had stood as surety to Jacob. This naturally brought Judah forward as the spokesman. He had taken the lead in selling Joseph to the Midianites going to Egypt, speaking with much hardness of heart. Now he has to speak as to Benjamin, and what a change is manifest! Instead of hardness great tenderness of feeling, particularly for his old father, Jacob. Then it mattered not how Jacob would feel: now it mattered everything to him. Here we see the working of a repentance not to be repented of.

Judah presented the whole case as regards his father and Benjamin with very great pathos, such pathos as could only spring from intense and genuine feeling, the reality of which was evidenced by his closing request to be allowed to stand as substitute for Benjamin. He was prepared to face life-slavery for himself rather than see his brother taken and his father’s grey hairs brought down with sorrow to the grave. We saw Judah in a very unfavourable light in both Gen 37:1-36 and Gen 38:1-30; now we see what a complete change is produced when real repentance takes place.

In all this we see typified that national repentance of Israel, predicted in Zec 12:10-14. In that chapter Jehovah speaks, and He says, “I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him.” They will discover that the One whom they pierced is Jehovah Himself. In the same way the repentance of the brethren here reaches its climax when they discover that the great lord of Egypt is none other than Joseph whom they had pierced with so many sorrows. This discovery they make, as recorded in the opening verses of Gen 45:1-28.

Again we see how very fittingly the history presents us with a type. The discovery was not made as the result of any discernment or sagacity on the part of the brethren but wholly by the revelation of himself on the part of Joseph. When at His second advent Christ is revealed in His glory, then Israel will recognize Him and cry, “My God, we know Thee” (Hos 8:2). Moreover Joseph’s revelation was made as the fruit of his love for them: love so real that he could not restrain himself longer and that moved him to tears.

In Joseph we see displayed both affection and magnanimity. With the brethren the workings of their consciences reached their climax, producing fear and reducing them to silence. They found themselves wholly at the mercy of the brother whom they had so bitterly wronged, and as yet they could not believe in his magnanimous dealings with them. What must it have been to them to hear his words, “Come near to me, I pray you”?

It was as they turned to Him that the veil was taken from their eyes and they knew him. So it will be with Israel in the coming day. At the present time “when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away” (2Co 3:15, 2Co 3:16). Then they will discover that Jesus, the Nazarene, whom they sold for thirty pieces of silver and crucified, is the Lord of glory, and at the same time the personification of magnanimity and love.

We might have expected that, having bidden his brethren to come near and said to them, “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt,” it would have been they who wept, firstly at the recognition of the great wrong they had perpetrated against him, and secondly at the grace that abounded over their evil. But, no, the tears were his and not theirs. They had had to bow down before him, but he deserved it for he towered above them in the things that are really great in the sight of God. A faint foreshadowing of the greatness of Christ.

A further thing characterized Joseph, as we see in verses Gen 42:5-8. His eye rested upon God and not upon circumstances, however trying they had been. The evil actions of the brethren had faded into insignificance in his mind. He recognized that God had been behind all that they had done, and had worked it in as part of His plan for salvation and deliverance. We are reminded of that prayer of the primitive church, when they acknowledged that Herod, Pilate, Gentiles and Jews, gathered together against the Lord Jesus, had only accomplished “whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done” (Act 4:28). Joseph had been instrumental in bringing to pass “a great deliverance,” yet it was very small when compared with the deliverance wrought by the death and resurrection of Christ.

And further, God had sent Joseph down into Egypt in order to preserve a posterity in the earth for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He knew what Joseph can hardly have known; that many centuries after out of that posterity, as concerning the flesh, would come the Christ, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Turn where we may in Scripture, Christ is ever before the mind of God, and at this epoch Joseph was the instrument used of God to preserve that line of descent that finally would lead to Him.

Whatever Joseph may, or may not, have realized as to this, there was a touch of the prophetic about his words, and in the whole matter God was so distinctly before him that he was lifted far above any resentment as to the wrong done to him. To his brethren he said, “So now it was not you that sent me hither but God.” Happy should we all be, if in regard to the perverse things of life, wrought by perverse persons, we could always say in truth, “Not you, but God.” If in adversity we see man, we are irritated, if we see God, we are humbled, subdued and blessed.

Joseph acknowledged that it was God who had made him “lord of all his [Pharaoh’s] house,” and, “lord of all Egypt.” Already we have had “lord” a number of times, but used as a title of respect, much as we might now address someone as “sir.” This is the first time we read of anyone being made “lord.” So that here we have a type of Jesus being made “Lord,” as Peter announced in Act 2:36. As lord of all Egypt Joseph had all power vested in him, and that power he wielded to promote what was good. So the Lordship of Jesus involves firstly, His absolute dominion, and secondly, His benevolent rule.

A very tender and touching note runs through the message that Joseph sent by his brethren to his father. After the long years of separation he was to be near unto his beloved son, and nourished by him. Tenderness and urgency marked the message that he sent, and realizing that in old age his father might be slow to move, he instructed as an incentive, “Ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt.”

We have had the word “glory” once before in Gen 31:1, used to indicate wealth. This is the first time it is used to indicate honour and splendour, so again we can discern its typical value. It is when Christ is revealed in His glory that Israel will be gathered to Him, and bow down before Him. Then shall be fulfilled the word, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power” (Psa 110:3). They were by no means willing in the day of His humiliation and poverty.

Having delivered these instructions, there was again a touching scene of affection and tears. Benjamin being his full brother, it was not surprising that there was this display after so long a separation; but that he should kiss and weep upon the brethren, who once had so cruelly wronged him, was a remarkable thing. The kiss and the tears were the sign not only of affection but also of a full forgiveness. It is significant that the record is, “after that his brethren talked with him.” The free conversation, which flows from communion, could only be established on the ground of forgiveness.

Thus indeed it is with us today. Until we are assured of Divine forgiveness, and thus we are in the enjoyment of peace with God, we cannot be at home in His presence nor enter into communion with Him. Until then we find it impossible to freely address Him in either thanksgiving or in prayer.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Joseph restored his brothers’ money to them out of the goodness of his heart. His gracious act would satisfy their needs but also cause them to search their souls further as they contemplated the implications of their good fortune. When they first discovered the money in one of their sacks, they regarded what God was doing to them as divine punishment (Gen 42:28). This is the first time in the story that the brothers mentioned God. Their aroused consciences saw God at work behind what they were experiencing (cf. Gen 42:21-22).

"’Silver, money’ (keseph) is mentioned twenty times (Gen 42:25 to Gen 45:22). In the first scene of Acts 1 [Gen 37:2-36], the brothers put a total of twenty pieces of silver before a brother (Gen 37:28). Now they put their brother over a fortune in silver. As might be expected in an act about family reconciliation [Gen 42:1 to Gen 46:27], other key words are ’brother’ (ca. 50x) and ’father’ (ca. 40x)." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, pp. 541-42.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)