Genesis 42:9

_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._ Ye are spies, х_ MªRAGªLIYM_ (H7270)] - ye are footing it; ye are traversing the country. The Egyptians, like Orientals generally, are not accustomed to walk much, and consequently suspect that travelers have some concealed object in view. This is a suspicion entertained regarding strangers in all Eastern countries down to the present day. Joseph, however, who was well aware that his brethren were not spies, has been charged with cruel dissimulation-with a deliberate violation of what he knew to be the truth-in imputing to them such a character. But it must be remembered that he was sustaining the part of a ruler, and, in fact, acting on the very principle sanctioned by many of the sacred writers, and our Lord himself, who spoke parables (fictitiou...

9._And Joseph remembered the dreams_. When the boy Joseph had spoken of receiving obeisance, the absurdity of the thing impelled his brethren wickedly to devise his death. Now, although they bow down to him without knowing him, there is yet nothing better for them. Indeed, their only means of safety, is to prostrate themselves at his feet, and to be received by him as suppliants. Meanwhile, their conspiracy, by which they attempted to subvert the celestial decree, lest they should have to bear the yoke, was rendered fruitless. So the Lord forcibly restrains the obstinate, just as wild and refractory horses are wont to be more severely treated, the more they kick and are restive. Wherefore, there is nothing better than meekly to compose the mind to gentleness, that each may take his own lot contentedly, though it be not very splendid. It may, however, seem absurd, that Joseph should, at t...

7-20 Joseph was hard upon his brethren, not from a spirit of revenge, but to bring them to repentance. Not seeing his brother Benjamin, he suspected that they had made away with him, and he gave them occasion to speak of their father and brother. 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. Joseph settled at last, that one of them should be left, and the rest go home and fetch Benjamin. It was a very encouraging word he said to them, "I fear God;" as if he had said, You may be assured I will do you no wrong; I dare not, for I know there is one higher than I. With those that fear God, we may expect fair dealing....

Verse Genesis 42:9. _YE ARE SPIES_] מרגלים אתם _meraggelim attem, ye_ are _footmen, trampers about, footpads, vagabonds_, lying in wait for the property of others; persons who, under the pretence of wishing to buy corn, desire only to find out whether the land be so defenceless that the _tribes_ to which ye belong (see Genesis 42:11) may attack it successfully, drive out the inhabitants, and settle in it themselves; or, having plundered it, retire to their deserts. This is a frequent custom among the Arabs to the present day. Thus Joseph spake _roughly_ to them merely to cover that warmth of affection which he felt towards them; and that being thus brought, apparently, into straits and dangerous circumstances, their consciences might be awakened to reflect on and abhor their own wic...

- Joseph and Ten of His Brethren 1. שׁבר _sheber_, “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר _bar_ “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain). 6. שׁליט _shallı̂yṭ_, “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch. 25. כלי _k__e__lı̂y_, “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק _śaq_, “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת _'amtachath_ “bag.” Twenty years, the period of Joseph’s long and anxious waiting, have come to an end. The dreams of his boyhood are now at length to be fulfilled. The famine has reached

EXPOSITION GENESIS 42:1 NOW WHEN JACOB SAW—literally, _and Jacob saw, i.e._ perceived by the preparations of others for buying corn in Egypt (Lange), but more probably learnt by the report which others brought from. Egypt (Genesis 42:2)—THAT THERE WAS CORN—שֶׁבֶר, either that which is broken, e.g. ground as in a mill, from שָׁבַר, to break in pieces, to shiver (Gesenius), or that which breaks forth, hence sprouts or geminates, from an unused root, שָׁבַר, to press out, to break forth (Furst), is here employed to denote not simply grain, but a supply of it, _frumenti cumulus, _for sale and purchase. The LXX. render by πρᾶσις, and the Vulgate by _quod alimenta venderentur_—IN EGYPT (vid

AND JOSEPH REMEMBERED THE DREAMS WHICH HE DREAMED OF THEM,.... Their bowing and prostrating themselves before him brought to his remembrance his dreams of their sheaves making obeisance to his, and of the sun, moon, and eleven stars, doing the same to him, Genesis 37:7; AND SAID UNTO THEM, YE [ARE] SPIES; not believing they were, nor absolutely asserting that they were such; but this he said to try them, and what they would say for themselves, and in order to lead on to further discourse with them, and to get knowledge of his father and brother Benjamin, whether living or not: he dealt with them as a judge on the bench, when examining persons, whose charges have the nature of an interrogation, as this has: "ye [are] spies"; are ye not? surely ye must be, and unless you give a better account of yourselves, I must take you up as such: to see the nakedness of t

CHAPTER 42 THE FIRST VISIT OF JOSEPH'S BRETHREN _ 1. Joseph's brethren sent to Egypt (Genesis 42:1)_ 2. Joseph meets his brethren (Genesis 42:6) 3. Put in prison for three days (Genesis 42:17) 4. Joseph's demand (Genesis 42:18) 5. The accusing conscience (Genesis 42:21) 6. Joseph weeps and Simeon bound (Genesis 42:24) 7. The return of the nine ...

GENESIS 42. JOSEPH'S BROTHERS COME TO EGYPT TO BUY CORN, AND UNWITTINGLY ENCOUNTER JOSEPH. The greater part is taken from E, but Genesis 42:2; Genesis 42:4_ b_, Genesis 42:5; Genesis 42:7; Genesis 42:9 _b_ - Genesis 42:11_ a_, Genesis 42:12; Genesis 42:27_ ab_,...

The first Interview with Joseph 6. _governor_ The late, and not very common, word here used in the Hebrew (_shâlît_) denotes the position of "Grand Vizier 1 [59] [59] On the "Grand Vizier" of Egypt, see Appendix E, The name of one of the Hyksos kings, Salatis, presents a resemblance to _shâlît_, which has been remarked upon (Budge, _Hist. Eg._iii. 146, note 1). ," "the _T'ate_," or chief officer of state: see note on Genesis 41:42. It is akin to our word "Sultan," and rendered "ruler" in Ecclesiastes 7:19; Ecclesiastes 10:5. _he it was that sold_ We need not suppose that Joseph in person always conducted the business transactions; but a group of fore