Genesis, Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Verses 1-34: The Missing Silver Cup

1. Then he commanded his steward, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.
2. Additionally, put my silver cup in the mouth of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” And he did as Joseph had said.
3. At dawn, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
4. When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, “Go, follow the men, and when you catch up with them, say, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?’
5. ‘Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and which he indeed uses for divination? You have done evil in doing this.’
6. When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.
7. They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!
8. Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?
9. Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will become my lord’s slaves.”
10. He said, “Now let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found shall become my slave, but the rest of you shall be innocent.”
11. Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.
12. He searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
13. At this, they tore their clothes, and then each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
14. Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell before him on the ground.
15. Joseph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can indeed practice divination?”
16. Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.”
17. But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my slave. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
18. Then Judah approached him and said, “Oh my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.
19. My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’
20. And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’
21. Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me that I may set my eyes on him.’
22. We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’
23. Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’
24. When we went up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25. And our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food.’
26. But we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down, for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27. Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.
28. One went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since.
29. If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.’
30. Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, since his life is bound up in the boy’s life,
31. when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.
32. For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’
33. Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.
34. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”

Interpretation: This passage highlights a critical moment of testing and revelation. Joseph’s strategy to place his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack and the subsequent accusation serves as a pivotal test for his brothers, revealing their character transformation and solidarity. Judah’s plea reflects a deep sense of responsibility and sacrifice, showcasing the themes of repentance, redemption, and familial bonds that are central to the narrative.