NOTES for Gen 44:1-34
1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth. |
2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. |
3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. |
4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? |
5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. |
6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. |
7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: |
8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? |
9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen. |
10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words; he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. |
11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. |
12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. |
13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. |
14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. |
15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? |
16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. |
17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father. |
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. |
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There is today, and there was in antiquity, a certain understanding, not always clear but common to all peoples: like is redeemed by like. If you killed a person, be ready to die. If you stole, be ready to return what was stolen many times over. And now: how could the sale of one's own brother into slavery be redeemed? In a very obvious way: by freeing one's brother from slavery and becoming a slave in his place. Something like this happens after the staged "theft" of Joseph's cup by his brothers, arranged on Joseph's orders.
It is completely clear that this staged scene is part of the work Joseph is doing with his brothers. He has to let them feel what it is like to be guilty without guilt, and in such a way that it is absolutely impossible to justify yourself, even if you are right a thousand times over. Perhaps this will make it clearer to them what Joseph felt when his brothers sold him to the merchants of a passing caravan. Feeling it is important, but it is not enough. What is at issue is spiritual work. Joseph needs to understand what choice the brothers will make when they have to decide what to do now that their youngest brother is to remain in Egypt in slavery. The situation mirrors his own: he too faced slavery in Egypt without any guilt.
One could say that the brothers were still fortunate: for the "theft," the youngest of them faced the death penalty, and only by Joseph's mercy did he remain alive, though in slavery. So it had once been with Joseph himself: for him too slavery in Egypt became mercy, a substitute for death, which had seemed almost inevitable. And it is here that Judah offered himself as a slave in Benjamin's place.
This offer settles the matter: only a little while remains, and Joseph will reveal himself to his brothers; the test is over. Why precisely now? It is not hard to understand: among the brothers there was at least one who was ready to redeem what had been done to Joseph. To redeem it, of course, still in the most familiar, traditional sense, but even here there is already what is present in every redemption and without which no redemption is possible by definition: the readiness to take upon oneself the consequences of another person's actions and another person's sins. To take them on only out of love, without any compulsion. Now the sin against Joseph had been redeemed, and Joseph could reveal himself to his brothers.
Readings for 25 February 2026
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