Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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G E N E S I S

CHAP. XLIV.

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Joseph, having entertained his brethren, dismissed them; but here

we have them brought back in a greater fright than any they

had been in yet. Observe,

I. What method he took both to

humble them further and also to try their affection to his brother

Benjamin, by which he would be able to judge of the sincerity of

their repentance for what they had done against himself, of which

he was desirous to be satisfied before he manifested his reconciliation

to them. This he contrived to do by bringing Benjamin

into distress,

ver. 1-17.

II. The good success of the experiment;

he found them all heartily concerned, and Judah particularly,

both for the safety of Benjamin and for the comfort of

their aged father,

ver. 18,

&c.

Joseph’s Policy.	B. C. 1707.

     

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.

     

Joseph heaps further kindnesses upon his

brethren, fills their sacks, returns their

money, and sends them away full of gladness;

but he also exercises them with further

trials. Our God thus humbles those

whom he loves and loads with benefits.

Joseph ordered his steward to put a fine

silver cup which he had (and which, it is

likely, was used at his table when they dined

with him) into Benjamin’s sack’s mouth,

that it might seem as if he had stolen it

from the table, and put it here himself, after

his corn was delivered to him. If Benjamin

had stolen it, it had been the basest piece of

dishonesty and ingratitude that could be

and if Joseph, by ordering it to be there,

had designed really to take advantage against

him, it had been in him most horrid cruelty

and oppression; but it proved, in the issue,

that there was no harm done, nor any designed,

on either side. Observe,

     

I. How the pretended criminals were pursued

and arrested, on suspicion of having

stolen a silver cup. The steward charged

them with ingratitude–rewarding evil for

good; and with folly, in taking away a cup

of daily use, and which therefore would soon

be missed, and diligent search made for it;

for so it may be read: Is not this it in which

my lord drinketh (as having a particular fondness

for it), and for which he would search

thoroughly?
v. 5.

Or, “By which, leaving

it carelessly at your table, he would make

trial whether you were honest men or no.”

     

II. How they pleaded for themselves.

They solemnly protested their innocence,

and detestation of so base a thing

(v. 7),

urged it as an instance of their honesty that

they had brought their money back

(v. 8),

and offered to submit to the severest punishment

if they should be found guilty,

v. 9, 10.

     

III. How the theft was fastened upon

Benjamin. In his sack the cup was found

to whom Joseph had been particularly kind.

Benjamin, no doubt, was ready to deny,

upon oath, the taking of the cup, and we

may suppose him as little liable to suspicion

as any of them; but it is in vain to confront

such notorious evidence: the cup is found

in his custody; they dare not arraign

Joseph’s justice, nor so much as suggest

that perhaps he that had put their money

in their sacks’ mouths had put the cup there;

but they throw themselves upon Joseph’s

mercy. And,

     

IV. Here is their humble submission,

v. 16.

1. They acknowledge the righteousness of

God: God hath found out the iniquity of thy

servants, perhaps referring to the injury they

had formerly done to Joseph, for which they

thought God was now reckoning with them.

Note, Even in those afflictions wherein we

apprehend ourselves wronged by men yet

we must own that God is righteous, and

finds out our iniquity.

2. They surrender

themselves prisoners to Joseph: We are my

lord’s servants. Now Joseph’s dreams were

accomplished to the utmost. Their bowing

so often, and doing homage, might be looked

upon but as a compliment, and no more than

what other strangers did; but the construction

they themselves, in their pride, had put

upon his dreams was, Shalt though have dominion

over us?

(ch. xxxvii. 8),

and in this

sense it is now at length fulfilled,; they own

themselves his vassals. Since they did invidiously

so understand it, so it shall be fulfilled

in them.

     

V. Joseph, with an air of justice, gives

sentence that Benjamin only should be kept

in bondage, and the rest should be dismissed;

for why should any suffer but the guilty?

Perhaps Joseph intended hereby to try Benjamin’s

temper, whether he could bear such

a hardship as this with the calmness and

composure of mind that became a wise and

good man: in short, whether he was indeed

his own brother, in spirit as well as blood;

for Joseph himself had been falsely accused,

and had suffered hard things in consequence,

and yet kept possession of his own soul.

However, it is plain he intended hereby to

try the affection of his brethren to Benjamin

and to their father. If they had gone away

contentedly, and left Benjamin in bonds, no

doubt Joseph would soon have released and

promoted him, and sent notice to Jacob,

and would have left the rest of his brethren

justly to suffer for their hard-heartedness;

but they proved to be better affected to Benjamin

than he feared. Note, We cannot

judge what men are by what they have been

formerly, nor what they will do by what they

have done: age and experience may make

men wiser and better. Those that had sold

Joseph would not now abandon Benjamin.

The worst may mend in time.

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

(v. 23, 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.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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