Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
This story of Yoseph, from start to finish, takes up more space than any other story, or even the whole life of any other character, told in the Book of Genesis.
42:1 VA YAR YA'KOV KI YESH SHEVER BE MITSRAYIM VA YOMER YA'AKOV LE VANAV LAMAH TITRA'U
וַיַּרְא יַעֲקֹב כִּי יֶשׁ שֶׁבֶר בְּמִצְרָיִם וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב לְבָנָיו לָמָּה תִּתְרָאוּ
KJ (King James translation): Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?
BN (BibleNet translation): Now Ya'akov saw that there was corn in Mitsrayim, and Ya'akov said to his sons, "Why are you looking at each other?"
LE VANAV (לבניו): grammatically, why not El Banav (אל בניו)? More importantly, how old were they, and how interesting that all must have married in (even Yehudah! see chapter 38), because all are apparently still living with dad. Yoseph was 30 when he was made Vizier (Genesis 41:46), though we did question that at the time; but if he was, and the seven years of plenty have passed, plus at least two of the famine, making him, let us say, 40 now - then the eldest of the brothers cannot be less than early 50s, and the others all in their 40s, save only baby Bin-Yamin, who will be late 30s; this is not the impression we will get from the story about to be told, where they come across as very much younger.
SHEVER (שבר): Not BAR (בר) but possibly a development of the same root. Is there evidence in this of writing in a different era?
42:2 VA YOMER HINEH SHAMA'TI KI YESH SHEVER BE MITSRAYIM REDU SHAMAH VE SHIVRU LANU MI SHAM VE NICHEYEH VE LO NAMUT
וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה שָׁמַעְתִּי כִּי יֶשׁ שֶׁבֶר בְּמִצְרָיִם רְדוּ שָׁמָּה וְשִׁבְרוּ לָנוּ מִשָּׁם וְנִחְיֶה וְלֹא נָמוּת
KJ: And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.
BN: And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Mitsrayim. Get down there, and buy for us from there, that we may live and not die."
While the earlier Yoseph story is clearly Egyptian (the source appears to the "The Tale of the Two Brothers"), this appears to come from a much later period, after the establishment of the Confederation, the Kingdom, and even perhaps after the collapse of the north; and looking back imagining it was always thus.
SHEVER: Previously the word for corn was BAR. A SHEVER is really a "break", a literal break, as in falling over and snapping one's ankle, though it is used metaphorically as a time-break, and in Psalm 104:11 for "breaking thirst", which is probably the way that Ya'akov is using it here: a means of breaking their hunger. Amos 8:5 also uses it as a verb for "selling corn", which we have seen ourselves at Genesis 41:57 - so it may well be that the two terms grew out of the same root, though it seems more probable that two entirely different roots found commonality and syncretised, because the letter Sheen (ש) is not a common prefix among the binyanim (LEHAVER or even LETAVER would be more likely).
42:3 VA YIRDU ACHEY YOSEPH ASARAH LISHBOR BAR MI MITSRAYIM
וַיֵּרְדוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף עֲשָׂרָה לִשְׁבֹּר בָּר מִמִּצְרָיִם
KJ: And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
BN: So Yoseph's ten brothers went down to buy corn from Mitsrayim.
But now again it is BAR (בר).
ACHEY YOSEPH ASARAH (אחי יוסף עשרה): Unusual grammatical construction this. Surely it should be ASARAT ACHEY YOSEPH (עשרת אחי יוסף)? But stating it this way around emphasises the "ten", where there are actually eleven, if Bin-Yamin were included.
And why would all ten go down anyway? The mythological tale requires it, but the set-up of a large tribe, with servants, does not.
42:4 VE ET BIN-YAMIN ACHI YOSEPH LO SHALACH YA'AKOV ET ECHAV KI AMAR PEN YIKRA'ENU ASON
וְאֶת בִּנְיָמִין אֲחִי יוֹסֵף לֹא שָׁלַח יַעֲקֹב אֶת אֶחָיו כִּי אָמַר פֶּן יִקְרָאֶנּוּ אָסוֹן
KJ: But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
BN: But Bin-Yamin, Joseph's brother, Ya'akov did not send with his brothers; for he said, "What if some mischief should befall him?"
ACHI: must be an error. ACHO or ACHAV would be acceptable - his brother; or plain ACH. But ACHI means "my brother", which does not work here.
YIKRA'ENU ASON (יקראנו אסון): Is he perhaps thinking of what happened to Yoseph previously, and being deliberately ironic? He is sending the others, after all, and clearly doesn't have the same level of concern for their well-being; but then they are not the sons of the only wife he actually loved. Or is he protecting him, but not the others, because once again ultimogeniture is at stake? (Historically, if this even is historical, Bin-Yamin probably didn't accompany them because there was no Bin-Yamin to accompany them; because he was already there, being Ben-Oni, an Egyptian, himself, and only a "son" by later confederation or tribal adoption.)
42:5 VA YAVO'U BENEY YISRA-EL LISHBOR BETOCH HA BA'IM KI HAYAH HA RA'AV BE ERETS KENA'AN
וַיָּבֹאוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לִשְׁבֹּר בְּתוֹךְ הַבָּאִים כִּי הָיָה הָרָעָב בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן
KJ: And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
BN: So the Beney Yisra-El came to buy among those that came; for there was a famine in the land of Kena'an.
And this time they are Beney Yisra-El, which is a tribal denotion: the term is still in use today across Arabia, sometimes as Bene, sometimes as Banu.
At this time, if it was as we must assume the epoch of the Hyksos, the land of Kena'an was a domain of Mitsrayim (Egypt) anyway. This isn't like Mexican wetbacks, or Venezuelans in Florida, sneaking across the border to buy what they shouldn't and smuggle it home again; this is people from Wichita, Kansas taking a train to Little Rock, Arkansas to buy from a branch of Walmart that has the stock when there's doesn't.
42:6 VE YOSEPH HU HA SHALIT AL HA ARETS HU HA MASHBIR LE CHOL AM HA ARETS VA YAVO'U ACHEY YOSEPH VA YISHTACHAVU LO APHAYIM ARTSAH
וְיוֹסֵף הוּא הַשַּׁלִּיט עַל הָאָרֶץ הוּא הַמַּשְׁבִּיר לְכָל עַם הָאָרֶץ וַיָּבֹאוּ אֲחֵי יוֹסֵף וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לוֹ אַפַּיִם אָרְצָה
KJ: And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
BN: And Yoseph was the governor over the land; he it was who sold to all the people of the land. And Yoseph's brothers came and prostrated themselves before him, with their faces to the earth.
Full prostration, as befits a god and king - exactly as his dream predicted (Genesis 37:7). There is a minor problem however. Egypt was a large kingdom, with multiple cities, and a huge population, and Yoseph had been hired as Prime Minister; yet here he is, running the corn section of the local cornmarket which the brothers happened to choose. And even if there is only this one, central cornmarket, for the whole of Egypt, which is unlikely, is this really how Pharaoh expects him to spend his time? The High Priest of the Corn-God maybe, but not the Prime Minister.
N.B. As we read the dialogue between Yoseph and his brothers, which appears to be direct communication, we need to be aware (see verse 23) that it is in fact taking place through an interpreter, Yoseph speaking Egyptian, not Habiru, or Kena'ani, or whatever proto-Yehudi language it was that the Beney Yisra-El spoke in those days - very different from Egyptian being the important point here. This adds a layer of complexity to the commentary, especially on those occasions where Yoseph's language has literary inferences; but of course it isn't what Yoseph actually said!
42:7 VA YAR YOSEPH ET ECHAV VA YAKIREM VA YITNAKER ALEYHEM VA YEDABER ITAM KASHOT VA YOMER AL'EHEM ME AYIN BA'TEM VA YOMRU ME ERETS KENA'AN LISHBOR OCHEL
וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף אֶת אֶחָיו וַיַּכִּרֵם וַיִּתְנַכֵּר אֲלֵיהֶם וַיְדַבֵּר אִתָּם קָשׁוֹת וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם מֵאַיִן בָּאתֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ מֵאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן לִשְׁבָּר אֹכֶל
KJ: And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
BN: And Yoseph saw his brothers, and he recognised them, but he made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly with them; and he said to them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Kena'an to buy food."
On the other hand, it could be psychologically valid in the context of the objectives of the story-teller (which is fine for man-made literature, but not for god-made history); once appointed, and once the drought had struck, Yoseph might have anticipated that at some point his brothers would turn up, and may well have been looking out for them, even asking border guards to let him know if any Kena'anim were coming, and then planning how we would deal with them when they arrived. (Yes, this is stretching it, I know.)
YAKIREM... YITNAKER: The Yehudit puns, using the same root for both verbs; surely the translators could have found an English equivalent? Perhaps, given that LEHAKIR is much more reconnaître than savoir anyway: "And Yoseph saw his brothers, and recognised them, but made himself unrecognisable to them..." which is then available for repetition in a better translation of the next verse, on the same principle.
42:8 VA YAKER YOSEPH ET ECHAV VE HEM LO HIKIRUHU
וַיַּכֵּר יוֹסֵף אֶת אֶחָיו וְהֵם לֹא הִכִּרֻהוּ
KJ: And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
BN: And Yoseph recognised his brothers, but they had no idea who he was.
How much would he have needed to do to make himself unrecognisable? He may well be wearing his coat of many colours, but if thatwas standard Hyksos aristocrat and Hkysos-priest clothing, they might not pay it any attention. We are twenty years on since they last saw him, and he was 17 at the time, so he will be much changed, probably with a squared-off Egyptian beard and hair-do, an Egyptian hierarch into whose face a humble man doesn't spend much time gazing anyway, lest it be misconstrued. Plus, they think their brother is a slave or dead, and it wouldn't occur to them that he might have risen to so lofty a position.
VA YAKER: As with the previous verse, as with the French "savoir" and "connaître", the Yehudit here is making a clear distinction between two types of knowledge, and both verses use LEHAKIR and not LADA'AT, one in the Pu'al, the other in the Hiphil.
42:9 VA YIZKOR YOSEPH ET HA CHALOMOT ASHER CHALAM LAHEM VA YOMER AL'EHEM MERAGLIM ATEM LIR'OT ET ERVAT HA ARETS BA'TEM
וַיִּזְכֹּר יוֹסֵף אֵת הַחֲלֹמוֹת אֲשֶׁר חָלַם לָהֶם וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם מְרַגְּלִים אַתֶּם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עֶרְוַת הָאָרֶץ בָּאתֶם
KJ: 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.
BN: And Yoseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, "You are spies. You have come to see the nakedness of the land."
Spies for whom though? Egypt isn't anywhere near as naked as Kena'an – that's why they're here. And again, Kena'an is a sub-domain of Egypt. But he needs something to challenge them with, so that he can take vengeful pleasure from making their lives miserable for a little while; this is as good a strategy as any.
Interesting that it is his dreams of them that come back to him now and prompt this act of lording it over them, rather than his memory of what they did to him, throwing him in the pit and then selling him like an old donkey to some passing whoever-they-weres. A case of megalomania, rather than hatred, saved up and now ready for expiation! Commentators tend to assume it was the latter that prompted his actions, but this verse is very clear.
42:10 VA YOMRU ELAV LO ADONI VA AVADEYCHA BA'U LISHBOR OCHEL
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו לֹא אֲדֹנִי וַעֲבָדֶיךָ בָּאוּ לִשְׁבָּר אֹכֶל
KJ: And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
BN: And they said to him, "No, my lord. But to buy food have your servants come...
They won't all have spoken; so which one spoke for them: Re'u-Ven and Yehudah are generally the leaders.
42:11 KULANU BENEY ISH ECHAD NACHNU KENIM ANACHNU LO HAYU AVADEYCHA MERAGLIM
כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי אִישׁ אֶחָד נָחְנוּ כֵּנִים אֲנַחְנוּ לֹא הָיוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ מְרַגְּלִים
KJ: We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
BN: "We are all one man's sons. We are upright men, your servants are no spies."
NACHNU KENIM (נחנו כנים): Is this slang? What happened to the Aleph (א) at the beginning of NACHNU? Unless a very clever and complicated and heavily ironic pun is intended: NACHNU as the first person plural past tense of NU'ACH (נוח) = "to rest"; and therefore "we have remained honest men". But that is unlikely. The other option is a simple scribal error, a missing or a dropped Aleph. The Aleph is there, after all, just two words on - ANACHNU.
KENIM: "Upright men", but the Yehudit also plays aurally with the name of Kayin and the tribe of Kenites associated with him. Kayin, remember, was the bad guy, and Yoseph has been sacrificed in much the manner of a Havel. The jest is purely aural however; Kenim here is spelt with a Kaph (כ), where the tribe is spelt with a Kuf (ק)
HAYU: Uses the past tense in a sentence that is otherwise in the present tense. Yet another error? Is the intention to make the brothers appear to be analphabetic dimwits who can barely speak their own language, thereby showing why the highly educated Yoseph was so hated by them? Rich and deep psychology by the author if that is the case.
Note again the use of AVADIM (עבדים) in the sense of "servants", not "slaves".
42:12 VA YOMER AL'EHEM LO KI ERVAT HA ARETS BA'TEM LIR'OT
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם לֹא כִּי עֶרְוַת הָאָרֶץ בָּאתֶם לִרְאוֹת
KJ: And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
BN: And he said to them, "No, it is to see the nakedness of the land that you have come."
Spying with a view to conquest?
Spying with a view to conquest?
42:13 VA YOMRU SHENEYM ASAR AVADEYCHA ACHIM ANACHNU BENEY ISH ECHAD BE ERETS KENA'AN VE HINEH HA KATAN ET AVIYNU HA YOM VE HA ECHAD EYNENO
וַיֹּאמְרוּ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר עֲבָדֶיךָ אַחִים אֲנַחְנוּ בְּנֵי אִישׁ אֶחָד בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וְהִנֵּה הַקָּטֹן אֶת אָבִינוּ הַיּוֹם וְהָאֶחָד אֵינֶנּוּ
KJ: And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
BN: And they said, "We your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Kena'an; and behold the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not."
Based on the word-order this actually says: "Twelve your servants brothers we are sons of one man..." and the rest as translated. It is a jumble in the Yehudit, not just in the translation. Is it because they are nervously stammering, or as per my previous note?
Based on the word-order this actually says: "Twelve your servants brothers we are sons of one man..." and the rest as translated. It is a jumble in the Yehudit, not just in the translation. Is it because they are nervously stammering, or as per my previous note?
And even if it were coherent, this is not really the way that people generally convey information, when one of the family is long ago deceased. They might say "we are eleven brothers" and mention the one at home; but why would they tell a man of this importance the banal fact that there used to be a twelfth brother but he died? This is a function of the story-telling (if they did not mention him, it would be harder for Yoseph to find a way to bring Bin-Yamin to Egypt), but this is not supposed to be story-telling, rather an account of literal historical events. Even within the function of story-telling the phrasing is unusual, containing a hint that they think Yoseph might not be dead; EYNEYNO could be a euphemism for "dead", or simply be a statement of "who knows where he might be?".
ANACHNU: Note that the initial Aleph has been restored.
42:14 VA YOMER AL'EHEM YOSEPH HU ASHER DIBARTI AL'ECHEM LEMOR MERAGLIM ATEM
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יוֹסֵף הוּא אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵכֶם לֵאמֹר מְרַגְּלִים אַתֶּם
KJ: And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
BN: And Yoseph said to them, "This is what I am telling you. Watch my lips move. You are spies".
Another very awkward construction. The intention is much stronger, to make them frightened: "Listen to what I'm telling you. I am saying that you are [which is really: I am going to treat you as] spies."
42:15 BE ZOT TIBACHENU CHEY PHAR'OH IM TETS'U MI ZEH KI IM BE VO ACHIYCHEM HA KATAN HENAH
בְּזֹאת תִּבָּחֵנוּ חֵי פַרְעֹה אִם תֵּצְאוּ מִזֶּה כִּי אִם בְּבוֹא אֲחִיכֶם הַקָּטֹן הֵנָּה
KJ: Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
Surf The Site
Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
BN: "In this manner you will have the opportunity to prove yourselves. As Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave here, until your youngest brother comes here."
In what way would it prove anything (not that this is Yoseph's real purpose, but they don't know that)? They could have been honest about this, and still spies. Yehoshu'a will later be presented as a generally honest man, but he went into Kena'an as a spy.
In what way would it prove anything (not that this is Yoseph's real purpose, but they don't know that)? They could have been honest about this, and still spies. Yehoshu'a will later be presented as a generally honest man, but he went into Kena'an as a spy.
42:16 SHILCHU MI KEM ECHAD VE YIKACH ET ACHIYCHEM VE ATEM HE'ASRU VE YIBACHANU DIVREYCHEM HA EMET IT'CHEM VE IM LO CHEY PHAROH KI MERAGLIM ATEM
שִׁלְחוּ מִכֶּם אֶחָד וְיִקַּח אֶת אֲחִיכֶם וְאַתֶּם הֵאָסְרוּ וְיִבָּחֲנוּ דִּבְרֵיכֶם הַאֱמֶת אִתְּכֶם וְאִם לֹא חֵי פַרְעֹה כִּי מְרַגְּלִים אַתֶּם
KJ: Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
BN: "Choose one of you to send, and let him fetch your brother, and the rest of you shall be held hostage, that your words may be proven, whether there is any truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh lives, you are spies."
This actually makes more sense, psycholgically, than what actually happens: give all of his brothers a taste of the prison that he himself experienced, and then give all but one of them an even longer taste. And he does hold all of them, but only for three days, when he could have held all of them and not just one of them until Bin-Yamin arrived. And if it had gone that way, who would he have sent home alone to deal with dad and bring Bin-Yamin? Re'u-Ven as the eldest?
HE'ASRU: "to bind", in any and every sense, from binding your sword to your thigh (Nehemiah 4:12) to being stricken with love (Song of Songs 7:6) to binding in chains (Genesis 42:24 below, Psalm 146:7), to tethering a beast to a plough or cart (1 Samuel 6:7). I am commenting because, in the next verse, the word used for the prison in which they are bound is MISHMAR, where 2 Kings 17:4, and elsewhere, uses ASAR, or its derivative SO'AR, for the prison itself - as with Yoseph previously (Genesis 39:20) . The inference of having two different words is that the brothers are bound in chains, and then locked up in jail, still wearing them, but that this is a different form of jail from Yoseph's, perhaps "remand" rather than "post-sentencing prison".
42:17 VA YE'ESOPH OTAM EL MISHMAR SHELOSHET YAMIM
וַיֶּאֱסֹף אֹתָם אֶל מִשְׁמָר שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים
KJ: And he put them all together into ward three days.
BN: And he gathered them all together in custody for three days.
YE'ESOPH (יאסף): yet another piece of careful word-play which is simply not present in the English; a neat pun on his name: corn-gatherer and now men-gatherer. But this is the clue that we needed to the true meaning of his name: and the (deliberate?) mistranslation confirms it. He is Osher (Osiris), or at least his priestly surrogate on Earth, who gathers the souls of the dead into the underworld. Saying "ward" is as evasive as putting him in "ward" earlier on: he went down into the pit in Kena'an, then into the underground prison in Mitsrayim (Egypt), and now he is doing the same to them – and of course for three days: what other period of time could it be? (Check how long Yoseph spent in the pit before his brothers sold him to the Beney Yishma-El: three days, no?).
SHELOSHET YAMIM (שלשת ימים): once again the key number three; which is Egyptian as muh as Beney Yisra-Eli. Note SHELOSHET (שלשת) used again instead of SHELOSHAH (שלשה), implying "the three days" i.e. a specific triad, festivular or some-such.
The point being that he is only putting them in prison for these three days; this is not a hostage-taking while the brother is brought, more a temporary remand during a period of festivity. Nonetheless it does allow him a measure of revenge - they now experience what they put him through. And after all, whichever brother/s may be sent to fetch Bin-Yamin, the round trip cannot possibly be made in just three days.
The point being that he is only putting them in prison for these three days; this is not a hostage-taking while the brother is brought, more a temporary remand during a period of festivity. Nonetheless it does allow him a measure of revenge - they now experience what they put him through. And after all, whichever brother/s may be sent to fetch Bin-Yamin, the round trip cannot possibly be made in just three days.
42:18 VA YOMER AL'EHEM YOSEPH BA YOM HA SHELISHI ZOT ASU VI HEYU ET HA ELOHIM ANI YAR'E
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יוֹסֵף בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי זֹאת עֲשׂוּ וִחְיוּ אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים אֲנִי יָרֵא
KJ: And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
BN: And Yoseph said to them on the third day, "Do this, and live, for I fear Ha Elohim...
YAR'E (ירא): crucial term this; as observed previously, the early Beney Yisra-El did not "believe" in the gods, since intellectual credulity was hardly the point with the gods so imminent and so animistic: thunder, lightning and earthquake do not require further proof. They "feared" the gods. The primitive relationship was entirely different; hence the power of the god-king and the tribal-chief who surrogated for the god on Earth. Cf Pachad Yitschak in Genesis 31:42 and 53 earlier.
At the literary-psychological level, why does he need to put them in jail for three days? It's as if he's been giving them time to think it over and reach a decision.
HA ELOHIM (האלהים): again meaning "the gods", which is entirely logical for Yoseph in his Egyptian role. And still no mention of YHVH anywhere in the Yoseph tales.
End of fourth fragment.
42:19 IM KENIM ATEM ACHIYCHEM ECHAD YE'ASER BE VEIT MISHMARCHEM VE ATEM LECHU HAVIY'U SHEVER RA'AVON BATEYCHEM
אִם כֵּנִים אַתֶּם אֲחִיכֶם אֶחָד יֵאָסֵר בְּבֵית מִשְׁמַרְכֶם וְאַתֶּם לְכוּ הָבִיאוּ שֶׁבֶר רַעֲבוֹן בָּתֵּיכֶם
KJ: If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
BN: "If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison-house; the rest of you go, and carry corn for the famine in your houses.
YE'ASER: Now he uses YE'ASER (see verse 16), the dungeon he himself was in before. But why MISHMAR-CHEM (משמרכם) = "your" prison house; surely it's his prison house? And why MISHMAR and not SO'AR – a sense of two different kinds of imprisonment, the chains and the jail, as discussed above?
Has the three day moratorium changed his mind, now sending all but one, where previously he wanted to send one and keep the rest? Or are there two versions? Or is he simply displaying the sort of virtues that they never showed to him?
SHEVER: Now he uses SHEVER, as Ya'akov did, rather than BAR, for corn.
RA'AVON - links to the name Re'u-Ven? It has to be, because grammatically it is not really how this would have been said. RA'AVAT BATEYCHEM would be more correct. And it is Re'u-Ven who differentiated himself at the time, as he will remind the brothers in verse 22.
42:20 VE ET ACHIYCHEM HA KATAN TAVIY'U ELAY VE YE'AMNU DIVREYCHEM VE LO TAMUTU VA YA'ASU CHEN
וְאֶת אֲחִיכֶם הַקָּטֹן תָּבִיאוּ אֵלַי וְיֵאָמְנוּ דִבְרֵיכֶם וְלֹא תָמוּתוּ וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן
KJ: But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
BN: "But bring your youngest brother back to me; that way your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.
The last phrase is surely out of place, because they don't yet do so. Like the Akeda, Yoseph appears to have no insight into the impact of what he is doing: Ya'akov will be devastated by this, as Sarah was.
42:21 VA YOMRU ISH EL ACHIV AVAL ASHEMIM ANACHNU AL ACHIYNU ASHER RA'IYNU TSARAT NAPHSHO BE HIT'CHANENU ELEYNU VE LO SHAMA'NU AL KEN BA'AH ELEYNU HA TSARAH HA ZOT
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו אֲבָל אֲשֵׁמִים אֲנַחְנוּ עַל אָחִינוּ אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ צָרַת נַפְשׁוֹ בְּהִתְחַנְנוֹ אֵלֵינוּ וְלֹא שָׁמָעְנוּ עַל כֵּן בָּאָה אֵלֵינוּ הַצָּרָה הַזֹּאת
KJ: And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
BN: And they said to one another, "This is the expiation of our guilt concerning our brother, in that we knew exactly what torment we were inflicting on him, we heard him beseech us, and we would not listen; so, now, the same distress is fallen upon us."
Natural justice; a good moral and didactic tale; but conveniently for the tale at the time, we never heard about this witnessing of the distress in Yoseph's soul at the time, nor received any hint that they felt the slightest bit guilty.
42:22 VA YA'AN RE'U-VEN OTAM LEMOR HA LO AMARTI ALEYCHEM LEMOR AL TECHET'U VA YELED VE LO SHEMA'TEM VE GAM DAMO HINEH NIDRASH
וַיַּעַן רְאוּבֵן אֹתָם לֵאמֹר הֲלוֹא אָמַרְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם לֵאמֹר אַל תֶּחֶטְאוּ בַיֶּלֶד וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתֶּם וְגַם דָּמוֹ הִנֵּה נִדְרָשׁ
KJ: And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
BN: And Re'u-Ven answered them saying, "Did I not speak to you at the time, saying, 'Do not sin against the child', and you would not listen? So, now, this child's blood is also required."
The guilt and angst and recrimination are splendidly conveyed; very modern; albeit in the Laurel and Hardy sense of "that's another fine mess you've gotten me into".
Who will actually stay behind? Logically the first-born, Re'u-Ven. On the other hand, the first-born may feel he has to take the responsibility of facing dad with the news? Which of the two prospects is the worst: dad or prison?
42:23 VE HEM LO YADU KI SHOME'A YOSEPH KI HA MELITS BEYNOTAM
וְהֵם לֹא יָדְעוּ כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ יוֹסֵף כִּי הַמֵּלִיץ בֵּינֹתָם
KJ: And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
BN: And they had no idea that Yoseph understood every word they were saying, because he talked to them through an interpreter.
We had no sense of an interpreter when they spoke previously (see my note to verse 6). This is always one of the problems in interpreting Bible stories - so much is not told, because story-telling techniques then were different from our own. In what measure does it change the psychological and emotional power of the story that he is speaking Egyptian through an interpreter, and they presumably do not understand him; they are presumably responding in Hurrian, also through the interpreter, but Yoseph understands every word, including any private exchanges as they confer on what to reply and who shall speak on their behalf? How does this impact on our reading of his statements - verse 14 especially?
SHOME'A: Doesn't actually mean "understood"; it means "heard"; but "understood" gets the full sense.
42:24 VA YISOV ME AL'EHEM VA YEVCH VA YASHAV AL'EHEM VA YEDABER AL'EHEM VA YIKACH ME ITAM ET SHIM'ON VA YE'ESOR OTO LE EYNEYHEM
וַיִּסֹּב מֵעֲלֵיהֶם וַיֵּבְךְּ וַיָּשָׁב אֲלֵהֶם וַיְדַבֵּר אֲלֵהֶם וַיִּקַּח מֵאִתָּם אֶת שִׁמְעוֹן וַיֶּאֱסֹר אֹתוֹ לְעֵינֵיהֶם
KJ: And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
BN: And he turned away from them, and wept, and he returned to them, and spoke to them, and he took Shim'on from among them, and bound him before their eyes.
Why Shim'on? Because it was Shim'on who advocated what happened to him in Kena'an, and this is his revenge? The choice is Yoseph's, not the brothers, and he makes it after eavesdropping on their guilty conversation. Yet he didn't know at the time that it was Shim'on who had instigated his own fate all those years ago.
(One very distant possibility, but worth considering. That Yoseph knew the tale of his sister Dinah, and what Shim'on and Levi had done by way of vengeance, and that this was in his mind when he chose to punish Shimon. Or even that he was minimising the negative effect on Ya'akov - of all the sons, because of Shechem, Shim'on and Levi might well be the ones he felt the least compassion for.)
Another of those wonderful action sentences which English cannot do, because Yehudit is all about the action performed, but English is all about the person/people who perform(s) the action.
42:25 VA YETSAV YOSEPH VA YEMAL'U ET KELEYHEM BAR U LEHASHIV KASPEYHEM ISH EL SAKO VE LATET LAHEM TSEDAH LA DERECH VA YA'AS LAHEM KEN
וַיְצַו יוֹסֵף וַיְמַלְאוּ אֶת כְּלֵיהֶם בָּר וּלְהָשִׁיב כַּסְפֵּיהֶם אִישׁ אֶל שַׂקּוֹ וְלָתֵת לָהֶם צֵדָה לַדָּרֶךְ וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם כֵּן
KJ: 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.
BN: Then Yoseph gave instruction that their containers be filled with corn, and every man's money restored to his sack, and that they be given provision for the journey; and thus it was done to them.
42:26 VA YISU' ET SHIVRAM AL CHAMOREYHEM VA YELCHU MI SHAM
וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת שִׁבְרָם עַל חֲמֹרֵיהֶם וַיֵּלְכוּ מִשָּׁם
KJ: And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
BN: And they loaded up their asses with their corn, and set out from the place.
No camels, note. Just donkeys or asses or mules.
42:27 VA YIPHTACH HA ECHAD ET SAKO LATET MISPO LA CHAMORO BA MALON VA YAR ET KASPO VE HINEH HU BE PHI AMTACHTO
וַיִּפְתַּח הָאֶחָד אֶת שַׂקּוֹ לָתֵת מִסְפּוֹא לַחֲמֹרוֹ בַּמָּלוֹן וַיַּרְא אֶת כַּסְפּוֹ וְהִנֵּה הוּא בְּפִי אַמְתַּחְתּוֹ
KJ: And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.
BN: And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender at the caravanserai, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.
Yes, but which brother?
"Lodging-place" is not a good translation for MALON (מלון); it makes us think of a Holiday Inn, or at least a 1-star motel beside the highway. This was a journey across the Sinai desert, or at best along the coast tracks through the marshes of Goshen (the Yam Suph that we will encounter with Mosheh later) and the dry plains of Aza (Gaza). Caravanserai would be better; even oasis.
Note that YAR (ירא) here means "saw" where just a few verses ago it meant "feared"; they are actually two different verbs.
42:28 VA YOMER EL ECHAV HUSHAV KASPI VE GAM HINEH VE AMTACHTI VA YETS'E LIBAM VA YECHERDU ISH EL ACHAV LEMOR MAH ZOT ASAH ELOHIM LANU
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל אֶחָיו הוּשַׁב כַּסְפִּי וְגַם הִנֵּה בְאַמְתַּחְתִּי וַיֵּצֵא לִבָּם וַיֶּחֶרְדוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו לֵאמֹר מַה זֹּאת עָשָׂה אֱלֹהִים לָנוּ
KJ: 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?
BN: And he said to his brothers, "My money's been put back. It's right here in my sack." And their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another saying, "What has Elohim has done to us?"
Again Elohim (אלהים); but why do they blame Elohim - or are they thanking him? Because Elohim is perceived as fate and destiny and chance and luck as well as the great divine plan. Note that it doesn't occur to them to go back and ask what's happening. (A great teaching moment this: the moral dilemma. You go into a grocery store and buy your goods; the check-out person gives you back your change, but in error gives you back the whole sum of money you handed over. Do you say "thank you god", like the brothers, or do you call for the manager and insist on paying what you owe?)
42:29 VA YAVO'U EL YA'AKOV AVIYHEM ARTSAH KENA'AN VA YAGIYDU LO ET KOL HA KOROT OTAM LEMOR
וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל יַעֲקֹב אֲבִיהֶם אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן וַיַּגִּידוּ לוֹ אֵת כָּל הַקֹּרֹת אֹתָם לֵאמֹר
KJ: And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
BN: And they came to Ya'akov their father in the land of Kena'an, and told him everything that had happened to them, saying:
42:30: DIBER HA ISH ADONEY HA ARETS ITANU KASHOT VA YITEN OTANU KI MERAGLIM ET HA ARETS
דִּבֶּר הָאִישׁ אֲדֹנֵי הָאָרֶץ אִתָּנוּ קָשׁוֹת וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָנוּ כִּמְרַגְּלִים אֶת הָאָרֶץ
KJ: The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
BN: "The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, he accused us of being there to spy out the country...
Again highly colloquial language, and not terribly literate.
Again highly colloquial language, and not terribly literate.
42:31 VA NOMER ELAV KENIM ANACHNU LO HA'YIYNU MERAGLIM
וַנֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו כֵּנִים אֲנָחְנוּ לֹא הָיִינוּ מְרַגְּלִים
KJ: And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
BN: "And we told him, 'We are honest men, we weren't no spies...
The protest echoing Yoseph's "I do not deserve to be in this dungeon", previously
HA'YIYNU: Again the odd use of the past tense (see verse 11).
42:32 SHENEYM ASAR ANACHNU ACHIM BENEY AVIYNU HA ECHAD EYNENU VE HA KATAN HA YOM ET AVIYNU BE ERETS KENA'AN
שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲנַחְנוּ אַחִים בְּנֵי אָבִינוּ הָאֶחָד אֵינֶנּוּ וְהַקָּטֹן הַיּוֹם אֶת אָבִינוּ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן
KJ: 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.
BN: "'We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one's not around any longer, and the youngest, right now, he's with our father in the land of Kena'an'...
ANACHNU: Note that the initial Aleph has been restored (see verse 11), as it was in verse 13.
42:33 VA YOMER ELEYNU HA ISH ADONEY HA ARETS BE ZOT EDA KI CHENIM ATEM ACHIYCHEM HA ECHAD HANIYCHU ITI VE ET RA'AVON BATEYCHEM KECHU VA LECHU
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֵינוּ הָאִישׁ אֲדֹנֵי הָאָרֶץ בְּזֹאת אֵדַע כִּי כֵנִים אַתֶּם אֲחִיכֶם הָאֶחָד הַנִּיחוּ אִתִּי וְאֶת רַעֲבוֹן בָּתֵּיכֶם קְחוּ וָלֵכוּ
KJ: 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:
BN: "And the man, the lord of the land, he said to us, 'This is how I shall know if you are honest men; leave one of your brothers with me, and take corn for the famine of your houses, and go on your way...
42:34 VE HAVIY'U ET ACHIYCHEM HA KATAN ELAI VE ED'AH KI LO MERAGLIM ATEM KI CHENIM ATEM ET ACHIYCHEM ETEN LACHEM VE ET HA ARETS TISCHARU
וְהָבִיאוּ אֶת אֲחִיכֶם הַקָּטֹן אֵלַי וְאֵדְעָה כִּי לֹא מְרַגְּלִים אַתֶּם כִּי כֵנִים אַתֶּם אֶת אֲחִיכֶם אֶתֵּן לָכֶם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ תִּסְחָרוּ
KJ: 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 traffick in the land.
BN: "'And bring your youngest brother to me; then I shall know that you are no spies, but that you are honest men; so I will give you back your brother, and you shall be free to trade in the land.'"
42:35 VA YEHI HEM MERIYKIM SAKEYHEM VE HINEH ISH TSEROR KASPO BE SAKO VA YIR'U ET TSEROROT KASPEYHEM HEMAH VA AVIYHEM VA YIYRA'U
וַיְהִי הֵם מְרִיקִים שַׂקֵּיהֶם וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ צְרוֹר כַּסְפּוֹ בְּשַׂקּוֹ וַיִּרְאוּ אֶת צְרֹרוֹת כַּסְפֵּיהֶם הֵמָּה וַאֲבִיהֶם וַיִּירָאוּ
KJ: And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
BN: And it transpired, as each one emptied his sacks, that behold every man's bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.
They notice and are terrified, but they don't seem to question why? Note how the previous comments on the two forms of VA-YAR now come together - they "see" (ויראו) and "are terrified" (וייראו) the second Yud a late, probably mediaeval augmentation to help avoid confusion, though actually it spoils the symmetry. The second should read identically to the first – "ויראו".
42:36 VA YOMER AL'EHEM YA'AKOV AVIHEM OTI SHIKALTEM YOSEPH EYNENU VE SHIM'ON EYNENU VE ET BIN-YAMIN TIKACHU ALAI HAYU CHULANAH
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם יַעֲקֹב אֲבִיהֶם אֹתִי שִׁכַּלְתֶּם יוֹסֵף אֵינֶנּוּ וְשִׁמְעוֹן אֵינֶנּוּ וְאֶת בִּנְיָמִן תִּקָּחוּ עָלַי הָיוּ כֻלָּנָה
KJ: And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
BN: And Ya'akov their father said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children. Yoseph is not, and Shimon is not, and now you want to take Bin-Yamin away. Why do all these things happen to me?"
Is he blaming them for Yoseph? However, as noted previously, this is precisely how he was bound to take it; it is surprising he hasn't had a heart attack. And Yoseph should have known this.
Note the use again of EYNENU.
And in response to Ya'akov's comment, I wonder if he invited Lavan to Rachel's funeral, or if he has ever been invited to spend a holiday with the family, on the sheep-farm in Be'er Sheva, getting to know his grandchildren?
And in response to Ya'akov's comment, I wonder if he invited Lavan to Rachel's funeral, or if he has ever been invited to spend a holiday with the family, on the sheep-farm in Be'er Sheva, getting to know his grandchildren?
42:37 VA YOMER RE'U-VEN EL AVIV LEMOR ET SHENEY VANAY TAMIT IM LO AVIYENU ELEYCHA TENAH OTO AL YADI VA ANI ASHIYVENU ELEYCHA
וַיֹּאמֶר רְאוּבֵן אֶל אָבִיו לֵאמֹר אֶת שְׁנֵי בָנַי תָּמִית אִם לֹא אֲבִיאֶנּוּ אֵלֶיךָ תְּנָה אֹתוֹ עַל יָדִי וַאֲנִי אֲשִׁיבֶנּוּ אֵלֶיךָ
KJ: And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
BN: And Re'u-Ven spoke to their father, saying:, "Kill my two sons, if I don't bring him back to you; deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him back to you."
Re'u-Ven as ever proves to be the good son (not counting that one unfortunate incident with Bilhah); not that his noble offer will do anyone much good: if you lose your two sons, take my two as payment, simply equals four dead sons. But it also encourages us to wonder how Ya'akov would have reacted if Yehudah had made the same offer! The offer also tells us something of how life was valued in those days, and how clans worked.
42:38 VA YOMER LO YERED BENI IMACHEM KI ACHIV MET VE HU LEVADO NISH'AR U KERA'AHU ASON BA DERECH ASHER TELCHU VAH VE HORADETEM ET SEYVATI BE YAGON SHE'OLAH
וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יֵרֵד בְּנִי עִמָּכֶם כִּי אָחִיו מֵת וְהוּא לְבַדּוֹ נִשְׁאָר וּקְרָאָהוּ אָסוֹן בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר תֵּלְכוּ בָהּ וְהוֹרַדְתֶּם אֶת שֵׂיבָתִי בְּיָגוֹן שְׁאוֹלָה
KJ: And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
BN: And he said, "My son shall not go down with you. His brother is dead, and only he is left. If harm befell him on the journey, then you would bring my gray hairs down with sorrow to the grave."
All of which is pretty insulting to his other sons, who are treated as second-tier offspring, almost to the point of being irrelevant, throughout; as if Ya'akov really only has two sons; as if the others are tribal allies merely.
End of chapter 42.
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