And they came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father, and told him all that had befallen them, saying,
The brothers reach Canaan and tell their father all that happened in Egypt — their dealings with the governor there, and Simeon left behind. Their report is accurate. Yet neither they nor Jacob can see what God is doing with them.
Their report ends at the open sacks, and what they find there frightens them:
Returning home, they recount to their father Jacob their experience with the governor of Egypt (vv. 29-34). Then, opening their sacks, they find the money of all restored to them. Both they and their father were afraid rather than thankful, for they suspected some hidden motive in this. It is the same with people generally. They are suspicious that there must be some "catch" when the free grace of God in Christ Jesus is proclaimed (v. 35).
Something had already started in these men before they reached Canaan. Joseph could read their trouble far better than they could:
The way of restoration is not easy when souls have gone astray like the sons of Jacob. But conscience had begun its deep and healthy work, however much more might be needed. Joseph knew far better than they did that God was really at work. God was using their self-judgment for their blessing, through the very trouble that pressed on them. That trouble left Simeon held in Egypt, and one of them found it confirmed by the money in the mouth of his sack. Their heart failed through fear, and they asked, "What is this that God has done to us?"
So far all of this had stayed among themselves:
All this awakening of conscience, while so far good, is only among themselves. It must all come out before Joseph if they are ever to be happy in his presence. So Joseph will keep his hand on them.
The returned money was a gift. Guilt turned it into evidence against them:
Had they eyes to see, they would have learned from this that Joseph was a giver. But in their condition, gifts only stirred up deeper fear. Their hearts failed them at the discovery of their money. "What is this that God has done to us?" They have recalled their sin, and now they see that God is dealing with them. The fear of God is rising in their souls. Not the holy fear that marked Joseph. "They feared because they had done wrong; he feared doing wrong." So again, when they returned to Jacob, each man found his money in his sack, and "they were afraid." The goodness of Joseph should have made them glad. Instead they are miserable and afraid, because their guilty consciences tell them they do not deserve such goodness.
The old man answers the report with a complaint about his losses. His words land on his sons in a way he never intended:
Poor Jacob's reaction to it all, recorded in verse 36, is very characteristic of him. When he said, "You have bereaved me … Joseph is no more …" he spoke more truly than he knew. His bereavement, as regards Joseph, did indeed lie at their door, so this must have been a further stab to their consciences.
Jacob himself is measuring God by what he can see. (The ESV renders his cry in verse 36 as "All this has come against me.")
Jacob is not guilty, like his sons, but his feeble faith can see no trace of the hand of God in all these circumstances. As he hears the story of his sons' experiences, all he can say is, "All these things are against me." The language of faith speaks very differently. It says, "For those who love God all things work together for good." The very things that to sight and nature were against him were the very means God was using for his blessing.
Jacob's heaviest losses were not wasted:
Yet these blows, which fell so heavily on his affections, were the needed path to blessing and joy for all. And such is the end of the Lord for all who fear Him, however trying the way.
- Told. They told their father everything that had happened, yet the confession that mattered had not yet come out before Joseph.
- Probed. Conscience had begun its deep work. God was using their self-judgment for their blessing, through the very trouble that pressed on them.
- Given. The money in the sacks was pure gift, but guilt read it as a trap — they feared because they had done wrong.
- Complained. Jacob's "All these things are against me" was feeble faith reading God by sight. His words about his lost son stabbed his sons' consciences, and he never knew it.
- Blessed. The blows that hurt Jacob most were the path to joy for the whole family. That is the end of the Lord for all who fear Him.
The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and treated us as spies of the land.
The ten brothers reach Canaan and tell their father what happened in Egypt. They describe the governor only as "the man, the lord of the land" — a stranger who was harsh with them and treated them as spies. Their report is true as far as it goes. But it misses the one fact that explains everything. The man was Joseph, and his harshness was not hatred.
Joseph's harshness was deliberate. He hid behind an interpreter. He also hid behind a charge he knew was false. Both were aimed at their consciences.
Verse 23 tells us he spoke to them through an interpreter. Of course he knew their language perfectly well. But he would not give them the least hint that they might know who he was. When they asked to buy food, he accused them of being spies. This was not accurate. But Joseph wanted to stir their hearts about their past dishonesty. They protest that they are honest men, the sons of one man. Later they must be brought to confess that they have not been honest.
Grain alone would have sent them home fed and unchanged. Joseph wanted more for them than that.
Joseph had something more to do for them than simply supply their present need. He must prepare not only a blessing for them, but them for a blessing. The method he had to take might seem strange to them for a while. But love and wisdom directed it all from beginning to end. To bless them with real blessing, as he planned, he must lead them to repentance... It was indeed his work, but it was his strange work; he was doing his act, but it was his strange act.
The charge they carry home to Jacob echoes their own past. They had once pinned a name on Joseph. Now he pins one on them.
This was taking them up for the good work of restoring their souls, though the process is humbling and painful. The conscience must be dealt with faithfully, or nothing is done... He must get their conscience working, whatever it costs him in personal feeling. His love, for the present, must be firm; its hour for melting and tenderness lies ahead. In the day of their sin they had said of him, "Here comes this dreamer"; and now, in the day of their conviction, he says of them, "You are spies."
They also told their father what they said in reply — that they were honest men. They gave that answer in Egypt, standing in front of the governor himself.
"Joseph spoke roughly to them." The question of sin must be probed to the bottom. The cutting cord of a guilty conscience must be pulled a little tight. "You are spies." Now notice their defence — "We are all sons of one man. We are honest men." They stood in front of the one they had rejected and, in effect, killed. Yet they could talk about being honest men.
The brothers reported the facts and read them wrongly. People do the same with God.
Joseph's brothers were waking up; they say, "What is this that God has done to us?" God was putting His finger on their consciences. When they get back to their father, they say, "The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land." My friend, if you could interpret God's ways you would find them to be all love. You think He is rough. No, no, He loves you with all His heart, and He has given His Son for sinners like you and me.
The blows fell heaviest on Jacob, left at home with this report. But they were going somewhere.
Yet these blows which fell so heavily on his affections were the needed path for blessing and joy to all. And such is the end of the Lord for all who fear Him, however trying the way. Joseph had known it too, and far more deeply than any. In this he was a picture of Christ, faithful in the middle of unfaithfulness... But even for Joseph, and for One far greater than Joseph, humiliation was the path to glory.
- Disguise. Joseph knew them, but spoke through an interpreter. He charged them with a crime he knew they had not committed. He stayed hidden while he worked on their hearts.
- Probe. The charge was pressure, not punishment. Joseph had to deal faithfully with their conscience, or nothing would be done.
- Mirror. They had once called him "this dreamer"; now he calls them spies. The word they carry home to Jacob is their own sin handed back.
- Blind spot. They repeat their defence — "we are honest men" — in front of the brother they had rejected. They feel the roughness; they still will not name the guilt.
- Love. What they read as harshness was firm love preparing them for blessing. Read God's ways rightly and you find them all love. Humiliation is the path to glory.
And we said to him, We are honest; we are not spies
The brothers are home, repeating to Jacob the defence they had given the governor of Egypt. Two questions hang over it: were the words ever true, and what did that governor intend to do about them?
The claim sounds reasonable. But the men making it had rejected their own brother. They were standing in front of him as they spoke, and did not know it.
"Joseph spoke roughly to them." The question of sin must be probed to the bottom. The cord that cuts a guilty conscience must be pulled a little tight. "You are spies." And now notice their defence — "We are all sons of one man. We are honest men." They stood in front of the one they had rejected and, in effect, killed. Yet they could talk of being honest men. What a picture of this world! Men can reject Christ, and then can pretend to keep the law.
They had come to the right man. Everything they needed was in his hands. But their plan was wrong, and so was their plea.
Their plan is to buy, and their plea, "We are honest men" (v. 11). As yet they know neither the love of Joseph's heart, nor the evil of their own hearts. They must learn that Joseph is too rich to sell to his own, and that they have nothing in themselves to plead. Their money will not buy grain, and they have no merit by which to claim it. They must learn that Joseph is ready to give every blessing. Yet they have forfeited every claim on him. Love is a giver when worthlessness has nothing to plead.
Read the report to Jacob as a whole and it collapses on itself. In this verse they claim honesty. A few words later they admit that one brother is gone — and they knew why.
The brothers have condemned themselves out of their own lips. They have protested that they are honest men, and in the same breath they say, "one is not." They know full well that if Joseph is gone from their lives, it is entirely because of their own wickedness. They stand in front of the one they had rejected, and their hearts are still unrepentant. Yet they protest that they are honest men.
The brothers report that the governor spoke roughly and treated them as spies. What was in his heart was completely different.
There was no thought of vengeance in Joseph; nor would he call on the law or trust its processes. With grace in his heart, he does not spare profitable lessons for the conscience of the guilty. So he speaks like a governor of Egypt — which is what he truly was. He makes himself a stranger to them for one reason only: their real good.
One writer speaks straight to the reader who thinks God is rough.
My friend, if you could interpret God's ways you would find them to be all love. You think He is rough. No, no, He loves you with all His heart, and He has given His Son for sinners like you and me.
Joseph does not argue with their claim. He answers it with a test. Older translations put their words as "we are true men."
They have said, "We are honest men." So Joseph will place them in a situation that will show whether at last they can act as true brothers and true sons. With the greatest wisdom Joseph will re-enact the past. Once again ten men will have to act in regard to a younger brother. Once again they will have to face an aged father with his great love for the younger son.
Another writer names the confession Joseph is working toward.
The charge of spying was not true. But Joseph was trying to stir their hearts about their past dishonesty. They protest that they are honest men, the sons of one man (v. 11). They must later be brought to confess that they have not been honest.
- Claim. They called themselves honest men while standing in front of the brother they had rejected. You cannot reject a person and then plead good character.
- Contradiction. The same report that claims honesty admits "one is not"; their own words condemn them.
- Currency. They came to buy, and they pleaded merit. They had to learn that Joseph gives, and that they had forfeited every claim on him.
- Correction. The rough voice was not vengeance. He made himself a stranger to them for no purpose but their real good.
- Confession. Joseph re-stages their old sin to test the claim. In the end they must say what he already knew: they had not been honest.
we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
Back in Canaan, the ten brothers repeat to their father the words they had used before the governor of Egypt: twelve brothers, one gone, the youngest still at home. It sounds like a simple family census, but a crime is buried inside it. (The ESV reads "one is no more"; the writers quoted here use older translations that read "one is not.")
Their report is accurate in every detail except the one that matters. They never say what happened to the missing brother.
They said, "… and one is not." They were not willing to speak of Joseph whom they had sold.
In Egypt they had said these same words to the one man who already knew the truth:
Joseph keeps questioning them, and they tell him that their father had twelve sons. One of them is still at home, while the other, they say, "is not." How little they suspected that the governor knew better!
The phrase is not a lie, but it is not honesty either. It lets them mention their brother without admitting what they did to him.
"And one is not." That is their way of talking about getting rid of their brother. They stood in his presence and did not know it.
A few verses earlier they had called themselves honest men. Their own report undoes that claim.
The brothers have condemned themselves out of their own lips. They protest that they are true men, and in the same breath they say, "one is not." They know full well that if Joseph has passed out of their lives, their own wickedness is the whole reason. They stand in front of the one they had rejected with unrepentant hearts, and still claim to be honest men.
The brothers file their absent brother away as finished business. One writer reads their words as a picture of the Jewish people and the Christ they rejected.
Joseph's brothers must also learn that all their blessing depends upon the man of whom they say "one is not." They say, in effect: "We have not seen him for twenty years. He has dropped out of our lives for good. As far as we are concerned, 'He is not.'" In a day to come the Jewish people will have to learn the same lesson. All their blessing depends upon One they have set at nothing. "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:11-12).
Joseph's rough questions forced this half-confession out of them. The harshness had a purpose.
He was taking them in hand for the good work of restoring their souls, though the process is humbling and painful. Their conscience must be dealt with honestly, or nothing will be done… He must get their conscience working, whatever it costs him in his own feelings. For now his love must be firm; the hour for melting and tenderness lies ahead of it.
Their father then picks up their own phrase in his grief. He does not know how exact it is.
Poor Jacob's reaction to it all, recorded in verse 36, is very characteristic of him. When he said, "You have bereaved me… Joseph is not…" he spoke more truly than he knew. As far as Joseph was concerned, the loss really was their doing. It must have been another stab to their consciences.
- Hidden. The brothers report twelve sons and one missing — true as far as it goes. They would not say what became of the brother they sold.
- Exposed. "One is not" is their phrase for getting rid of him, spoken in front of the only man who knew better.
- Condemned. They call themselves honest men and admit a missing brother in the same breath. Their own words convict them.
- Needed. The one they write off as gone is the one every blessing depends on. He is the rejected stone that became the cornerstone, the only name under heaven by which we must be saved.
- Loved. Joseph's hard words were love at work, not revenge. He had to reach their conscience before the hour of tenderness could come.
And the man, the lord of the land, said to us, Hereby shall I know that ye are honest leave one of your brethren with me, and take [for] the hunger of your households, and go,
The brothers are home, repeating to Jacob what the ruler of Egypt told them. One brother must stay behind. The rest may carry grain home, and they prove they are honest only by bringing back the youngest. These terms are a test. The question is what it would uncover in men who had sold their own brother years before.
The condition begins with the ruler's reason: this is how he will know whether they are honest men. They had used that word about themselves. One writer shows how the demand turns their own claim back on them.
The time has come when they will be tested, and Joseph will prove how far any real change has been worked in them. They have said, "We are honest men." So Joseph will put them in a situation that shows whether they can at last act as true brothers and true sons. With the greatest wisdom Joseph will re-enact the past. Once again ten men will have to act in regard to a younger brother. Once again they shall have to face an aged father with his great love for the younger son.
Their own words had already condemned them.
They have insisted that they are honest men, and in the same breath they say, "one is no more" — knowing full well that if Joseph has gone out of their lives, it is entirely because of their own wickedness. They stand in the presence of the one that they had rejected with unrepentant hearts, and yet claim they are honest men.
The demand has two halves: a hostage kept, and grain handed over for the hunger at home. The same writer reads Joseph's motive behind both.
Simeon is bound before their eyes. Yet it is love that ties the cords round Simeon, for even as he does it he turns aside to weep. The cords that bound him were cords of love. He also gave orders to fill their sacks with grain. He does not forget their needs, and so gives them a measure of relief. Even so, Simeon remains a prisoner.
Joseph had already wept over these men. Yet the terms he sent home with them were hard. One writer explains why his feeling did not soften them.
Joseph had such tender feeling towards his brothers that he wept over them. Even so, he did not let it turn him aside from stern dealing. That dealing was necessary, if he was to bring them to a proper spirit of repentance about the great wrong they committed against him, and against their father also, many years before. Joseph kept Simeon as a hostage. He sent the rest off with full loads of grain and food for the journey, but with each man's money placed in his sack.
One writer names what Joseph wanted all along, and what had to come first.
He would have them at ease before him, and at home with him; but repentance must first be worked in them. How did he bring this about? They must judge themselves for the past.
From here the whole story hangs on one name. One writer draws out where the real power lies.
In all this it is plain how everything turns on Benjamin and their state toward him. This is made the test of their condition. Yet the power to deliver them lies in Joseph's hands alone. All they go through over Benjamin works to awaken conscience and heart about their sin against Joseph.
The news the brothers bring is one more wound to their father. One writer reads Jacob's grief as the road to blessing, not the end of it.
Yet these blows which fell so heavily on his affections were the needed path for blessing and joy to all. And such is the end of the Lord for all that fear Him, however trying the way.
Kelly also notes how little the family understood at the time:
They were still far from understanding the way of the Lord with them. Even Jacob was taken up with the wounds to his heart. He at once recalled the loss of Joseph and Simeon as his reason for flatly refusing to let Benjamin go.
- Claim tested. They called themselves honest men. So Joseph set up a situation to show whether they could act as true brothers and true sons.
- Cords of love. Simeon was bound before their eyes. The same hand filled their sacks with grain — one love kept a hostage and fed a household.
- Love, not softness. Joseph wept over them and still held to stern terms. Repentance had to do its work in them first, before they could be at ease with him.
- One name. Everything from here turns on Benjamin. He is the test of their condition, and the power to deliver them stays with Joseph alone.
- The end of the Lord. The blows that fell on Jacob were the needed path to blessing and joy for them all, however hard the road looked at the time.
and bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that ye are not spies, but are honest. Your brother will I give up to you; and ye may trade in the land.
Jacob's sons come home from Egypt and repeat the ruler's terms to their father. They never guessed that this ruler was their own brother. Everything hangs on one condition — bring the youngest brother down — and on one promise: prove honest, and Joseph will hand back the brother he holds and open the land to them.
The words they report are their own defence thrown back at them. They had insisted they were honest men, and Joseph now takes that claim and builds a test around it.
They have condemned themselves out of their own mouths. They protested that they are honest men, and in the same breath they say, "one is no more." They know full well that if Joseph has passed out of their existence, it is entirely because of their own wickedness. They stand in the presence of the one they had rejected with unrepentant hearts, and yet protest they are honest men.
Another writer explains why Joseph charged them with spying in the first place.
When they asked to buy food, he accused them of being spies. The charge was not true, but Joseph was seeking to awaken concern in their hearts about their past dishonesty. They protest that they are true men, the sons of one man. They must later be brought to confess that they have not been true.
Joseph fixes on the one son still at his father's side. Commentators say the whole reconciliation turns on this demand.
There can be no restoration and no reconciliation until Joseph and Benjamin are united. There is relief, it is true, but no deliverance for Israel. He who was separated from his brothers, but is now in glory, must have the son of his father's right hand… But the truth is, there was another moral necessity to meet — how to set their hearts and their consciences right all round.
The demand also lands exactly where their old guilt lies. What they once did to one favoured son, they are now asked to risk with the other.
The point of this struck home to the brothers. They had robbed their father of Joseph. Now he is to lose the younger son on whom his love was specially set. It stabbed their consciences into action.
The harshness the brothers describe to Jacob was never cruelty. It was a deliberate method, and it cost the man who used it.
This was taking them up for the good work of restoring their souls, though the process is humbling and painful. Their conscience must be dealt with faithfully, if anything is to be done. Joseph aims at it at once. He makes himself a stranger to them. He speaks to them through an interpreter, and he speaks roughly… He must get their conscience working, whatever it costs him in personal feeling. His love, for the present, must be firm; its hour for melting and tenderness is still ahead.
The terms hold two things together. One brother stays behind in chains, yet Joseph still meets their needs. Both the keeping and the giving serve the same end.
Simeon is bound before their eyes. But it is love that binds the cords round Simeon, for even as he does so he turns aside to weep… He does not forget their needs, and so gives them some relief. Even so, Simeon stays a prisoner… If they had eyes to see, they would learn from this that Joseph was a giver. But in their condition, gifts only stir up deeper fear.
Joseph's promise stands — the brother restored, the land open — but they do not have it yet. It waits until the work in them is finished.
Conscience had only just begun to work in them, and its work leads to repentance. That work needed to go much deeper. This is how God deals with us. He lets His correcting hand lie heavy on us until He carries the work through to completion. Then afterwards the blessing comes.
Famine drives the brothers back to Egypt, and one writer traces where that road ends.
His brothers had rejected him. Famine forces them, and the path of repentance and humiliation brings them to own him at last in glory — the one they had once rejected when he was connected with them. Benjamin is a picture of the power of the Lord on earth among the Jews. He is joined to the one who, unknown, held the power of the throne among the Gentiles… But this brings all the brothers into connection with Joseph.
- Claim — Their own words, "we are honest men," become the terms of their test. In the end they must confess the opposite.
- Condition — Benjamin must come down. Relief can be had without him, but no restoration and no reconciliation.
- Conscience — The rough treatment they report is love acting firmly. It aims at the conscience, because nothing is done until the conscience is faced.
- Cost — One brother stays bound while the sacks go home full. Severity and generosity work together, but guilty hearts read the kindness as a threat.
- Completion — The promised reunion waits until the work is deepened and finished. Then, and not before, the blessing is reached.