And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou and our little ones.
Jacob's food has run out a second time. His sons cannot get more unless Benjamin, the son Jacob will not part with, goes down to Egypt with them. Judah's words break the deadlock. The man who once sold one brother now puts his own name on the line for another.
The family delayed while the grain held out. When it ran out, they could no longer dodge the choice.
As long as the food lasted, the dreaded condition stayed out of sight. But when their supply ran out, they had to face facts. They found God to be above their hopes as much as their fears. He turned their faults to their profit, and He was rich in mercy that suited their need, to His own glory. The sons left it to their father to propose a fresh visit to Egypt; and it is not Reuben but Judah who states the case.
Jacob had already said no. Hunger overruled him.
For the moment Jacob refused outright to part with Benjamin. But Genesis 43 shows us how his stubborn refusal had to give way before the hard logic of facts. They could not get the food they needed unless Benjamin went down to Egypt with his brothers.
Judah's offer sounds smaller than a grand promise, yet it costs him more. It is the one Jacob accepts.
Judah's character stands out by contrast everywhere, and nowhere more than here. Judah makes no large offers at the expense of his sons; what he offers is much more moderate, and at his own risk. "Send the boy with me … I will be surety for him." Jacob trusts him at once and lets Benjamin go.
The same brother appears at both turning points in Joseph's story.
Judah was directly guilty of selling him to the Gentiles; when Benjamin comes into the picture, Judah is identified with him — he stands surety for him.
Hole looks past the words to what produced them.
In the words of Judah, recorded in verses 8 and 9, we find an attitude towards him quite the opposite to his attitude towards Joseph years before. A repentant spirit was beginning to show its fruits.
What he had refused to do for one brother, he now volunteers for another.
But his words to his father Jacob, about sending Benjamin to Joseph, show us something in Judah's character that we can admire… What he failed to do for Joseph, he now does for Benjamin. He stands surety for his safety.
Judah does not just promise to try. He takes the whole weight of what happens on himself. That role is called being a surety — older translations use the same word for Jesus in Hebrews 7:22.
Hebrews 7:22 says that Jesus was made "the guarantor of a better covenant." Verse 9 of our chapter gives an excellent picture of what being a surety involves. If there is any breakdown, the blame for it must lie for ever on the surety, and he must answer for all of it. If there were any breakdown in the new covenant, the blame would rest upon Christ for ever. But no! Its stability and the security of all its blessings are guaranteed for eternity.
Judah later kept his word. He offered to become a slave in Benjamin's place. Yet an offer to pay is not the same as a price paid.
Judah's appeal is not empty rhetoric; he offers to give himself up to save Benjamin. This spirit of self-sacrifice marks all true intercession. "Blot me, I pray you, out of your book," said Moses. "I could wish myself accursed," said Paul. "Let me be a slave instead of Benjamin," says Judah, in effect. All these declared what they were willing to do: the wounds of Christ show what He has done.
- Famine speaks. Jacob's refusal held only while the grain lasted. Then hunger forced the family to face what they had avoided.
- Judah speaks. Not Reuben but Judah states the case, and he stakes himself rather than anyone else — so Jacob trusts him at once.
- Repentance speaks. The man who sold Joseph now binds himself to Benjamin; changed words are the first fruit of a changed heart.
- Suretyship speaks. A surety carries the blame for any failure for ever. Hebrews gives Jesus that name: guarantor of a better covenant.
- Christ speaks last. Judah offered to pay; the wounds of Christ show a price already paid.
I will be surety for him of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever.
Famine forces Jacob's hand a second time, and the brothers cannot return to Egypt without Benjamin — the one son their father will not risk. Judah breaks the deadlock by offering himself as the pledge — older translations call him the surety — and that one word carries far beyond a family argument.
The voice that speaks here is not a neutral one. Judah had once taken the lead in getting rid of Joseph, and the offer he now makes reverses that history point for point.
This time Judah — the one who had taken the lead in selling Joseph — insists to his father that the governor of Egypt had made an absolute ruling. If they came back without Benjamin, they would be turned away. So he said they would not go unless they could take Benjamin. He offered to be surety for Benjamin (v. 9). He said that if he did not bring Benjamin back safe, he, Judah, would bear the blame forever.
Something in Judah had changed since then:
In Judah's words in verses 8 and 9 we see an attitude towards Benjamin that is the exact opposite of his attitude towards Joseph years before. A repentant spirit was starting to show its fruit.
The verse spells out the terms of the pledge in three clauses: Judah takes responsibility, Jacob may demand Benjamin back from him personally, and failure means permanent blame.
In Hebrews 7:22 we read of Jesus being made a surety of a better covenant. Verse 9 of our chapter is an excellent illustration of what being a surety involves. If there is any breakdown, the blame for it must lie for ever on the surety, and everything must be required at his hand.
The size of the offer is not what won Jacob over. What mattered was who carried the risk.
Judah makes no grand offers at the expense of his sons. His offer is much more modest, and the risk is his own. Jacob trusts him at once and lets Benjamin go.
The pledge was soon put to the test:
Events were arranged so that the apparent guilt fell on Benjamin, the one Judah had stood surety for before Jacob. That is what brought Judah forward as the spokesman.
A surety proves himself when the debt falls due.
Judah kept his pledge with honour when he stood up in Egypt and offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin.
One writer applies the same promise to Christ and the new covenant:
Turn to Genesis 43 and look at verse 9, and the force of the word "surety" will be plain. The new covenant is a declaration of the grace of God. It is as if our Lord said, "If it should ever fail or come to an end, let Me bear the blame for it for ever." It will stand, because as Hebrews 13 says, it is the everlasting covenant.
The old agreement had no one standing in that place:
The old covenant had no surety. The deal was made and both sides agreed to it. God would never fail to keep His side, but nobody could guarantee that the people would keep theirs — a shaky foundation indeed.
- Repentance speaks. The brother who sold Joseph now stands security for Benjamin. A changed heart was showing its fruit.
- A surety is named. He carries the whole responsibility. The blame falls on him for ever, and everything is demanded from his hand.
- A surety is trusted. Judah risks himself and not his sons, so Jacob lets Benjamin go at once.
- A surety is proved. In Egypt he redeemed his pledge, offering himself as a substitute so that his brother could go free.
- A surety secures the covenant. What Judah was to Jacob, Jesus is to God. He is the guarantee the old covenant never had, and so the new one stands for ever.