16 And Judah saith, 'What do we say to my lord? what do we speak? and what—do we justify ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; lo, we 'are' servants to my lord, both we, and he in whose hand the cup hath been found;' 17 and he saith, 'Far be it from me to do this; the man in whose hand the cup hath been found, he becometh my servant; and ye, go ye up in peace unto your father.'
18 And Judah cometh nigh unto him, and saith, 'O, my lord, let thy servant speak, I pray thee, a word in the ears of my lord, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant—for thou art as Pharaoh. 19 My lord hath asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father or brother? 20 and we say unto my lord, We have a father, an aged one, and a child of old age, a little one; and his brother died, and he is left alone of his mother, and his father hath loved him. 21 'And thou sayest unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, and I set mine eye upon him; 22 and we say unto my lord, The youth is not able to leave his father, when he hath left his father, then he hath died; 23 and thou sayest unto thy servants, If your young brother come not down with you, ye add not to see my face. 24 'And it cometh to pass, that we have come up unto thy servant my father, that we declare to him the words of my lord; 25 and our father saith, Turn back, buy for us a little food, 26 and we say, We are not able to go down; if our young brother is with us, then we have gone down; for we are not able to see the man's face, and our young brother not with us. 27 'And thy servant my father saith unto us, Ye—ye have known that two did my wife bare to me, 28 and the one goeth out from me, and I say, Surely he is torn—torn! and I have not seen him since; 29 when ye have taken also this from my presence, and mischief hath met him, then ye have brought down my grey hairs with evil to sheol. 30 'And now, at my coming in unto thy servant my father, and the youth not with us (and his soul is bound up in his soul), 31 then it hath come to pass when he seeth that the youth is not, that he hath died, and thy servants have brought down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to sheol; 32 for thy servant obtained the youth by surety from my father, saying, If I bring him not in unto thee—then I have sinned against my father all the days. 33 'And now, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the youth a servant to my lord, and the youth goeth up with his brethren, 34 for how do I go up unto my father, and the youth not with me? lest I look on the evil which doth find my father.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 44:16-34
Commentary on Genesis 44:1-17
(Read Genesis 44:1-17)
Joseph tried how his brethren felt towards Benjamin. Had they envied and hated the other son of Rachel as they had hated him, and if they had the same want of feeling towards their father Jacob as heretofore, they would now have shown it. When the cup was found upon Benjamin, they would have a pretext for leaving him to be a slave. But we cannot judge what men are now, by what they have been formerly; nor what they will do, by what they have done. The steward charged them with being ungrateful, rewarding evil for good; with folly, in taking away the cup of daily use, which 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? Or, By which, leaving it carelessly at your table, he would make trial whether you were honest men or not? They throw themselves upon Joseph's mercy, and acknowledge the righteousness of God, perhaps thinking of the injury they had formerly done to Joseph, for which they thought God was now reckoning with them. Even in afflictions wherein we believe ourselves wronged by men, we must own that God is righteous, and finds out our sin.
Commentary on Genesis 44:18-34
(Read Genesis 44:18-34)
Had Joseph been, as Judah supposed him, an utter stranger to the family, he could not but be wrought upon by his powerful reasonings. But neither Jacob nor Benjamin need an intercessor with Joseph; for he himself loved them. Judah's faithful cleaving to Benjamin, now, in his distress, was recompensed long afterwards by the tribe of Benjamin keeping with the tribe of Judah, when the other tribes deserted it. The apostle, when discoursing of the mediation of Christ, observes, that our Lord sprang out of Judah, Hebrews 7:14; and he not only made intercession for the transgressors, but he became a Surety for them, testifying therein tender concern, both for his Father and for his brethren. Jesus, the great antitype of Joseph, humbles and proves his people, even after they have had some tastes of his loving-kindness. He brings their sins to their remembrance, that they may exercise and show repentance, and feel how much they owe to his mercy.