42:1 Audiens autem Jacob quod alimenta venderentur in Aegypto, dixit filiis suis : Quare negligitis ?
*H And Jacob hearing that food was sold in Egypt, said to his sons: Why are ye careless?
Ver. 1. Careless. Heb. "gazing one at another," like idle people.
A.M. 2297, A.C. 1707.
42:2 audivi quod triticum venundetur in Aegypto : descendite, et emite nobis necessaria, ut possimus vivere, et non consumamur inopia.
I have heard that wheat is sold in Egypt: Go ye down, and buy us necessaries, that we may live, and not be consumed with want.
42:3 Descendentes igitur fratres Joseph decem, ut emerent frumenta in Aegypto,
So the ten brethren of Joseph went down, to buy corn in Egypt:
42:4 Benjamin domi retento a Jacob, qui dixerat fratribus ejus : Ne forte in itinere quidquam patiatur mali :
Whilst Benjamin was kept at home by Jacob, who said to his brethren: Lest perhaps he take any harm in the journey.
42:5 ingressi sunt terram Aegypti cum aliis qui pergebant ad emendum. Erat autem fames in terra Chanaan.
And they entered into the land of Egypt with others that went to buy. For the famine was in the land of Chanaan.
42:6 Et Joseph erat princeps in terra Aegypti, atque ad ejus nutum frumenta populis vendebantur. Cumque adorassent eum fratres sui,
*H And Joseph was governor in the land of Egypt, and corn was sold by his direction to the people. And when his brethren had bowed down to him,
Ver. 6. To him. Conformably to the prophetic dreams. C. xxxvii. 7. 9. M. — Joseph was like a prince or sultan, shallit, with sovereign authority. C.
42:7 et agnovisset eos, quasi ad alienos durius loquebatur, interrogans eos : Unde venistis ? Qui responderunt : De terra Chanaan, ut emamus victui necessaria.
And he knew them, he spoke as it were to strangers, somewhat roughly, asking them: Whence came you? They answered: From the land of Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life.
42:8 Et tamen fratres ipse cognoscens, non est cognitus ab eis.
*H And though he knew his brethren, he was not known by them.
Ver. 8. By them. Years and change of situation, had made such an alteration in him. God was pleased that Jacob should remain so long ignorant of his son's fate, that, by sorrow, he might do penance, and purify himself from every stain; and that he might not attempt to redeem Joseph, whose slavery was to be the source of so much good to his family. M. — Joseph did not make himself known at first; in order to bring his brethren to a true sense of their duty, that they might obtain pardon for their sin. Thus pastors must sometimes treat their penitents with a degree of severity. S. Greg. hom. 22. Ezec. S. Aug. ser. 82. de Tem. W.
42:9 Recordatusque somniorum, quae aliquando viderat, ait ad eos : Exploratores estis : ut videatis infirmiora terrae venistis.
*H And remembering the dreams, which formerly he had dreamed, he said to them: You are spies. You are come to view the weaker parts of the land.
Ver. 9. You are spies. This he said by way of examining them, to see what they would answer. Ch. — Aquila translates "vagrants" going from place to place, as if to discover the weakest parts. Joseph was a person in authority. It was his duty to guard against invasion. He knew how his brethren had treated Sichem, and how they had behaved to himself; and though he might not suppose, that they had any evil design upon Egypt, yet he had a right to make them give an account of themselves. H. — He wished also to extort from them a true account respecting Jacob and Benjamin. M.
42:10 Qui dixerunt : Non est ita, domine, sed servi tui venerunt ut emerent cibos.
But they said: It is not so, my lord; but thy servants are come to buy food.
42:11 Omnes filii unius viri sumus : pacifici venimus, nec quidquam famuli tui machinantur mali.
We are all the sons of one man: we are come as peaceable men, neither do thy servants go about any evil.
42:12 Quibus ille respondit : Aliter est : immunita terrae hujus considerare venistis.
And he answered them: It is otherwise: you are come to consider the unfenced parts of this land.
42:13 At illi : Duodecim, inquiunt, servi tui, fratres sumus, filii viri unius in terra Chanaan : minimus cum patre nostro est, alius non est super.
But they said: We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Chanaan: the youngest is with our father, the other is not living.
42:14 Hoc est, ait, quod locutus sum : exploratores estis.
He saith, This is it that I said: You are spies.
42:15 Jam nunc experimentum vestri capiam : per salutem Pharaonis non egrediemini hinc, donec veniat frater vester minimus.
*H I shall now presently try what you are: by the health of Pharao, you shall not depart hence, until your youngest brother come.
Ver. 15. Health. This oath implies, that he is willing that even Pharao, whom he so much revered, should perish, if he did not execute what he said: (H.) or, as Pharao is now in health, so true it is you should not all depart, till your youngest brother come. C.
42:16 Mittite ex vobis unum, et adducat eum : vos autem eritis in vinculis, donec probentur quae dixistis utrum vera an falsa sint : alioquin per salutem Pharaonis exploratores estis.
*H Send one of you to fetch him: and you shall be in prison, till what you have said be proved, whether it be true or false: or else by the health of Pharao you are spies.
Ver. 16. Or else by the health of Pharao you are spies. That is, if these things you say be proved false, you are to be held for spies for your lying, and shall be treated as such. Joseph dealt in this manner with his brethren, to bring them by the means of affliction to a sense of their former sin, and a sincere repentance for it.
42:17 Tradidit ergo illos custodiae tribus diebus.
So he put them in prison three days.
42:18 Die autem tertio eductis de carcere, ait : Facite quae dixi, et vivetis : Deum enim timeo.
*H And the third day he brought them out of prison, and said: Do as I have said, and you shall live: for I fear God.
Ver. 18. God. I shall do nothing contrary to justice or good faith, as I know I have a superior in heaven, to whom I must give an account. M.
42:19 Si pacifici estis, frater vester unus ligetur in carcere : vos autem abite, et ferte frumenta quae emistis, in domos vestras,
If you be peaceable men, let one of your brethren be bound in prison: and go ye your ways, and carry the corn that you have bought, unto your houses.
42:20 et fratrem vestrum minimum ad me adducite, ut possim vestros probare sermones, et non moriamini. Fecerunt ut dixerat,
And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may find your words to be true, and you may not die. They did as he had said.
42:21 et locuti sunt ad invicem : Merito haec patimur, quia peccavimus in fratrem nostrum, videntes angustiam animae illius, dum deprecaretur nos, et non audivimus : idcirco venit super nos ista tribulatio.
*H And they talked one to another: We deserve to suffer these things, because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore is this affliction come upon us.
Ver. 21. We deserve. Conscience upbraids. "Punishment opens the mouth, which sin had shut." S. Greg. M. — They had sold Joseph about 22 years before! C.
42:22 E quibus unus Ruben, ait : Numquid non dixi vobis : Nolite peccare in puerum : et non audistis me ? en sanguis ejus exquiritur.
*H And Ruben, one of them, said: Did not I say to you: Do not sin against the boy; and you would not hear me? Behold his blood is required.
Ver. 22. His blood. Ruben supposed his brother was dead, (v. 13,) and judging that Jacob would not let Benjamin come, he thought they must all perish. H.
42:23 Nesciebant autem quod intelligeret Joseph, eo quod per interpretem loqueretur ad eos.
*H And they knew not that Joseph understood, because he spoke to them by an interpreter.
Ver. 23. Interpreter, to keep them at a greater distance. It does not appear that the sons of Jacob were ignorant of the language of the country. C.
42:24 Avertitque se parumper, et flevit : et reversus locutus est ad eos.
And he turned himself away a little while, and wept: and returning, he spoke to them.
42:25 Tollensque Simeon, et ligans illis praesentibus, jussit ministris ut implerent eorum saccos tritico, et reponerent pecunias singulorum in sacculis suis, datis supra cibariis in viam : qui fecerunt ita.
*H And taking Simeon, and binding him in their presence, he commanded his servants to fill their sacks with wheat, and to put every man's money again in their sacks, and to give them besides provisions for the way: and they did so.
Ver. 25. Simeon. If he had joined himself to Ruben and Juda, who seemed inclined to protect Joseph, they might easily have prevented the cruel act, by overawing their younger brothers. Hence he was most guilty. M. — Presence. That they might learn to condole with an afflicted brother.
42:26 At illi portantes frumenta in asinis suis, profecti sunt.
But they having loaded their asses with the corn went their way.
42:27 Apertoque unus sacco, ut daret jumento pabulum in diversorio, contemplatus pecuniam in ore sacculi,
And one of them opening his sack, to give his beast provender in the inn, saw the money in the sack's mouth,
42:28 dixit fratribus suis : Reddita est mihi pecunia, en habetur in sacco. Et obstupefacti, turbatique, mutuo dixerunt : Quidnam est hoc quod fecit nobis Deus ?
And said to his brethren: My money is given me again; behold it is in the sack. And they were astonished, and troubled, and said to one another: What is this that God hath done unto us?
42:29 Veneruntque ad Jacob patrem suum in terram Chanaan, et narraverunt ei omnia quae accidissent sibi, dicentes :
And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Chanaan, and they told him all things that had befallen them, saying:
42:30 Locutus est nobis dominus terrae dure, et putavit nos exploratores esse provinciae.
The lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us to be spies of the country.
42:31 Cui respondimus : Pacifici sumus, nec ullas molimur insidias.
And we answered him: We are peaceable men, and we mean no plot.
42:32 Duodecim fratres uno patre geniti sumus : unus non est super, minimus cum patre nostro est in terra Chanaan.
We are twelve brethren born of one father: one is not living, the youngest is with our father in the land of Chanaan.
42:33 Qui ait nobis : Sic probabo quod pacifici sitis : fratrem vestrum unum dimittite apud me, et cibaria domibus vestris necessaria sumite, et abite,
And he said to us: Hereby shall I know that you are peaceable men: Leave one of your brethren with me, and take ye necessary provision for your houses, and go your ways,
42:34 fratremque vestrum minimum adducite ad me, ut sciam quod non sitis exploratores : et istum, qui tenetur in vinculis, recipere possitis : ac deinceps quae vultis, emendi habeatis licentiam.
*H And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know you are not spies: and you may receive this man again, that is kept in prison: and afterwards may have leave to buy what you will.
Ver. 34. And you may, &c. Joseph had said, (v. 20,) and you may not die, which they thus interpret. H.
42:35 His dictis, cum frumenta effunderent, singuli repererunt in ore saccorum ligatas pecunias, exterritisque simul omnibus,
*H When they had told this, they poured out their corn, and every man found his money tied in the mouth of his sack: and all being astonished together,
Ver. 35. Astonished. One had before made the discovery, v. 28. Now all find their purses among the corn, which renews their astonishment. C.
42:36 dixit pater Jacob : Absque liberis me esse fecistis : Joseph non est super, Simeon tenetur in vinculis, et Benjamin auferetis : in me haec omnia mala reciderunt.
*H Their father Jacob said: You have made me to be without children: Joseph is not living, Simeon is kept in bonds, and Benjamin you will take away: all these evils are fallen upon me.
Ver. 36. Without. Through excess of grief, Jacob speaks with a degree of exaggeration; or he thought his children were now taken from him so fast, that he would soon have none left.
42:37 Cui respondit Ruben : Duos filios meos interfice, si non reduxero illum tibi : trade illum in manu mea, et ego eum tibi restituam.
*H And Ruben answered him: Kill my two sons, if I bring him not again to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will restore him to thee.
Ver. 37. Kill, &c. By this proposal, he meant to signify his utmost care and zeal to bring back young Benjamin safe to his father.
42:38 At ille : Non descendet, inquit, filius meus vobiscum : frater ejus mortuus est, et ipse solus remansit : si quid ei adversi acciderit in terra ad quam pergitis, deducetis canos meos cum dolore ad inferos.
*H But he said: My son shall not go down with you: his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if any mischief befall him in the land to which you go, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to hell.
Ver. 38. Alone: the son of my beloved Rachel. H. — To hell. That is, to that place where the souls then remained, as above, chap. xxxvii. ver. 35. (Ch.) though with respect to his grey hairs, and body, it may signify the grave. H.