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Gênesis 42

BLIVRE · Chapter 42/50

1E vendo Jacó que no Egito havia alimentos, disse a seus filhos: Por que estais olhando uns para os outros?

2E disse: Eis que, eu ouvi que há alimentos no Egito; descei ali, e comprai dali para nós, para que possamos viver, e não nos morramos.

3E desceram os dez irmãos de José a comprar trigo ao Egito.

4Mas Jacó não enviou a Benjamim irmão de José com seus irmãos; porque disse: Não seja acaso que lhe aconteça algum desastre.

5E vieram os filhos de Israel a comprar entre os que vinham: porque havia fome na terra de Canaã.

6E José era o senhor da terra, que vendia a todo o povo da terra: e chegaram os irmãos de José, e inclinaram-se a ele rosto por terra.

7E José quando viu seus irmãos, reconheceu-os; mas fez que não os conhecesse, e falou-lhes asperamente, e lhes disse: De onde viestes? Eles responderam: Da terra de Canaã, para comprar alimentos.

8José, pois, reconheceu a seus irmãos; mas eles não o reconheceram.

9Então se lembrou José dos sonhos que havia tido deles, e disse-lhes: Sois espias; viestes ver a fraqueza desta terra.

10E eles lhe responderam: Não, meu senhor; teus servos vieram comprar alimentos.

11Todos nós somos filhos de um homem; somos homens honestos; teus servos nunca foram espias.

12E ele lhes disse: Não; viestes ver a fraqueza desta terra.

13E eles responderam: Teus servos somos doze irmãos, filhos de um homem na terra de Canaã; e eis que o menor está hoje com nosso pai, e outro desapareceu.

14E José lhes disse: Isso é o que vos disse, afirmando que sois espias;

15Nisto sereis provados: Vive Faraó que não saireis daqui, a não ser quando vosso irmão menor vier aqui.

16Enviai um de vós, e traga a vosso irmão; e vós ficai presos, e vossas palavras serão provadas, se há verdade convosco: e se não, vive Faraó, que sois espias.

17E juntou-os no cárcere por três dias.

18E ao terceiro dia disse-lhes José: Fazei isto, e vivei; eu temo a Deus;

19Se sois homens honestos, fique preso na casa de vosso cárcere um de vossos irmãos; e vós ide, levai o alimento para a fome de vossa casa;

20Porém haveis de trazer-me a vosso irmão mais novo, e serão comprovadas vossas palavras, e não morrereis. E eles o fizeram assim.

21E diziam um ao outro: Verdadeiramente pecamos contra nosso irmão, que vimos a angústia de sua alma quando nos rogava, e não o ouvimos; por isso veio sobre nós esta angústia.

22Então Rúben lhes respondeu, dizendo: Não vos falei eu e disse: Não pequeis contra o jovem; e não escutastes? Eis que também o sangue dele é requerido.

23E eles não sabiam que os entendia José, porque havia intérprete entre eles.

24E apartou-se ele deles, e chorou: depois voltou a eles, e lhes falou, e tomou dentre eles a Simeão, e aprisionou-lhe à vista deles.

25E mandou José que enchessem seus sacos de trigo, e devolvessem o dinheiro de cada um deles, pondo-o em seu saco, e lhes dessem comida para o caminho; e fez-se assim com eles.

26E eles puseram seu trigo sobre seus asnos, e foram-se dali.

27E abrindo um deles seu saco para dar de comer a seu asno no lugar de parada, viu seu dinheiro que estava na boca de seu saco.

28E disse a seus irmãos: Meu dinheiro se me foi devolvido, e ainda ei-lo aqui em meu saco. Alarmou-se, então, o coração deles e, espantados, disseram um ao outro: Que é isto que Deus nos fez?

29E vindos a Jacó seu pai em terra de Canaã, contaram-lhe tudo o que lhes havia acontecido, dizendo:

30Aquele homem, senhor da terra, nos falou asperamente, e nos tratou como espias da terra:

31E nós lhe dissemos: Somos homens honestos, nunca fomos espias:

32Somos doze irmãos, filhos de nosso pai; um desapareceu, e o menor está hoje com nosso pai na terra de Canaã.

33E aquele homem, senhor da terra, nos disse: Nisto conhecerei que sois homens honestos; deixai comigo um de vossos irmãos, e tomai para a fome de vossas casas, e ide,

34E trazei-me a vosso irmão o mais novo, para que eu saiba que não sois espias, mas sim homens honestos: assim vos darei a vosso irmão, e negociareis na terra.

35E aconteceu que esvaziando eles seus sacos, eis que no saco de cada um estava o pacote de seu dinheiro: e vendo eles e seu pai os pacotes de seu dinheiro, tiveram temor.

36Então seu pai Jacó lhes disse: Vós me privastes de meus filhos; José desapareceu, nem Simeão tampouco, e a Benjamim o levareis; contra mim são todas estas coisas.

37E Rúben falou a seu pai, dizendo: Podes matar meus dois filhos, se eu não o devolver a ti; entrega-o em minha mão, que eu o devolverei a ti.

38E ele disse: Não descerá meu filho convosco; que seu irmão é morto, e ele somente restou; e se lhe acontecer algum desastre no caminho por onde vades, fareis descer meus cabelos brancos com tristeza ao Xeol.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Because of the famine, Joseph's ten brothers go to Egypt to buy grain and bow down before him without recognizing him; Joseph tests them, holds Simeon as a hostage, and demands that they bring Benjamin on their next trip.

Explanation

This chapter brings a moment of quiet poetic justice: the same brothers who once bowed figuratively before Joseph's dreams now bow literally before him, fulfilling a decades-old prophecy without even realizing it. Joseph, recognizing them but remaining disguised, does not seek immediate revenge but seems to genuinely test whether his brothers had changed, especially in how they would treat Benjamin, Rachel's other son. The moment when the brothers, unaware that Joseph understands them (because of the interpreter), express genuine remorse for what they did to Joseph years earlier ('we are verily guilty concerning our brother,' v. 21) shows real moral growth, leading Joseph to step away and weep in private. The lesson for today is that sincere repentance, even when it comes late, is recognized and valued, and that reconciliation often requires time and proof of genuine change.

Fun facts

  • The fact that Joseph communicates with his brothers through an interpreter (v. 23) — despite understanding their Hebrew perfectly — is a detail that reinforces just how hidden his identity remains, heightening the dramatic tension of the scene for the reader who already knows the truth.
  • Jacob's reluctance to let Benjamin go to Egypt (v. 38) reflects his deep-seated fear, still carrying the trauma of Joseph's supposed death, showing how the pain of losing a child can shape family decisions for decades.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Gênesis 42:1Jacob demands practical action from his sons: knowing there is grain in Egypt, just staring at one another does nothing to solve the hunger at home.
  2. Gênesis 42:2Jacob sends his sons down to buy grain in Egypt — the decision that will bring the family closer to Joseph again, without anyone in Canaan knowing it yet.
  3. Gênesis 42:3Joseph’s ten older brothers go down to buy wheat — the whole group except the youngest.
  4. Gênesis 42:4Jacob doesn’t let Benjamin go along, afraid some disaster might happen to him — the same kind of fear that, decades earlier, hadn’t stopped the tragedy with Joseph.
  5. Gênesis 42:5Jacob’s sons arrive in Egypt mixed in among other buyers, since the famine was also hitting Canaan, not just Egypt.
  6. Gênesis 42:6The brothers bow before Joseph, governor of the land, with their faces to the ground — unknowingly fulfilling exactly the image from the dream of the sheaves told back in chapter 37.
  7. Gênesis 42:7Joseph recognizes his brothers right away, but pretends to be a stranger, speaks harshly, and asks where they’re from — hiding his own identity behind the office.
  8. Gênesis 42:8The text confirms the imbalance of the scene: Joseph recognizes them, but they have no idea that this powerful governor is the brother they sold as a slave.
  9. Gênesis 42:9Joseph accuses the brothers of being spies come to see the “nakedness of the land,” an expression that means checking a country’s weak, unprotected spots, like military reconnaissance. It’s a serious accusation, and also ironic: Joseph knows exactly who they are, but uses the accusation to test them.
  10. Gênesis 42:10The brothers deny the accusation, insisting they only came to buy grain like any other traveler.
  11. Gênesis 42:11They stress that they are all sons of the same father, honest men, not spies — trying to prove honesty precisely before someone who knows they already lied once, about Joseph.
  12. Gênesis 42:12Joseph keeps up the accusation even in the face of their defense, continuing the test he’s setting up.
  13. Gênesis 42:13Under pressure, the brothers reveal the family’s real makeup: twelve brothers in all, one no longer exists, and the youngest stayed with their father — without knowing they’re speaking to the brother they consider dead.
  14. Gênesis 42:14Joseph uses their own explanation to reinforce the accusation, saying it’s exactly what he had already said.
  15. Gênesis 42:15“By the life of Pharaoh” was a common oath formula in Egypt, similar to swearing by God today. Using this expression reinforces that Joseph is speaking there as an official Egyptian authority, not as a private individual.
  16. Gênesis 42:16Joseph proposes a concrete test: one of them will go get the youngest brother while the others stay imprisoned, to prove whether the story is true.
  17. Gênesis 42:17Joseph keeps them all imprisoned together for three days, perhaps to let them reflect on the situation.
  18. Gênesis 42:18On the third day, Joseph changes the terms of the test, justifying the decision by saying he fears God — a line that sounds almost ironic, coming from someone still hiding his own identity from his brothers.
  19. Gênesis 42:19The new proposal is milder: only one needs to stay imprisoned, while the rest carry grain back to the family starving at home.
  20. Gênesis 42:20Joseph demands they bring the youngest brother as final proof of their story — the demand that will later force Jacob to release Benjamin.
  21. Gênesis 42:21Not knowing Joseph understands them, the brothers confess to each other, right there, the guilt they carry for ignoring his anguish when they sold him.
  22. Gênesis 42:22Reuben recalls that he had already warned them not to sin against the boy, and now feels that blood, symbolically spilled, is being called to account against them.
  23. Gênesis 42:23The brothers don’t know they’re speaking with Joseph because, in the conversation, there was an interpreter translating — Joseph pretends not to understand their language and uses this go-between. That’s how he manages to hear everything they say to each other without being recognized.
  24. Gênesis 42:24Joseph withdraws alone to weep, hiding his emotion, and only afterward returns to have Simeon bound before them all, as part of the test.
  25. Gênesis 42:25Joseph orders the money the brothers paid for the wheat to be secretly returned inside their sacks, without their knowledge. It isn’t a simple act of generosity: it creates confusion and fear later, and works as one more test, since finding silver they hadn’t paid looks like proof of theft.
  26. Gênesis 42:26The brothers load the wheat they bought onto the donkeys and set out back to Canaan, with no idea of the surprise waiting for them on the way.
  27. Gênesis 42:27Stopping to feed his donkey, one of them opens his sack and finds his own money back, untouched — a frightening mystery instead of good news.
  28. Gênesis 42:28Fear grips the brothers, who ask each other what God is doing to them — reading the returned money as a sign of something bigger at play.
  29. Gênesis 42:29Arriving in Canaan, they tell Jacob everything that happened in Egypt, including the accusation of spying.
  30. Gênesis 42:30They report the governor’s harsh treatment and the accusation that they were spies of the land.
  31. Gênesis 42:31They repeat their own defense: they are honest men, not spies.
  32. Gênesis 42:32They explain the family’s makeup to their father, the same way they had already explained it to Joseph — twelve brothers, one no longer exists, the youngest stayed home.
  33. Gênesis 42:33They tell him the governor’s proposal: leave one brother behind, take grain home, and prove the truth by bringing the youngest brother.
  34. Gênesis 42:34They explain that, by meeting this condition, they could get their imprisoned brother back and even trade freely in the land of Egypt.
  35. Gênesis 42:35Emptying the sacks, they discover that all of them, not just one, had their own money back — fear spreads through the whole family.
  36. Gênesis 42:36Jacob laments having lost Joseph and now Simeon, and resists the idea of risking Benjamin too — feeling everything is conspiring against him.
  37. Gênesis 42:37Reuben offers himself as an extreme guarantee, pledging the lives of his own two sons if he doesn’t bring Benjamin back — a desperate offer that doesn’t convince Jacob.
  38. Gênesis 42:38Saying something will bring someone’s “gray hairs” down to the grave is an old way of saying it will kill the person from grief in old age — gray hairs being a sign of advanced age. Jacob is saying that losing Benjamin too would be the end of him.

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