Preface: The brothers were told not to return to Egypt without their youngest brothers. Jacob is finally convinced of this, and he sends all eleven sons to Egypt for grain. When the brothers arrive, they are taken to Joseph’s home for a great meal.

There are many chapter commentaries on the book of Genesis. This will be the most extensive examination of Genesis 43, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text. Every attempt has been made to make this both a complete and self-contained study. Therefore, all references, vocabulary, and related concepts should be found within this extensive study. Easy access links to more in-depth studies of some vocabulary words, concepts and doctrines are also provided.

Outline of Chapter 43:

Introduction

         vv.     1–10         Judah Convince Jacob to Send Benjamin with Them to Egypt

         vv.    11–14         Jacob Sends His Sons with a Present and His Blessing

         vv.    15–23         The Brothers, Invited to Dine with Joseph, Explain Themselves to Joseph’s Servant

         vv.    24–31         Joseph’s Hospitality; Joseph Sees Benjamin

         vv.    32–34         Joseph Enjoys a Meal with His Brothers

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Preface

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         The Prequel of Genesis 43

         Introduction         The Principals of Genesis 43

         Introduction         The Places of Genesis 43

         Introduction         The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 43

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Genesis 43

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translations for Genesis 43 931 (from Dr. Bob Utley)

         Introduction         William Ramey’s Chiasmos of Genesis 43:1–34c

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Chapter Updates

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         v.       8              Summarizing Genesis 42:1–43:7

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         v.      14              The NET Bible on ʾEl Shaddai

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         v.      23              “I had your money,” Joseph’s servant said (an artist’s conception)

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         v.      32              The American English Bible on Hebrews, Israelites, Jews and Semites

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         v.      33              Joseph as a Type of Christ at this Meal

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         v.      34              Joseph and His brothers at a Meal by Jim Padgett

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         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            An Abbreviated Exegesis of Genesis 43

         Summary            B. H. Carroll Summarizes Genesis 43

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 43

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         Addendum 

         Addendum          Why Genesis 43 is in the Word of God

         Addendum          What We Learn from Genesis 43

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 43

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Genesis 43

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Genesis 43

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Genesis 43

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An Introduction to Genesis 43

I ntroduction: In Genesis 42, Joseph's ten brothers returned to their father and related what Joseph had said to them. They desired to return with Benjamin so that Joseph would free Simeon, who was held hostage in the Egyptian prison. Jacob, because he loved Benjamin more than he loved Simeon, would not allow this. He had become a cold, selfish, hard-hearted old man and he will not bend on this. He had his grain, he had is favorite son, and Jacob was not going to let any of his sons go back to Egypt with Benjamin.

In chapter 43, we pick up the narrative six months to a year later. Their food will only last for so long. They had no way of knowing how long the famine would last so they brought provisions for probably a year, expecting that the next year would have a normal rainfall. They assumed that it would get them through a bad season and that they would prosper again. They had wealth, but they did not have food (specifically grain). They needed grain to make bread and they needed grain for their animals. In this chapter, they will have to return to Joseph once again. This period of time intervening allows Joseph to think through this situation so that he does not make a hasty decision.

The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 43

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Judah Convince Jacob to Send Benjamin with Them to Egypt

Genesis 43 begins with year 2 of the famine, and the family of Jacob recognizes that they will have to return to Egypt for more grain.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac (= Aramaic) and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_genesis.html and first published in 1862.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And the famine [was] severe in the land and so he is, as which they completed to eat grain which they had brought from Egypt, and so says unto them their father, “Return; buy a little of food.”

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum (trans. Etheridge)      .

Targum (Onkelos)                  But the famine prevailed in the land. And it was when they had ended to eat the corn which they had brought from Mizraim, that their father said to them, Return, and buy for us a little corn. Translation for Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. (1862).

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   And it was when they had finished eating the corn they had brought from Mizraim, their father said to them, Return and buy us a little corn.

Jerusalem targum                  .

Revised Douay-Rheims         In the mean time the famine was heavy upon all the land. And when they had eaten up all the corn, which they had brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons: Go again and buy us a little food.

Jerusalem targum                  .

Latin Vulgate                          .

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        The famine was severe in the land. It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food."

Peshitta (Syriac)                    THE famine was very severe in the land. And when they had finished eating the wheat which they had brought from Egypt, their father Jacob said to them, Go down to Egypt, and buy us a little grain.

Septuagint (Greek)                Joseph's brothers return with Benjamin. Gn.43.1-34

But the famine prevailed in the land. And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again; buy us a little food.

NETS (Greek)                        .

Brenton’s Septuagint             .

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             Now the land was in bitter need of food. And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food.

Easy English                          Joseph’s brothers return to Egypt

The *famine was very bad in the country called Canaan. Jacob’s family had eaten up the corn that they had brought from Egypt. So Jacob said, ‘Go again to Egypt to buy a little food.’

Easy-to-Read Version            .

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  Jacob Lets Benjamin Go to Egypt

The famine was very bad in that country. The people ate all the grain they had brought from Egypt. When that grain was gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go to Egypt and buy some more grain for us to eat.”

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  .

International Children’s B.     The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

Still no food grew in the land of Canaan. Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt. So Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again. Buy a little more grain for us to eat.”

God’s Word™                         Jacob [Israel] Sends Ten Sons Back to Egypt

The famine was severe in the land. When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, Israel said to his sons, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin

The famine in Canaan got worse, and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the grain which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy a little food for us.”

The Message                         The famine got worse. When they had eaten all the food they had brought back from Egypt, their father said, “Go back and get some more food.”

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      Joseph’s Brothers Go Down to Egypt Again

There still wasn’t enough food anywhere in the land. After a while Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain the brothers had brought from Egypt. So their father said to them, “Go back. Buy us a little more food.”

New Simplified Bible              The famine was extremely bad in the land. 2 When they finished eating the grain they brought from Egypt, Israel said to his sons: »Go back and buy us a little more food.«

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           .

Contemporary English V.       .

The Living Bible                     But there was no relief from the terrible famine throughout the land. When the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, their father said to them, “Go again and buy us a little food.”

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

Still no food grew in the land of Canaan. When Jacob’s family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again and buy a little more grain for us to eat.”

New Life Version                    The time of no food was hard in the land. When they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again and buy us a little food."

New Living Translation           The Brothers Return to Egypt

But the famine continued to ravage the land of Canaan. When the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          However, the famine continued in the land. And so, after they had finished eating the grain that they'd brought from Egypt, their father told them: 'Go there to buy us a little food again.'

Beck’s American Translation .

International Standard V        Preparing to Return to Egypt

Meanwhile, the famine remained severe throughout the region. As a result, when Jacob’s family [Lit. As they] was beginning to eat the last of the grain that they had brought back from Egypt, their father Jacob [The Heb. lacks Jacob] told his sons, “Go back to Egypt and buy us some food.”

New Advent (Knox) Bible       But still the land was famine-stricken and all the food they had brought with them from Egypt was used up. Go back, said Jacob to his sons, and bring us all a mouthful of food.

Today’s NIV                          .

Translation for Translators     Joseph's brothers returned to Egypt with Benjamin, to buy more grain

The famine in Canaan got worse. Finally, when Jacob and his family had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go back to Egypt and buy some more grain for us!”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Awful Scroll Bible                   The famine is grievous on the solid grounds. Is to have been exhausted, that which they are to eat, of that broken apart, that they have brought in from Egypt. Their father was to say: Be turning back, and be buying grain and a little food.

Conservapedia                       The famine was severe in the known world [The Hebrew for "in the land," Va-aretz, can easily mean "in the earth." There is no reason to use language that limits the scope of this famine to the immediate region]. And so, when they had finished eating the victuals that they had brought from Egypt, their father (Jacob) said to them, "Return and buy us a little food."

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                But the famine oppressed the country, and it arrived that when all the food they had bought from the Mitzeraim ended, that their father said to them, " Return, and buy us a little food."

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           And the dearth waxed sore in the land. And when they had eaten up that corn which they brought out of the land of Egypt, their father said unto them: go again and buy us a little food.

HCSB                                     Decision to Return to Egypt

Now the famine in the land was severe. When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us some food.”

Jubilee Bible 2000                  .

H. C. Leupold                         The Second Journey to Egypt with Benjamin (43:1-34)

But as far as the famine was concerned, it was severe in the land. And it came to pass when they had entirely eaten up the grain which they brought from Egypt, that their father said to them: Buy a bit of food for us again.

Lexham English Bible            Joseph’s Brothers Return to Egypt

Now the famine in the land [was] severe. And it happened [that] as they finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt their father said to them, "Return and buy a little food for us."

NIV, ©2011                             .

NIV – UK 

Tree of Life Version                Judah Pledges for Benjamin

Now the famine was severe in the land. When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt their father said to them, “Go back. Buy us a little food.”.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  The second journey to Egypt

Now the lack of food was severe in the land, and when they had eaten the grain they brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go down again and buy us a little food.”.

The Heritage Bible                 .

New American Bible (2002)   Now the famine in the land grew more severe. So when they had used up all the rations they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go back and procure us a little more food." This chapter and the following one are from the Yahwist source, in which Judah, not Reuben as in the Elohist source, volunteers to go surety for Benjamin.

New American Bible (2011)   The Second Journey to Egypt.*

Now the famine in the land grew severe. So when they had used up all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

[43:1–34] The second journey to Egypt. Joseph the sage has carefully prepared the brothers for a possible reconciliation. In this chapter and the following one Judah steps forward as the hero, in contrast to chaps. 37 and 42 where Reuben was the hero. Here Judah serves as guarantee for Benjamin.

New Jerusalem Bible             But the famine in the country grew worse, and when they had finished eating the supplies which they had brought from Egypt their father said to them, 'Go back and get us a little food.'

New RSV                               .

Revised English Bible            The famine was still severe in the land. When the grain they had brought from Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, “Go again and buy some more grain for us to eat.”

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           .

exeGeses companion Bible   THE BROTHERS OF YOSEPH RETURN TO MISRAYIM

And the famine is heavy in the land.

And so be it,

when they finish eating the kernels

they brought from Misrayim,

their father says to them, Return,

market for us kernels for a little food.

Hebraic Transliteration           .

Hebrew Names Version         .

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               But the famine in the land was severe. And when they had eaten up the rations which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again and procure some food for us.”

Judaica Press Complete T.    .

Kaplan Translation                 Joseph's Vindication

The famine became worse in the area. When they had used up all the supplies that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, 'Go back and get us a little food.'. The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

Natural Israelite Bible             .

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And the ra’av (famine) was kaved (heavy, severe) in the land.

And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the shever (grain) which they had brought out of Mitzrayim, then Avihem said unto them, Shuvu (return)! Buy for us a little ochel.

Restored Names Version       .

The Scriptures 1998              But the scarcity of food was severe in the land. And it came to be, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Mitsrayim, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                The Return to Egypt

Now the famine was very severe in the land [of Canaan]. And it happened that when the families of Jacob’s sons had finished eating [all of] the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”

The Expanded Bible              The Brothers Go Back to Egypt

·Still no food grew in the land of Canaan [^LThe famine was heavy/severe in the land]. When ·Jacob’s family [^Lthey] had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, Jacob said to them, “Go to Egypt again and buy a little more ·grain [^Lfood] for us to eat.”

The Geneva Bible                  .

Kretzmann’s Commentary    Verses 1-10

The Preparations for the Journey

And the famine was sore in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. Since the land of Canaan had no relief in the next year, but the famine rather grew worse, the store of grain was soon consumed, and the necessity was thereby suggested of their making a second journey to Egypt for the purpose of purchasing food, something to eat, for their households.

NET Bible®                             The Second Journey to Egypt

Now the famine was severe in the land [The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that is important to the storyline.]. When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return, buy us a little more food.”. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote. Language footnotes will be placed in the Hebrew exegesis. Some footnotes will quoted elsewhere in this document.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Joseph Reaps}

And the famine was severe in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father kept on saying unto them, "Go again, buy us a little food." {Judah Faces the True Issue and Therefore Shows Signs of Leadership that Descendent David will Possess}.

The Voice                               Now the famine raged on across the land. And after Jacob and his sons had eaten up all of the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father was ready to send them again.

Jacob: Go to Egypt again, and buy us some more food.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

American KJV                        .

Benner’s Mechanical Trans.  ...and the famine was heavy in the land, and it came to pass, just as they finished eating the barley which they brought from Mitsrayim ^[Troubles] and their father said to them, turn back, exchange for us a small amount of foodstuff,...

Concordant Literal Version    And the famine is heavy in the land. And coming is it, as they finish eating the victuals which they had brought from Egypt, then saying to them is their father, "Return. Purchase for us a little food.

A Conservative Version         .

Context Group Version          And the famine was intense in the land { or earth }. When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.

Darby Translation                  And the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.

Emphasized Bible                  .

English Standard Version      .

English Standard V. – UK       Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt

Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”

Evidence Bible                       .

Green’s Literal Translation    .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

King James 2000 Version      .

21^st Century KJV                   .

Modern KJV                           .

NASB                                     The Return to Egypt

Now the famine was severe in the land. So it came about when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

New European Version          Jacob’s Sons Go to Egypt Again

The famine was severe in the land. It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little more food.

New King James Version       Joseph’s Brothers Return with Benjamin

Now the famine was severe in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

Owen's Translation                .

Third Millennium Bible            .

Updated Bible Version 2.11   .

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

Webster’s Bible Translation  And the famine was severe in the land. And it came to pass, when they had consumed the corn which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.

World English Bible                .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young’s Updated LT             And the famine is severe in the land; and it comes to pass, when they have finished eating the corn which they brought from Egypt, that their father says unto them, “Turn back, buy for us a little food.”

The gist of this passage:     This is year two of the famine, and the sons of Israel are running out of food. Jacob, their father, proposes that they return to Egypt to buy more grain.

Translation: The famine was severe in the land.

The famine continues. Joseph and some people in Egypt knew that this would continue for 7 years. The sons of Jacob would not go out and purchase enough grain for 7 years because they were unaware it would continue that long. They purchased a year’s worth, expecting/hoping that the next year would bring rain and an end to the famine.

Genesis 43:1 And the famine was severe in the land.

Genesis 43:1 And it was, when they had finished eating the grain which they had bought in Egypt, their father said to them, “Return [and] buy a little food.” (Kukis mostly literal translation)

The famine was going to continue for 7 years. We are now beginning year 2 of the famine. The sons of Jacob would have purchased enough grain for one year, hoping that the famine would end after a year. They are not privy to the fact that Joseph predicted a 7 year famine. A year has passed and now there is not enough food for the extended family of Jacob.

Translation: And it was, when they had finished eating the grain which they had bought in Egypt,...