Genesis 42:2

Complete Jewish Bible

Look," he said, "I've heard that there's grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us from there, so that we can stay alive and not die!"

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Mitzrayim. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die."

King James Version
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

Lexham English Bible
Then he said, "Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us there that we may live and not die."

New Century Version
I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us to eat, so that we will live and not die."

New English Translation
He then said, "Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us so that we may live and not die."

Amplified Bible
He said, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy [some] grain for us, so that we may live and not die [of starvation]."

New American Standard Bible
Then he said, "Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he said, Behold, I haue heard that there is foode in Egypt, Get you downe thither, & bie vs foode thence, that we may liue and not die.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from there, so that we may live and not die."

Contemporary English Version
I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Now go down and buy some, so we won't starve to death."

Darby Translation
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down thither and buy [grain] for us from thence, in order that we may live, and not die.

Easy-to-Read Version
I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go there and buy grain for us so that we will live and not die!"

English Standard Version
And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die."

George Lamsa Translation
Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.

Good News Translation
I hear that there is grain in Egypt; go there and buy some to keep us from starving to death."

Christian Standard Bible®
Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.”

Literal Translation
And he said, Behold! I have heard grain is in Egypt. Go down there and buy for us from there, that we may live and not die.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, I heare that there is moch corne in Egipte, go downe & bye vs corne, yt we maie lyue, & not dye.

American Standard Version
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

Bible in Basic English
And he said, I have had news that there is grain in Egypt: go down there and get grain for us, so that life and not death may be ours.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he said: behold, I haue hearde that there is corne in Egypt: get you downe thyther, and bye vs corne from thence, that we may liue, and not dye.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he said: 'Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.'

King James Version (1611)
And hee said, Beholde, I haue heard that there is corne in Egypt: get you downe thither and buy for vs from thence, that we may liue, and not die.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; go down thither, and buy for us a little food, that we may live, and not die.

English Revised Version
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

Berean Standard Bible
"Look," he added, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y herde that wheete is seeld in Egipt, go ye doun, and bie ye necessaries to vs, that we moun lyue, and be not wastid bi nedynesse.

Young's Literal Translation
he saith also, `Lo, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, go down thither, and buy for us from thence, and we live and do not die;'

Update Bible Version
And he said, Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: you get down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: go down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

World English Bible
He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die."

New King James Version
And he said, "Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die."

New Living Translation
I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we'll die."

New Life Bible
And he said, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us, so we may live and not die."

New Revised Standard
I have heard," he said, "that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he said, Lo I have heard that there is corn in Egypt, - Go down thither and buy corn for us from thence, that we may live and not die.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live, and not die."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die."

Contextual Overview

¹ Now Ya‘akov saw that there was grain in Egypt; so Ya‘akov said to his sons, "Why are you staring at each other? ² Look," he said, "I've heard that there's grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us from there, so that we can stay alive and not die!" ³ Thus Yosef's ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt, ⁴ except for Binyamin, Yosef's brother. Ya‘akov did not send him with his brothers, because he was afraid something might happen to him. ⁵ The sons of Isra'el came to buy along with the others that came, since the famine extended to the land of Kena‘an. ⁶ Yosef was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. Now when Yosef's brothers came and prostrated themselves before him on the ground,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

get you: Genesis 43:2, Genesis 43:4, Genesis 45:9

that we: Genesis 43:8, Psalms 118:17, Isaiah 38:1, Matthew 4:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 41:54 - and the dearth Genesis 42:1 - saw Genesis 42:19 - carry corn Nehemiah 5:2 - we take up corn

Cross-References

Genesis 43:2
so 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."

Genesis 43:4
If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food;

Genesis 43:8
Y'hudah said to Isra'el his father, "Send the boy with me; and we will make preparations and leave; so that we may stay alive and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones.

Genesis 45:9
Hurry, go up to my father, and tell him, ‘Here is what your son Yosef says: "God has made me lord of all Egypt! Come down to me, don't delay!

Psalms 118:17
I will not die; no, I will live and proclaim the great deeds of Yah!

Isaiah 38:1
Around this time Hizkiyahu became ill to the point of death. Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz, came and said to him, "Here is what Adonai says: ‘Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not live.'"

Matthew 4:4
But he answered, "The Tanakh says, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of Adonai '"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said, behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt,.... This explains what is meant by the phrase he saw, one sense being put for another:

get ye down thither; as fast as you can without delay; Egypt lay lower than Canaan, and therefore they are bid to go down, as when they went from thence to Canaan they are said to go up, Genesis 45:25;

and buy for us from thence, that we may live, and not die; which shows the famine was very pressing, since, unless they could buy corn from Egypt they could not live, but must die.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Joseph and Ten of His Brethren

1. שׁבר sheber, “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain).

6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ, “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch.

25. כלי k^elı̂y, “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq, “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.”

Twenty years, the period of Joseph’s long and anxious waiting, have come to an end. The dreams of his boyhood are now at length to be fulfilled. The famine has reached the chosen family, and they look at one another perplexed and irresolute, not knowing what to do.

Genesis 42:1-5

The aged Jacob is the only man of counsel. “Behold, I have heard there is grain in Mizraim:” go down and buy. The ten brothers are sent, and Benjamin, the youngest, is retained, not merely because of his youth, for he was now twenty-four years of age, but because he was the son of his father’s old age, the only son of Rachel now with him, and the only full brother of the lost Joseph. “Lest mischief befall him,” and so no child of Rachel would be left. “Among those that went.” The dearth was widespread in the land of Kenaan.

Genesis 42:6-17

The ten brothers meet with a rough reception from the lord of the land. “The governor” - the sultan. This, we see, is a title of great antiquity in Egypt or Arabia. Joseph presided over the cornmarket of the kingdom. “Bowed down to him with their faces to the earth.” Well might Joseph think of those never-to-be-forgotten dreams in which the sheaves and stars bowed down to him. “And knew them.” How could he fail to remember the ten full-grown men of his early days, when they came before him with all their peculiarities of feature, attitude, and mother tongue. “And he made himself strange unto them.” All that we know of Joseph’s character heretofore, and throughout this whole affair, goes to prove that his object in all his seemingly harsh treatment was to get at their hearts, to test their affection toward Benjamin, and to bring them to repent of their unkindness to himself.

“They knew not him.” Twenty years make a great change in a youth of seventeen. And besides, with his beard and head shaven, his Egyptian attire, his foreign tongue, and his exalted position, who could have recognized the stripling whom, twenty years ago, they had sold as a slave? “Spies are ye.” This was to put a color of justice on their detention. To see the nakedness of the land, not its unfortified frontier, which is a more recent idea, but its present impoverishment from the famine. “Sons of one man are we.” It was not likely that ten sons of one man would be sent on the hazardous duty of spies. “And behold the youngest is with our father this day.” It is intensely interesting to Joseph to hear that his father and full brother are still living. “And one is not.” Time has assuaged all their bitter feelings, both of exasperation against Joseph and of remorse for their unbrotherly conduct. This little sentence, however, cannot be uttered by them, or heard by Joseph, without emotion. “By the life of Pharaoh.” Joseph speaks in character, and uses an Egyptian asseveration. “Send one of you.” This proposal is enough to strike terror into their hearts. The return of one would be a heavy, perhaps a fatal blow to their father. And how can one brave the perils of the way? They cannot bring themselves to concur in this plan. Sooner will they all go to prison, as accordingly they do. Joseph is not without a strong conviction of incumbent duty in all this. He knows he has been put in the position of lord over his brethren in the foreordination of God, and he feels bound to make this authority a reality for their moral good.

Genesis 42:18-25

After three days, Joseph reverses the numbers, allowing nine to return home, and retaining one. “This do and live.” Joseph, notwithstanding the arbitrary power which his office enabled him to exercise, proves himself to be free from caprice and unnecessary severity. He affords them a fair opportunity of proving their words true, before putting them to death on suspicion of espionage. “The God do I fear.” A singular sentence from the lord paramount of Egypt! It implies that the true God was not yet unknown in Egypt. We have heard the confession of this great truth already from the lips of Pharaoh Genesis 41:38-39. But it intimates to the brothers the astonishing and hopeful fact that the grand vizier serves the same great Being whom they and their fathers have known and worshipped; and gives them a plain hint that they will be dealt with according to the just law of heaven.

“Carry grain for your houses.” The governor then is touched with some feeling for their famishing households. The brothers, though honoring their aged father as the patriarch of their race, had now their separate establishments. Twelve households had to be supplied with bread. The journey to Egypt was not to be undertaken more than once a year if possible, as the distance from Hebron was upwards of two hundred miles. Hence, the ten brothers had with them all their available beasts of burden, with the needful retinue of servants. We need not be surprised that these are not especially enumerated, as it is the manner of Scripture to leave the secondary matters to the intelligence and experience of the reader, unless, as in the case of Abraham’s three hundred and eighteen trained servants, they happen to be of essential moment in the process of events. “Your youngest brother.” Joseph longs to see his full brother alive, whom he left at home a child of four summers. “Verily guilty are we concerning our brother.”

Their affliction is beginning to bear the fruit of repentance. “Because we saw the distress of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear.” How vividly is the scene of Joseph’s sale here brought before us. It now appears that he besought them to spare him, and they would not hear! “This distress.” Retribution has come at last. “His blood is required.” Reuben justly upbraids them with their hardness of heart. Their brother’s blood is required; for murder was intended, and when he was sold his death was pretended. “The interpreter was betwixt them.” The dragoman was employed in holding conversation with them. But Joseph heard the spontaneous expressions of remorse, coming unprompted from their lips. The fountain of affection is deeply stirred. He cannot repress the rising tear. He has to retire for a time to recover his composure. He now takes, not Reuben, who was not to blame, but Simon, the next oldest, and binds him before them: a speaking act. He then gives orders to supply them with corn (grain), deposit their money in their sacks without their knowledge, and furnish them with provision for the way. Joseph feels, perhaps, that he cannot take money from his father. He will pay for the corn out of his own funds. But he cannot openly return the money to his brothers without more explanation than he wishes at present to give.

Genesis 42:26-34

The nine brothers return home and record their wonderful adventure. “In the inn;” the lodge or place where they stopped for the night. This place was not yet perhaps provided with even the shelter of a roof. It was merely the usual place of halting. They would probably occupy six or seven days on the journey. Apparently at the first stage one opened his sack to give provender to his ass. The discovery of the silver in its mouth strikes them with terror. In a strange land and with an uneasy conscience they are easily alarmed. It was not convenient or necessary to open all the bags on the way, and so they make no further discovery.

Genesis 42:35-38

Upon emptying the other sacks all the silver turns up, to their great amazement and consternation. Jacob laments the loss of his son. Reuben offers two of his sons to Jacob as pledges for Benjamin, to be slain if he did not bring him back in safety. The sorrowing parent cannot yet bring himself to consent to Benjamin’s departure on this hazardous journey. “And ye shall bring down.” Jacob either speaks here in the querulous tone of afflicted old age, or he had come to know or suspect that his brothers had some hand in the disappearance of Joseph.