Genesis 42:14-17

Verses 14-17

“But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ (Notice how Joseph’s vulnerability to his past pain is again reasserted here; despite it being misapplied, he is adamant that they acknowledge and admit their tendency for betrayal by clandestine means, in the hopes of securing a manner of closure and justice for himself. Their continued denial of what he believes to be their inherent nature, as first demonstrated all those many years ago beside that fateful pit, is taken by Joseph to seem almost as a form of gaslighting, as if by their very denial they are questioning his memory concerning those painful events.) In this manner you shall be tested: (let us now take note of all that Joseph is able to accomplish in his foresight and wisdom with this ‘test’) By the life of Pharaoh, (Joseph cannot invoke the Name of the Lord here, lest his brothers discover that he is a Hebrew man, even learning his true identity; he must however instil sufficient fear in them by the name of the highest communal authority in order to ensure that they recognise the severity of the matter) you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. (It is clear herein that Joseph’s first priority is to meet his young brother, I sense this urgency in him not only because he has never met him, but because this heretofore unknown brother represents the pure, innocent brother he so longs to have, a brother undefiled by the cruel sins with which he has tragically come to associate brotherhood in general. What a delightful thought to imagine that for all his concealed excitement at the prospect, Joseph is not yet even aware that this brother was born to his very own mother Rachel and is truly, truly a genuine young brother, even potential protégé, in every sense of the word 😃.) Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept (literally: “bound”) in prison, (here we come to Joseph’s second priority, and that is to vent at least some measure of his anger against his brothers in giving them a small taste of that which he had to endure for several years, namely, life in an Egyptian prison) that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; (notice once more that despite their continued assertions that they are “honest men”, Joseph’s inherent inclination, by painful experience, is to believe them to be deceitful; this is recognisable twice in merely this one short phrase: firstly in that Joseph claims that it is their “words” that need to be tested, insinuating that they have lying lips and secondly, he wishes to discover whether or not there is any truth in them which in turn implies that he believes them to be inherently and altogether untruthful in all of their ways and is attempting to unearth if there is but even a grain – no pun intended 😜 – of truth in them) or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” (Notice the anger and hurt once more evident in this exclamation – Joseph seems to be altogether convinced of their natural bent towards betrayal.) So he put (literally: “gathered”) them all together in prison three days.” (What an interesting turn of events, I doubt even Joseph himself is aware of the divine intervention that came through his hand in orchestrating precisely this set of circumstances, for here we have a very distinct combination of the same brothers who gathered together that fateful day in conspiring to eliminate Joseph, now gathered together at his Mercy – can you imagine the conversation that took place amongst them this time around? Surely, surely the brother chosen to be sent home and consequently absent from their presence during these critical three days has most assuredly also been Sovereignly selected by the Lord; so much so that this is a perfect example of where mere men could simply cast lots as to who it shall be, for The LORD’s Will Be Done.) 

14But Joseph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ 15In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!” 17So he put them all together in prison three days.”

– Genesis 42:14-17 (NKJV)