Genesis Chapter 44 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Genesis 44:1 & 2
Then he ordered the manager of his household, "Fill the men's packs with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money just inside his pack. And put my goblet, the silver one, just inside the pack of the youngest, along with his grain money." He did what Yosef told him to do.
This passage seems puzzling at first as we wonder why a great man of God would have something like this done but we must understand that, throughout this reconciliation process, Yosef has been listening to God. At this point in the process, his brothers are going to go back home without any recognition of him, what they did to him, and the effect that their actions had upon him. Also, the second dream that God gave to him more than twenty years before has not been fulfilled as Yosef's father has not come to him and bowed down as he was shown in the dream. So, God has given him a plan to fulfill God's purposes.
Genesis 44:3–6
At daybreak the men were sent off with their donkeys; but before they were far from the city Yosef said to his manager, "Up, go after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil? Isn't this the goblet my lord drinks from, indeed the one he uses for divination? What you have done is evil!'" So he caught up with them and said these words to them.
This passage is used to put Yosef's brothers in his position when they sold him into slavery. They are being falsely accused of something by what appears to be someone that does not worship the one true God and they are being portrayed as Godly men. This persecution of the innocent man of God is exactly what they had done to him.
Genesis 44:7–12
They replied, "Why does my lord speak this way? Heaven forbid that we should do such a thing! Why, the money we found inside our packs we brought back to you from the land of Kena'an! So how would we steal silver or gold from your lord's house? Whichever one of us the goblet is found with, let him be put to death - and the rest of us will be my lord's slaves!" He replied, "Fine; let it be as you have said: whichever one it is found with will be my slave. But the rest of you will be blameless." Then each hurried to put his pack down on the ground, and each one opened his pack. He searched, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the goblet was found in the pack belonging to Binyamin.
When confronted, the boys basically said that it was not in their nature, as men of God, to do this sin and they were so confident that they said that the one that had it should be put to death. So, Yosef's manager started searching and the cup was found in the pack of Binyamin.
Genesis 44:13–17
At this, they tore their clothes from grief. Then each man loaded up his donkey and returned to the city. Y'hudah and his brothers arrived at Yosef's house. He was still there, and they fell down before him on the ground. Yosef said to them, "How could you do such a thing? Don't you know that a man such as myself can learn the truth by divination?" Y'hudah said, "There's nothing we can say to my lord! How can we speak? There's no way we can clear ourselves! God has revealed your servants' guilt; so here we are, my lord's slaves - both we and also the one in whose possession the cup was found." But he replied, "Heaven forbid that I should act in such a way. The man in whose possession the goblet was found will be my slave; but as for you, go in peace to your father."
The boys grieved and returned to Yosef bowing down for the third time. Then, Yosef proceeds to show them that they are dealing with demonic forces in their lives. They acknowledge the hand of the God in this matter and the fact that they have all sinned and offer to join Binyamin in the penalty but Yosef said that only Binyamin would stay and the rest would return to their father. This would be basically the same situation that they had been in when they sold Yosef into slavery and returned to lie to their father.
Genesis 44:18–23
Then Y'hudah approached Yosef and said, "Please, my lord! Let your servant say something to you privately; and don't be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father? or a brother?' We answered my lord, 'We have a father who is an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one whose brother is dead; so that of his mother's children he alone is left; and his father loves him.' But you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, so that I can see him.' We answered my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father; if he were to leave his father, his father would die.' You said to your servants, 'You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.'
Once again, Y'hudah takes the leadership position and humbled himself to Yosef recounting the fact that Yosef had caused them to bring Binyamin down to Egypt.
Genesis 44:24–29
We went up to your servant my father and told him what my lord had said; but when our father said, 'Go again, and buy us some food,' we answered, 'We can't go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go down, because we can't see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.' Then your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons: the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he has been torn to pieces," and I haven't seen him since. Now if you take this one away from me too, and something happens to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sh'ol with grief.'
Y'hudah continues to recount the events that got them to their current position and, in the Hebrew text, the word translated as "go again" comes from the root word for repentance. This shows us that the purpose of their return to Egypt was for them to repent of the sin that they had done over twenty years before. We also see that, through the years, they have constantly been reminded of the sin that they did to Yosef because they have not dealt with it through confession and repentance.
Genesis 44:30–34
So now if I go to your servant my father, and the boy isn't with us - seeing how his heart is bound up with the boy's heart - when he sees that the boy isn't with us, he will die; and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sh'ol with grief. For your servant himself guaranteed his safety; I said, 'If I fail to bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.' Therefore, I beg you, let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. For how can I go up to my father if the boy isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father so overwhelmed by anguish."
Y'hudah goes on to explain that, if they return without Binyamin, their father will die and Y'hudah will forever be sinful in the sight of his father. So, he offers to take the place of Binyamin to pay for the sin and this is a shadow of Yeshua Messiah taking our place in punishment so that we might be restored to our Father.