Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Genesis
Chapter 43: The Return With Benjamin
The grain runs out, and Jacob must send his sons to Egypt again, but the man there will not see them without Benjamin. Judah, once the brother who said "let us sell him," now steps forward and pledges his own life as surety for Benjamin: "let me bear the blame for ever." Jacob surrenders at last, sending Benjamin with a gift and a prayer, "God Almighty give you mercy," and the resigned words, "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." In Egypt the brothers are brought to Joseph's house in fear, but they are met with grace: "Peace be to you, fear not." Simeon is restored, and when Joseph sees Benjamin, his heart overflows and he slips away to weep. Then he seats them at his own table and honors Benjamin above them all. Genesis 43 is a chapter of surety, surrender, and surprising grace, all pointing toward the reconciliation to come.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Genesis chapter 43. For each section you will find the KJV text, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus where the text touches surety and substitution, surrender to God, and grace freely given. Chapter 43 brings the brothers back to Egypt with Benjamin and moves them a step closer to reconciliation with the brother they wronged. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Judah Pledges Himself
Judah offers his own life as guarantee for Benjamin, and Jacob surrenders his youngest son to God with the words, "If I be bereaved, I am bereaved."
Peace Be to You
Brought fearful into Joseph's house, the brothers are met with unexpected grace, their money explained as treasure from God, and Simeon restored.
His Bowels Did Yearn
When Joseph sees Benjamin, his own mother's son, his heart overflows, and he slips away to weep before composing himself to serve them.
Benjamin Honored
Joseph seats his brothers in the exact order of their birth and gives Benjamin five times the portion, and they eat and are merry together.
I Will Be Surety for Him (Genesis 43:1-14)
With the famine pressing, Judah pledges his own life for Benjamin's safety, and Jacob at last releases his youngest son into God's hands.
Let Me Bear the Blame For Ever
"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. And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon. And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house, And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks."
Hebrew Study
The famine is sore — kaved, heavy — and it forces the turning point in Judah. He becomes surety for Benjamin — arav, to pledge one's own life, the very root of the eravon pledge he once handed to Tamar (38:17-18). The brother who devised selling Joseph now stakes himself for a brother. Jacob's benediction invokes God Almighty — El Shaddai — and closes in weary surrender: "if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved" (ka'asher shakolti shakalti), the same resigned faith Esther would one day echo before the king — a surrender that is not despair but trust laid bare.
Explanation
The grain from Egypt is gone, and Jacob tells his sons to go buy more. But Judah reminds him of the hard condition: they cannot see the man's face again without Benjamin. Jacob resists, blaming his sons for ever mentioning another brother, but there is no other way. Then Judah steps forward with a solemn pledge: "Send the lad with me ... I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him," and if he fails to bring Benjamin home, "then let me bear the blame for ever." Judah offers to guarantee Benjamin's safety with his own life. This is the same Judah who years earlier proposed selling Joseph, and the change in him is remarkable. Jacob finally yields, sending gifts, double money, and Benjamin, with a prayer, "God Almighty give you mercy before the man," and words of surrender: "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."
Gospel Focus
Judah's pledge is a beautiful step in his transformation and a shadow of something greater. Here is Judah, from whose tribe the Messiah would come, offering himself as surety, taking on his own shoulders the blame for another so that his family might live. That is exactly what the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, would do for us: "By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament" (Hebrews 7:22). Jesus stepped forward and said, in effect, let the blame be Mine, and bore it forever on the cross so that we might live and not die. Judah points us to Christ our surety. And notice Jacob's surrender: "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." It sounds like despair, but it is really the release of a man who has come to the end of his own grip and lets go into the hands of "God Almighty." There is a holy surrender in the life of faith, an echo of the Lord's own prayer, "not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39). When we finally open our clenched hands and entrust even our most precious things to God, we discover, as Jacob would, that His plans were far better than our fears.
Peace Be to You, Fear Not (Genesis 43:15-25)
Brought fearfully into Joseph's house, the brothers are met with grace, their returned money explained as a gift from God, and Simeon is restored to them.
Your God Hath Given You Treasure
"And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth. And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance."
Hebrew Study
The steward stills their dread with covenant words: "Peace be to you, fear not" (shalom lakem al-tira'u), and names the returned silver as no accident but treasure "your God, and the God of your father, hath given you." Even the money in the sacks is read as the hand of God. They ready their present — minchah, the offering-word — to lay before the ruler.
Explanation
The brothers arrive with Benjamin and stand before Joseph, who orders his steward to bring them to his house and prepare a feast. But being taken into the ruler's house terrifies them; they assume it is a trap over the money that was returned in their sacks, that they will be seized as slaves. So they nervously explain to the steward at the door that they found the money and have brought it back with more. The steward's answer is full of grace: "Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money." He assures them the accounts are settled and their fear is groundless, and then he brings Simeon out to them, restoring the brother they had left behind. Their dread turns to relief, and they are given water, their feet are washed, and their animals are fed as honored guests.
Gospel Focus
"Peace be to you, fear not ... your God hath given you treasure." What the brothers dreaded as a debt to be paid turned out to be a gift they could not have earned. This is the very heart of grace. They expected judgment and received treasure; they braced for slavery and heard "peace be to you." So it is with the gospel. We come to God fearing the weight of our debt, and He meets us with peace and a gift we did not deserve, for "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Notice too that the steward called the LORD "your God, and the God of your father," reminding these men, in a pagan land, that their covenant God was still watching over them and providing. Grace often reaches us through unexpected people and moments, and it always turns fear into peace. The believer who has learned this stops trying to pay for what God delights to give, and simply receives the treasure with thanks.
His Bowels Did Yearn Upon His Brother (Genesis 43:26-31)
When Joseph sees Benjamin, his own mother's son, his love overflows, and he must slip away to weep before he can compose himself.
He Sought Where to Weep
"And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians."
Hebrew Study
Joseph blesses Benjamin with grace itself: "God be gracious unto thee, my son" — chanan. Then the mask nearly breaks: "his bowels did yearn upon his brother" — nikmeru rachamav, his compassions grew hot; the word rachamim (mercy) is born from rechem, the womb — a visceral, mother-deep tenderness. He "sought where to weep," and wept apart, still hidden behind the Egyptian face.
Explanation
When Joseph comes home, the brothers present their gift and bow before him again. He asks after their aged father, "Is he yet alive?" and they assure him Jacob is well. Then Joseph's eyes fall on Benjamin, "his mother's son," the only full brother he has, the other child of his beloved Rachel, whom he has not seen since Benjamin was small. Joseph can barely hold himself together. He manages a blessing, "God be gracious unto thee, my son," but his heart is breaking with love: "his bowels did yearn upon his brother." He has to make haste and leave the room, seeking a private place, and there in his chamber he weeps. Then he washes his face, comes back out, and "refrained himself," ordering the meal to be served. His love is overwhelming, but the time for revealing himself has not yet come.
Gospel Focus
This is the third time Joseph weeps over his brothers, and it shows us the tender heart beneath his stern testing. He is not cold or vengeful; he is a man aching with love for the very family that betrayed him, restraining himself only because the work of bringing them to repentance is not yet finished. This is a picture of the heart of God toward us. Behind His discipline and His seeming delays is a love that yearns over us, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him" (Psalm 103:13). God's testings are never the absence of His love but the very expression of it, working patiently toward our restoration. Joseph could have revealed himself and ended his own longing in a moment, but love that seeks another's true good is willing to wait for the right time. So the Lord bears long with us, yearning over us even while He works, until the day when full reconciliation can come. His tears, like Joseph's, are hidden, but they are real.
Benjamin's Portion Was Five Times (Genesis 43:32-34)
Joseph seats his brothers in the exact order of their birth and honors Benjamin with a portion five times greater, and they feast together in wonder.
They Marvelled One at Another
"And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another. And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him."
Hebrew Study
Egypt's separateness surfaces — to eat with Hebrews is an abomination (to'evah) to them. Seated in exact birth-order they knew nothing of, the brothers marvelled (tamah) — how could this stranger know? Then Benjamin is served five times the portion (chamesh yadoth, five "hands"). It is the old test rebuilt: will they again envy the favored son? This time they will not.
Explanation
The meal is served, with the Egyptians eating separately from the Hebrews according to their custom. But the brothers are seated in a startling way: "the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth," in the precise order of their ages. They "marvelled one at another," astonished that this Egyptian ruler somehow knew their exact birth order. Joseph then sends portions to each from his own table, but Benjamin's portion is "five times so much as any of theirs." This lavish favor toward the youngest may also have been a final test, to see whether the old jealousy over a favored younger brother would flare up again. But it does not. Instead, the brothers relax, and they "drank, and were merry with him." A meal that began in fear ends in fellowship, a foretaste of the full reconciliation soon to come.
Gospel Focus
There is a quiet grace in this closing scene. Once, the favoring of one brother tore this family apart; the coat of many colours and Joseph's honored place stirred a jealousy that led to a pit and a slave caravan. Now Benjamin receives fivefold honor at the table, and his brothers do not envy him at all; they rejoice and are merry together. It is a sign that God has been working real change in their hearts. The jealousy that once ruled them is giving way to love, and a shared table becomes a place of restored fellowship. This points us toward the great truth that God's aim in all His dealings with a family, or a soul, is reconciliation and fellowship, pictured so often in Scripture as a feast. The One who tests us, like Joseph, is preparing us to sit down together at His table in peace. What began in this family with betrayal is being drawn, meal by meal and tear by tear, toward the joyful reunion God intended all along.
Chapter 43 in Review
Genesis 43 moves the family a step closer to reconciliation. Driven by famine, Jacob must send his sons back to Egypt, but only if Benjamin goes too. Judah, once the brother who said "let us sell him," now pledges his own life as surety for Benjamin, and Jacob surrenders his youngest son with a prayer and the words, "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." In Egypt the brothers, terrified of a trap, are met instead with grace: "Peace be to you, fear not ... your God hath given you treasure." Simeon is restored, and when Joseph sees Benjamin, his love overflows and he weeps in secret. Then he seats his brothers in the exact order of their birth, honors Benjamin fivefold, and they feast and are merry together.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter shines with the gospel. Judah's offer to bear the blame for another foreshadows the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus, "made a surety of a better testament," who bore our blame forever. Jacob's release of Benjamin teaches the holy surrender that says, "not as I will, but as thou wilt." The steward's word turns dread into peace and debt into treasure, a living picture of grace, the gift of God. And Joseph's hidden tears reveal the yearning heart of God, who pities His children even while He tests them, working patiently toward the day of reconciliation. What betrayal broke, grace is quietly healing, drawing the family toward the table of peace.
- Judah's pledge to bear the blame foreshadows Christ, our surety who bore our blame forever (43:9; Hebrews 7:22).
- Faith surrenders its most precious things to God: "If I be bereaved, I am bereaved" (43:14; Matthew 26:39).
- Grace turns dread into peace and debt into treasure: "your God hath given you treasure" (43:23; Ephesians 2:8).
- God's testings are never the absence of His love; His heart yearns over us (43:30; Psalm 103:13).
- God's aim is reconciliation and fellowship, pictured as a shared table of peace (43:34).
Questions for Reflection
- Judah offered to bear the blame for his brother. How does his pledge deepen your gratitude for Christ, who bore your blame?
- Jacob finally released Benjamin to God. What precious thing are you still gripping that God is asking you to surrender?
- The brothers expected judgment and received treasure. Where do you need to stop trying to earn what God delights to give by grace?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). "Surety" means one who takes responsibility for another, "his bowels did yearn" means his deep affection was stirred, and a "mess" is a portion of food, as can be checked in any Bible reference. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Judah's surety and Jacob's surrender: Genesis 43:1-14; Hebrews 7:22; Matthew 26:39.
- Grace at Joseph's house: Genesis 43:15-25; Ephesians 2:8.
- Joseph's yearning love: Genesis 43:26-31; Psalm 103:13.
- The feast and Benjamin honored: Genesis 43:32-34.