Bible Commentaries
Genesis 44

Verses 1-34

Genesis 43:32 Comments - Exactly who were the Hebrews and how well known were they to the Egyptians?

Genesis 44:2 Comments - Why a cup? We do know that his brothers ate with Joseph, so it would have been an easy thing for them to steal.

Genesis 44:9 Comments - The fact that Joseph’s brothers pronounced the judgment of death upon the unknown thief was a reflection of the customs of his day. We see Jacob making the same rash vow in Genesis 31:32 when Rachel stole her father’s idols. The Code of Hammurabi, believed by some scholars to have been written by a Babylonian king around 2100 B.C., impacted its culture for centuries. It is very likely that this rash statement was based upon law six of this Code, which says, “If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.”

Genesis 44:14 “Judah and his brethren” Comments - Judah seems to take the leadership as he becomes spokesman is this passage. Jacob spoke and prophesied of Judah’s future leadership as a nation of Israel (Genesis 49:8-12). The tribe of Judah would lead the children of Israel in the wilderness and into battles.

Genesis 49:8, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.”

Genesis 44:18 Comments - Why Judah? Because it was Judah who had taken the responsibility for the care of Benjamin (Genesis 43:8-10).

Genesis 43:8, “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.”

Genesis 44:33 Comments - In Genesis 44:33 we see that Judah was willing to pay for the sins of his brothers. He reveals this willing earlier when he told his father Jacob that he would become surety for Benjamin (Genesis 43:8-9). Centuries later, the descendant of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, would pay the price for the sins of the children of Israel and for the entire world.

Genesis 43:8-9, “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:”

Genesis 44:34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

Genesis 45:5 Comments - Joseph saw God in everything. God prepared Joseph as a sacrifice to save his household, a type of salvation. God exalted Joseph to Pharaoh’s right hard. Everything that Joseph did pleased Pharaoh. God’s judgement was upon the land, and, as in the time of Noah, God was delivering His chosen people from judgement. Regarding the phrase “a type of salvation”, see Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive .”

Genesis 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.