1 He commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
2 Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with his grain money.” He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good?
5 Isn’t this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.’”
6 He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.
7 They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!
8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house?
9 With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
10 He said, “Now also let it be according to your words. He with whom it is found will be my slave; and you will be blameless.”
11 Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack.
12 He searched, beginning with the oldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
13 Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.
14 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him.
15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed do divination?”
16 Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? How will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”
17 He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
18 Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.
19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’
20 We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’
21 You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’
22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’
23 You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’
24 When we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25 Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’
26 We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27 Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.
28 One went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces;” and I haven’t seen him since.
29 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’
30 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life;
31 it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.
32 For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’
33 Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my lord’s slave; and let the boy go up with his brothers.
34 For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?—lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”
8 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
Reading as
Questions they answer differently
On verse
Oldest first.
Josephus37–c. 100JewishAntiquities of the Jews · on Genesis 44:1–13Now when after supper they had composed themselves to sleep, Joseph commanded his steward both to give them their measures of corn, and to hide its price again in their sacks; and that withal they should put into Benjamin's sack the golden cup, out of which he loved himself to drink.—which things he did, in order to make trial of his brethren, whether they would stand by Benjamin when he should be accused of having stolen the cup, and should appear to be in danger; or whether they would leave him, and, depending on their own innocency, go to their father without him. … But as soon as they had searched Benjamin's sack, they found the cup, and took it from him; and all was changed into mourning and lamentation. They rent their garments, and wept for the punishment which their brother was to undergo for his theft, and for the delusion they had put on their father, when they promised they would bring Benjamin safe to him.
Now when after supper they had composed themselves to sleep, Joseph commanded his steward both to give them their measures of corn, and to hide its price again in their sacks; and that withal they should put into Benjamin's sack the golden cup, out of which he loved himself to drink.—which things he did, in order to make trial of his brethren, whether they would stand by Benjamin when he should be accused of having stolen the cup, and should appear to be in danger; or whether they would leave him, and, depending on their own innocency, go to their father without him. … But as soon as they had searched Benjamin's sack, they found the cup, and took it from him; and all was changed into mourning and lamentation. They rent their garments, and wept for the punishment which their brother was to undergo for his theft, and for the delusion they had put on their father, when they promised they would bring Benjamin safe to him.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Antiquities 2.6.7; translated by William Whiston (1737); the text of Project Gutenberg. The edition
A Jewish priest from Jerusalem who fought Rome in the war of 66–70 and afterwards wrote the history of his people for Greek readers.
Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Genesis 44:12–16AT THE ELDEST HE BEGAN — so that they should not perceive that he knew where it was (Genesis Rabbah 92.8). … KNOW YE NOT THAT SUCH A MAN AS I CAN CERTAINLY DIVINE? — Are you not aware that so distinguished a person as I am knows how to divine, and (even though you have robbed me of the goblet by which I divine) to discover by my own intelligence and common sense or by logical deduction that it was you who stole the goblet! … GOD HATH FOUND OUT — We know that we have done no wrong, but it has been brought about by the Holy One, blessed be He, that this should come upon us. The Creditor has found an opportunity to collect His debt (Genesis Rabbah 92:9).
AT THE ELDEST HE BEGAN — so that they should not perceive that he knew where it was (Genesis Rabbah 92.8). … KNOW YE NOT THAT SUCH A MAN AS I CAN CERTAINLY DIVINE? — Are you not aware that so distinguished a person as I am knows how to divine, and (even though you have robbed me of the goblet by which I divine) to discover by my own intelligence and common sense or by logical deduction that it was you who stole the goblet! … GOD HATH FOUND OUT — We know that we have done no wrong, but it has been brought about by the Holy One, blessed be He, that this should come upon us. The Creditor has found an opportunity to collect His debt (Genesis Rabbah 92:9).
Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 44:12, 44:15 and 44:16; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.
Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Genesis 44:18–33AND LET NOT THY WRATH GLOW — From these words you may infer that he spoke to him in harsh terms. … AND HIS BROTHER IS DEAD — He uttered this untruth out of fear. He thought: if I tell him that he is alive he may say “Bring him to me”. … FOR THY SERVANT BECAME SURETY FOR THE LAD — Should you ask why I enter into the contest (champion his cause) more strongly than my other brothers — then I tell you: I have more to lose; they all stand outside the matter (are less concerned with it than I am), but I have placed myself under a firm bond to be an outcast in both worlds. … LET THY SERVANT ABIDE etc. — For all purposes I am superior to him in strength — whether for battle or for service as a slave.
AND LET NOT THY WRATH GLOW — From these words you may infer that he spoke to him in harsh terms. … AND HIS BROTHER IS DEAD — He uttered this untruth out of fear. He thought: if I tell him that he is alive he may say “Bring him to me”. … FOR THY SERVANT BECAME SURETY FOR THE LAD — Should you ask why I enter into the contest (champion his cause) more strongly than my other brothers — then I tell you: I have more to lose; they all stand outside the matter (are less concerned with it than I am), but I have placed myself under a firm bond to be an outcast in both worlds. … LET THY SERVANT ABIDE etc. — For all purposes I am superior to him in strength — whether for battle or for service as a slave.
Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 44:18, 44:20, 44:32 and 44:33; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.
John Calvin1509–1564ReformedCommentaries · on Genesis 44:5–16This clause is variously expounded. For some take it as if Joseph pretended that he consulted soothsayers in order to find out the thief. Others translate it, "by which he has tried you, or searched you out;" others, that the stolen cup had given Joseph an unfavorable omen. The genuine sense seems to me to be this: that he had used the cup for divinations and for magical arts; which, however, we have said, he feigned, for the sake of aggravating the charge brought against them. … Doubtless, in this dissimulation, it is not to be denied, that he sinned grievously. … In this sense, they say that their iniquity has been found out by God; because, although they had some secret suspicion of fraud, … they choose rather to trace the cause of their punishment to the secret judgment of God. … Some interpreters believe that they here confessed their crime committed against Joseph; but that opinion is easily refuted, because they constantly affirm that he had been torn by a wild beast, or had perished by some accident.
This clause is variously expounded. For some take it as if Joseph pretended that he consulted soothsayers in order to find out the thief. Others translate it, "by which he has tried you, or searched you out;" others, that the stolen cup had given Joseph an unfavorable omen. The genuine sense seems to me to be this: that he had used the cup for divinations and for magical arts; which, however, we have said, he feigned, for the sake of aggravating the charge brought against them. … Doubtless, in this dissimulation, it is not to be denied, that he sinned grievously. … In this sense, they say that their iniquity has been found out by God; because, although they had some secret suspicion of fraud, … they choose rather to trace the cause of their punishment to the secret judgment of God. … Some interpreters believe that they here confessed their crime committed against Joseph; but that opinion is easily refuted, because they constantly affirm that he had been torn by a wild beast, or had perished by some accident.
John Calvin, Commentaries, on 44:5–6 and 44:7–15; Calvin Translation Society (Edinburgh, 1843–1855); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
The French reformer of Geneva, from whose teaching the Reformed and Presbyterian churches come.
Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on Genesis 44:18–34Judah, in honour to the justice of Joseph's sentence, and to show his sincerity in this plea, offers himself to become a bondsman instead of Benjamin, Gen 44:33. Thus the law would be satisfied; Joseph would be no loser (for we may suppose Judah a more able-bodied man than Benjamin, and fitter for service); and Jacob would better bear the loss of him than of Benjamin. Now, so far was he from grieving at his father's particular fondness for Benjamin, that he was himself willing to be a bondman to indulge it. … How prudently Judah suppressed all mention of the crime that was charged upon Benjamin. … therefore he wholly waives that head, and appeals to Joseph's pity. … How fitly does the apostle, when he is discoursing of the mediation of Christ, observe, that our Lord sprang out of Judah (Heb 7:14); for, like his father Judah, he not only made intercession for the transgressors, but he became a surety for them
Judah, in honour to the justice of Joseph's sentence, and to show his sincerity in this plea, offers himself to become a bondsman instead of Benjamin, Gen 44:33. Thus the law would be satisfied; Joseph would be no loser (for we may suppose Judah a more able-bodied man than Benjamin, and fitter for service); and Jacob would better bear the loss of him than of Benjamin. Now, so far was he from grieving at his father's particular fondness for Benjamin, that he was himself willing to be a bondman to indulge it. … How prudently Judah suppressed all mention of the crime that was charged upon Benjamin. … therefore he wholly waives that head, and appeals to Joseph's pity. … How fitly does the apostle, when he is discoursing of the mediation of Christ, observe, that our Lord sprang out of Judah (Heb 7:14); for, like his father Judah, he not only made intercession for the transgressors, but he became a surety for them
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 44:18–34; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.
John Gill1697–1771BaptistAn Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on Genesis 44:5and whereby indeed he divineth? according to our version and others, Joseph is here represented by his steward as a diviner or soothsayer, and so he might be thought to be by the Egyptians, from being such an exact interpreter of dreams, foretelling things to come, and that he made his divinations by the silver cup; … as Joseph never practised any thing of this kind, so neither would he dissemble, or make as if he did; … but the words will bear another version and sense, for it may signify to tempt, to try, to make an experiment … so Aben Ezra interprets it of his trying of them by it, whether they were thieves or not … though it seems best of all to understand this not of the cup as the instrument by which he tried, searched, and inquired into things, but as the object searched after and inquired of; for the word signifies to inquire, and make a strict observation of things, and thereby make shrewd guesses and conjectures … a man of his sagacity and penetration would soon find it out
and whereby indeed he divineth? according to our version and others, Joseph is here represented by his steward as a diviner or soothsayer, and so he might be thought to be by the Egyptians, from being such an exact interpreter of dreams, foretelling things to come, and that he made his divinations by the silver cup; … as Joseph never practised any thing of this kind, so neither would he dissemble, or make as if he did; … but the words will bear another version and sense, for it may signify to tempt, to try, to make an experiment … so Aben Ezra interprets it of his trying of them by it, whether they were thieves or not … though it seems best of all to understand this not of the cup as the instrument by which he tried, searched, and inquired into things, but as the object searched after and inquired of; for the word signifies to inquire, and make a strict observation of things, and thereby make shrewd guesses and conjectures … a man of his sagacity and penetration would soon find it out
John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, on 44:5; 1746–1763; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Baptist pastor in London and a scholar of Hebrew and the rabbis, who wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on the whole Bible.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on Genesis 44:16–17God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants - Referring to the injury they had formerly done to Joseph, for which they thought God was now reckoning with them. Even in those afflictions wherein we apprehend ourselves wronged by men, yet we must own that God is righteous, and finds out our iniquity. We cannot judge what men are, by what they have been formerly, not what they will do, by what they have done. Age and experience may make men wiser and better, They that had sold Joseph, yet would not abandon Benjamin.
God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants - Referring to the injury they had formerly done to Joseph, for which they thought God was now reckoning with them. Even in those afflictions wherein we apprehend ourselves wronged by men, yet we must own that God is righteous, and finds out our iniquity. We cannot judge what men are, by what they have been formerly, not what they will do, by what they have done. Age and experience may make men wiser and better, They that had sold Joseph, yet would not abandon Benjamin.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on 44:16–17; Bristol, 1765. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Keil and Delitzsch1807–1888 and 1813–1890LutheranBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament · on Genesis 44:5–16The intention of the statement may simply have been to represent the goblet as a sacred vessel, and Joseph as acquainted with the most secret things (Gen 44:15). … It would now be seen how they felt in their inmost hearts towards their father's favourite, who had been so distinguished by the great man of Egypt: whether now as formerly they were capable of giving up their brother, and bringing their aged father with sorrow to the grave; or whether they were ready, with unenvying, self-sacrificing love, to give up their own liberty and lives for him. And they stood this test. … Judah made no attempt at a defence. "What shall we say to my lord? how speak, how clear ourselves? God (Ha-Elohim, the personal God) has found out the wickedness of thy servants (i.e., He is now punishing the crime committed against our brother, cf. Gen 42:21). Behold, we are my lord's slaves, both we, and he in whose hand the cup was found."
The intention of the statement may simply have been to represent the goblet as a sacred vessel, and Joseph as acquainted with the most secret things (Gen 44:15). … It would now be seen how they felt in their inmost hearts towards their father's favourite, who had been so distinguished by the great man of Egypt: whether now as formerly they were capable of giving up their brother, and bringing their aged father with sorrow to the grave; or whether they were ready, with unenvying, self-sacrificing love, to give up their own liberty and lives for him. And they stood this test. … Judah made no attempt at a defence. "What shall we say to my lord? how speak, how clear ourselves? God (Ha-Elohim, the personal God) has found out the wickedness of thy servants (i.e., He is now punishing the crime committed against our brother, cf. Gen 42:21). Behold, we are my lord's slaves, both we, and he in whose hand the cup was found."
Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, on 44:3–6, 44:11–13 and 44:14–17; translated by James Martin and others (Edinburgh, 1866–1891); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, two German Lutheran scholars of Hebrew whose commentary on the Old Testament is still read for its learning.
Genesis 44
Genesis 44:1–34, World English Bible
Genesis 44 in the Bible · Told in the Story: Chapter 14, Joseph’s Brothers
What others have written
8 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
Oldest first.
Josephus37–c. 100JewishAntiquities of the Jews · on Genesis 44:1–13Now when after supper they had composed themselves to sleep, Joseph commanded his steward both to give them their measures of corn, and to hide its price again in their sacks; and that withal they should put into Benjamin's sack the golden cup, out of which he loved himself to drink.—which things he did, in order to make trial of his brethren, whether they would stand by Benjamin when he should be accused of having stolen the cup, and should appear to be in danger; or whether they would leave him, and, depending on their own innocency, go to their father without him. … But as soon as they had searched Benjamin's sack, they found the cup, and took it from him; and all was changed into mourning and lamentation. They rent their garments, and wept for the punishment which their brother was to undergo for his theft, and for the delusion they had put on their father, when they promised they would bring Benjamin safe to him.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Antiquities 2.6.7; translated by William Whiston (1737); the text of Project Gutenberg. The edition
A Jewish priest from Jerusalem who fought Rome in the war of 66–70 and afterwards wrote the history of his people for Greek readers.
Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Genesis 44:12–16AT THE ELDEST HE BEGAN — so that they should not perceive that he knew where it was (Genesis Rabbah 92.8). … KNOW YE NOT THAT SUCH A MAN AS I CAN CERTAINLY DIVINE? — Are you not aware that so distinguished a person as I am knows how to divine, and (even though you have robbed me of the goblet by which I divine) to discover by my own intelligence and common sense or by logical deduction that it was you who stole the goblet! … GOD HATH FOUND OUT — We know that we have done no wrong, but it has been brought about by the Holy One, blessed be He, that this should come upon us. The Creditor has found an opportunity to collect His debt (Genesis Rabbah 92:9).
Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 44:12, 44:15 and 44:16; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.
Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Genesis 44:18–33AND LET NOT THY WRATH GLOW — From these words you may infer that he spoke to him in harsh terms. … AND HIS BROTHER IS DEAD — He uttered this untruth out of fear. He thought: if I tell him that he is alive he may say “Bring him to me”. … FOR THY SERVANT BECAME SURETY FOR THE LAD — Should you ask why I enter into the contest (champion his cause) more strongly than my other brothers — then I tell you: I have more to lose; they all stand outside the matter (are less concerned with it than I am), but I have placed myself under a firm bond to be an outcast in both worlds. … LET THY SERVANT ABIDE etc. — For all purposes I am superior to him in strength — whether for battle or for service as a slave.
Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 44:18, 44:20, 44:32 and 44:33; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.
John Calvin1509–1564ReformedCommentaries · on Genesis 44:5–16This clause is variously expounded. For some take it as if Joseph pretended that he consulted soothsayers in order to find out the thief. Others translate it, "by which he has tried you, or searched you out;" others, that the stolen cup had given Joseph an unfavorable omen. The genuine sense seems to me to be this: that he had used the cup for divinations and for magical arts; which, however, we have said, he feigned, for the sake of aggravating the charge brought against them. … Doubtless, in this dissimulation, it is not to be denied, that he sinned grievously. … In this sense, they say that their iniquity has been found out by God; because, although they had some secret suspicion of fraud, … they choose rather to trace the cause of their punishment to the secret judgment of God. … Some interpreters believe that they here confessed their crime committed against Joseph; but that opinion is easily refuted, because they constantly affirm that he had been torn by a wild beast, or had perished by some accident.
John Calvin, Commentaries, on 44:5–6 and 44:7–15; Calvin Translation Society (Edinburgh, 1843–1855); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
The French reformer of Geneva, from whose teaching the Reformed and Presbyterian churches come.
Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on Genesis 44:18–34Judah, in honour to the justice of Joseph's sentence, and to show his sincerity in this plea, offers himself to become a bondsman instead of Benjamin, Gen 44:33. Thus the law would be satisfied; Joseph would be no loser (for we may suppose Judah a more able-bodied man than Benjamin, and fitter for service); and Jacob would better bear the loss of him than of Benjamin. Now, so far was he from grieving at his father's particular fondness for Benjamin, that he was himself willing to be a bondman to indulge it. … How prudently Judah suppressed all mention of the crime that was charged upon Benjamin. … therefore he wholly waives that head, and appeals to Joseph's pity. … How fitly does the apostle, when he is discoursing of the mediation of Christ, observe, that our Lord sprang out of Judah (Heb 7:14); for, like his father Judah, he not only made intercession for the transgressors, but he became a surety for them
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 44:18–34; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.
John Gill1697–1771BaptistAn Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on Genesis 44:5and whereby indeed he divineth? according to our version and others, Joseph is here represented by his steward as a diviner or soothsayer, and so he might be thought to be by the Egyptians, from being such an exact interpreter of dreams, foretelling things to come, and that he made his divinations by the silver cup; … as Joseph never practised any thing of this kind, so neither would he dissemble, or make as if he did; … but the words will bear another version and sense, for it may signify to tempt, to try, to make an experiment … so Aben Ezra interprets it of his trying of them by it, whether they were thieves or not … though it seems best of all to understand this not of the cup as the instrument by which he tried, searched, and inquired into things, but as the object searched after and inquired of; for the word signifies to inquire, and make a strict observation of things, and thereby make shrewd guesses and conjectures … a man of his sagacity and penetration would soon find it out
John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, on 44:5; 1746–1763; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Baptist pastor in London and a scholar of Hebrew and the rabbis, who wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on the whole Bible.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on Genesis 44:16–17God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants - Referring to the injury they had formerly done to Joseph, for which they thought God was now reckoning with them. Even in those afflictions wherein we apprehend ourselves wronged by men, yet we must own that God is righteous, and finds out our iniquity. We cannot judge what men are, by what they have been formerly, not what they will do, by what they have done. Age and experience may make men wiser and better, They that had sold Joseph, yet would not abandon Benjamin.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on 44:16–17; Bristol, 1765. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Keil and Delitzsch1807–1888 and 1813–1890LutheranBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament · on Genesis 44:5–16The intention of the statement may simply have been to represent the goblet as a sacred vessel, and Joseph as acquainted with the most secret things (Gen 44:15). … It would now be seen how they felt in their inmost hearts towards their father's favourite, who had been so distinguished by the great man of Egypt: whether now as formerly they were capable of giving up their brother, and bringing their aged father with sorrow to the grave; or whether they were ready, with unenvying, self-sacrificing love, to give up their own liberty and lives for him. And they stood this test. … Judah made no attempt at a defence. "What shall we say to my lord? how speak, how clear ourselves? God (Ha-Elohim, the personal God) has found out the wickedness of thy servants (i.e., He is now punishing the crime committed against our brother, cf. Gen 42:21). Behold, we are my lord's slaves, both we, and he in whose hand the cup was found."
Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, on 44:3–6, 44:11–13 and 44:14–17; translated by James Martin and others (Edinburgh, 1866–1891); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, two German Lutheran scholars of Hebrew whose commentary on the Old Testament is still read for its learning.