تكوين ٤٢:٢٨

When this discovery was made known to the brethren, their hearts sank within them. They turned trembling to one another, and said, "What is this that God hath done to us!" Joseph had no doubt had the money returned, "merely because it was against his nature to trade with his father and brethren for bread;" just as he had caused them to be supplied with food for the journey, for no other reason than to give them a proof of his good-will. And even if he may have thought it possible that the brothers would be alarmed when they found the money, and thrown into a state of much greater anxiety from the fear of being still further accused by the stern lord of Egypt of cheating or of theft, there was no reason why he should spare them this anxiety, since it could only help to break their hard hearts still more. At any rate, this salutary effect was really produced, even if Joseph had no such intention. The brothers looked upon this incomprehensible affair as a punishment from God, and neglected in their alarm to examine the rest of the sacks.

We had, in the foregoing chapter, the fulfilling of the dreams which Joseph had interpreted: in this and the following chapters we have the fulfilling of the dreams which Joseph himself had dreamed, that his father's family should do homage to him. The story is very largely and particularly related of what passed between Joseph and his brethren, not only because it is an entertaining story, and probably was much talked of, both among the Israelites and among the Egyptians, but because it is very instructive, and it gave occasion for the removal of Jacob's family into Egypt, on which so many great events afterwards depended. We have, in this chapter, I. The humble application of Jacob's sons to Joseph to buy corn (Gen 42:1-6). II. The fright Joseph put them into, for their trial (Gen 42:7-20). III. The conviction they were now under of their sin concerning Joseph long before (Gen 42:21-24). IV. Their return to Canaan with corn, and the great distress their good father was in upon hearing the account of their expedition (Gen 42:25, etc.).

42:28 What has God done to us? They knew that God was behind everything that had been happening, so they faced a day of reckoning for their sins.