The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 3 · Section 39
SECT. XXXIX.
IN the ſecond year of the Famine, Jacob and his Family in Canaan (d)There was a Famine in Canaan in Abraham's time, Ch. 12.10. In Iſaac's time, Ch. 26.1. and now in Jacob's time. Gods Servants are ſubject to common Calamities, yet God provides for them.being ſore preſt with it, and ſeeing ſome of the Canaanites had gone into Egypt, and bought and brought Corn from thence, he ask'd his Sons, Why they ſtood like men amazed and helpleſs, looking one upon another, and did not go down into Egypt to buy Corn to keep them alive. Hereupon ten of his Son reſolve to go thither, Jacob keeping Benjamin with himſelf, leſt ſome miſchief ſhould befal him, as had formerly befallen his Brother Joſeph. They being come into Egypt, applied themſelves to the Governour of the Land, (viz. Joſeph,) who it is like ſold to the Natives by his Officers, but to Foreigners himſelf, becauſe he would more particularly obſerve what Strangers came into the Land, and whether there was any likelihood of danger from them. Being come before him, they made a lowly Obeyſance to Him, bowing themſelves with their faces to the ground, and ſo unwittingly fulfilled his prophetick Dream, [Ch. 37.7, 8, 9.] of their Sheaves bowing down to His, which he could not but now call to mind. Joſeph ſeeing them, preſently knew them, though they knew not him, his Countenance ('tis like) in ſo long a time being much altered, and he appearing now in the habit and attire of a Nobleman, and ſplendidly attended, which they could not poſſibly imagine of him whom they had ſome years before ſold for a Slave, and thought was dead long ago. But though He knew them, yet he made himſelf ſtrange to them, and examined them ſtrictly whence they came, and ſpake roughly (e)This he did partly to underſtand the truth the better, how it far'd with his Father and Brother Benjamin, and partly to rouze them up to a ſenſe of their ſin they had committed againſt him, and to make the kindneſs which he intended to ſhew them after ſeem the greater.and harſhly to them, and charged them to be Spies that were come to ſee the nakedneſs of the Land, and to mark what parts of it were leaſt defended. But they humbly anſwered, Nay, my Lord, we are true men; we are no Spies, neither ought we (being ſo many of a Company) to give thee any jealouſie; for we are Brethren. We were once twelve Brethren, the Sons of one man in the Land of Canaan; The youngeſt is this day with our Father, and one is dead, and the reſt of us are come hither on no other deſign but only to buy Food. If our Father had intended to have ſent Spies hither, He would not have adventured ſo many of his Sons together on ſuch a Deſign. Joſeph ſaid unto them, By this I ſhall prove whither ye be true men, and not Spies. You ſay you have another Brother at Home, If you have, one of you ſhall go and fetch him hither, that I may ſee him, and I will keep the reſt of you in Priſon till he comes, and thereby I ſhall know that ye are true men, and do not lye unto me. But if ye have not, and ſo have deceived me, as ſure as Pharaoh lives (f)A vehement Aſſeveration no ſufficient ground to charge on Joſeph a ſinful Oath, viz. By the life of Pharaoh, Deut. 6.13. compar'd with Math. 4.10. Jer. 5.2.ye are Spies, and ſhall be dealt with accordingly.(g)Exploratores deputabimini merito mendacii veſtri. Hereupon He put them all in Ward for three days.*Nam ſuſpicabatur Joſeph ut nota. Chryſoſt. ne quod ipſe expertus erat ſimile quid in Benjaminum, fratrem ſuum uterinum, ex eodem livore commiſiſſent. When they were thus ſhut up, they began to ſpeak one to another, O we may now remember our cruel dealing with our Brother Joſeph: we are verily guilty of his blood; We ſaw the anguiſh of his Soul when we were about to ſell him, and how earneſtly he beſeeched us, and begg'd of us that we would not do it; but we would not hear him, nor liſten to him; therefore hath God brought this Diſtreſs now upon us. Ah, woe and alas! We ſold our Brother into Bondage, and now we our ſelves are brought into Captivity. We would not hear him, and now the Governour of the Land will not hear us. We deluded our Father with a lye, and now we cannot be believed though we ſpeak the truth. Thus their guilty Conſciences, though they had lien ſtill a long while, (about twenty years) yet now, like ſleeping Maſtiffs, awake, and fly upon them, ſo that they could not but attribute their preſent trouble to their former Sin. And to aggravate this their Crime, Reuben (h)Nec ipſe Reuben erat omnino innocens quia tanquam primo-genitus ſortius reſiſtere potuiſſet, minando delationem ad Patrem.told them, They might remember how earneſtly he ſpake to them, and beſought them that they would not ſin againſt the life of their Brother, but they would not hearken to him, and ſo now (ſays he) his blood is juſtly required by God at our hands. (i)Hic eſt effectus afflictionis ut in ſe redeat peccator & cauſam quaerat & ita ad paenitentiam perducatur. Oculos quos culpa claudit poena aperit.Joſeph by ſome means overhearing this their Diſcourſe among themſelves, (though they little thought that He had been ſo near them, or if they had, they could not have imagined that He underſtood their Language, becauſe he uſed to ſpeak to them by an Interpreter,) and being inwardly moved with this their ſad acknowledgment of their Fault, and eſpecially with Reuben's ſharp upbraiding them for it, his natural affection ſo overpowred him, that he was forced to go alone and give it vent in ſecret weeping. But that being over, on the third day he ſends for them again, and tells them, If they would do what he now intended to require of them, they ſhould ſave their lives, and not be taken for Spies. And He was a man that feared God, (ſee Neh. 5.15.) and therefore would be true and faithful in performing what he promiſed them. He tells them therefore, That He would detain one of them in Priſon, and paſſing by Reuben (remembring how he had pleaded for him) He took Simeon his Fathers ſecond Son (who was the eldeſt of thoſe that were moſt virulently bent againſt him) and commanded him to be bound before their eyes, (intending poſſibly when they were gone to give him ſome more liberty); then he tells them, That he permitted the reſt of them to go back to Canaan to carry Corn to relieve their Familes now diſtreſſed with ſcarcity and Famine. But this He peremptorily required of them, that they ſhould bring down their youngeſt Brother with them when they came again, and then He ſhould account them true and honeſt men; They humbly ſubmit to what He enjoyn'd them. Then He gives order that their Sacks ſhould be fill'd with Corn, and that they ſhould have ſuch Proviſions as were needful for their Journey. And he gave order to his Steward that he ſhould privately put every mans money (which he received of them for their Corn) into his Sack; which poſſibly he did, fearing leſt his Father might be in want, if he took their money: Theſe things being done, they laded their Aſſes with their Corn and Proviſions and departed, every one of them (as 'tis probable) having ſeveral Aſſes laden, ſome with Bread-Corn, and ſome with Provender. As they journy'd, when they came to the Inn, one of them open'd his Sack to give his Aſſe ſome Provender, and there he found the money which he had paid for his Corn: They ſeeing this, began to be in great apprehenſion and perplexity about it, ſuſpecting ſome Plot laid for their ruine, or at leaſt that ſome danger would come to their Brother Simeon hereby; and they ſaid among themſelves, What hath God done to us? For both by this accident and what had lately happened to them, they fear'd God was ſorely diſpleaſed with them. When they came home to their Father Jacob, they told him what had happened to them in Egypt, and how roughly the Governour of the Land had handled them, and how he took them for Spies. But they told him they were true men, and were once twelve Brethren the Sons of one man; that their youngeſt Brother was now with their Father, and one was dead. And he told them by this he would diſcover whither they were true men or no. They ſhould leave one of their number as an Hoſtage with him, and the reſt of them ſhould take Food for the Relief of their Families, and ſhould bring down their youngeſt Brother to him that he might ſee him, and then he would deliver their other Brother to them, and they might Traffick in the Land. When they had acquainted their Father with theſe things, they went to empty their Sacks (k)What Judah ſays, Ch. 43.21. as if they had all open'd their Sacks, and found their Monies in them at the Inn; we muſt underſtand it, that what happened to one of them, they reckon as happened to them all. Quod uni in diverſorio accidit de omnibus affirmatur.of the Corn that they had brought out of Egypt, and behold they found every one his purſe of money that he had paid for his Corn, in the mouth of one of his Sacks. When they ſaw this, both they and their Father were greatly afraid, apprehending they might upon this account be accuſed of Theft, or Cheating. But old Jacob hearing that his dear Son Benjamin muſt go down into Egypt, could not forbear expreſſing a great grief and reſentment thereat. What (ſays He) will ye thus bereave me of my Children? you know your Brother Joſeph was loſt long ago, and now I look upon Simeon as in a manner loſt alſo, it being very doubtful whither He will ever get out of Priſon again; and will ye now take away from me my dear Benjamin alſo? woe and alas! all theſe things make againſt me, *The good old man did not ſee that all theſe things made for him.and how ſhall I be able to bear up under them? I cannot be content on any terms that my Son Benjamin ſhould go down with you. Reuben ſaid, If thou wilt permit him to go along with us, if I do not bring him ſafe to thee again, ſlay theſe my two Sons that are at preſent with me. By which paſſionate Speech he thought to induce his Father to believe that he had ſome reaſon for his ſo confident undertaking for Benjamin's return. However Jacob was very ſtill unwilling to it, alledging that Joſeph was dead; and Benjamin was now the only Son of his Mother Rachel, and if he ſhould ſuffer him to go along with them, and any miſchief ſhould befal him in the way, they would bring down his gray hairs with ſorrow to the Grave.
Gen. 42. whole Chapter.