World English Bible · The patriarchs
Genesis 43
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The was severe in the land. When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of , their said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food." Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see , unless your brother is with you.' 4If you'll send our brother with us, we'll go down and buy you food; but if you don't send him, we won't go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see , unless your brother is with you.'" 6Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?" They said, "The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, 'Is your still alive? Have you another brother?' We answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?" Judah said to Israel, his , "Send the boy with me, and we'll get up and go, so that we may live, and not , both we, and you, and also our little ones. I'll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don't bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame ; for if we hadn't delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now." Their , Israel, said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. May give you mercy before the man, that he may to you your other brother and . If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." 15The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and ; and got up, went down to , and stood before . When saw with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon." 17The man did as commanded, and the man brought the men to house. The men were afraid, because they were brought to house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time, we're brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as , along with our donkeys." 19They came near to the steward of house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, and said, "Oh, my , we indeed came down the first time to buy food. When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man's money was in the of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. 22We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don't know who put our money in our sacks." He said, "Peace be to you. Don't be afraid. Your , and the of your , has given you in your sacks. I received your money." He brought out to them. The man brought the men into house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. They prepared the present for coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there. When came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to the earth before him. He asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?" They said, ", , is well. He is still alive." They humbly. He lifted up his eyes, and saw , his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" He said, " be to you, my son." hurried, for yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. He washed , and came out. He controlled himself, and said, " the meal." They him by himself, and them by themselves, and the who ate with him by themselves, because the don't eat with the , for that is an to the . 33They sat before him, according to his , and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled with one another. He sent portions to them from before him, but was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.
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The world at this moment · The patriarchs, 2000 BC to 1600 BC ›
Abraham's family as herdsmen among settled Canaanite city-states, in a world where Egypt and Mesopotamia are the great powers and Canaan is the corridor between them.
- Mesopotamia
- Abraham's own century is Hammurabi's. The great empire of Ur has already fallen, and Babylon rises under a king who published a law code on a stone pillar for everyone to see. Reading Genesis alongside Hammurabi's laws is illuminating in both directions: some provisions are strikingly similar, and the places where Israel's later law diverges are the places worth stopping at.
- Egypt
- The Middle Kingdom, wealthy, bureaucratic, and organised around the Nile flood. Egyptian tomb paintings from this period show Semitic traders arriving with donkeys and striped cloaks, which is more or less the picture Genesis gives of a family going down to Egypt in a famine. Toward the end of the era the Hyksos, rulers of Semitic origin, take the delta.
- Anatolia and the Aegean
- Assyrian merchants run a long-distance trading colony at Kanesh in Anatolia, leaving thousands of clay letters about copper, tin, and debt. On Crete the Minoan palaces are at their height, with plumbing, frescoes, and a script nobody has yet read.
- Further afield
- The Indus Valley cities are in decline after centuries of grid-planned streets and drains. In China the Erlitou culture is building the first palace complexes. Stonehenge is standing and already old.
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