King James Version · The patriarchs
Genesis 44
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And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s . And put , the silver , in the sack’s of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that had spoken. 3As soon as the morning was , the men were sent away, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this it in which my drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. 6And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my these words? forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of : how then should we steal out of thy ’s house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him , and we also will be my ’s bondmen. And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. 11Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and was found in ’s sack. Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. And Judah and his brethren came to ’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. And said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? And Judah said, What shall we say unto my ? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? hath found out the of thy servants: behold, we are my ’s servants, both we, and he also with whom is found. And he said, forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your . Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my , let thy servant, I thee, speak a word in my ’s ears, and let not thine burn against thy servant: for thou art even as . My asked his servants, saying, Have ye a , or a brother? And we said unto my , We have a , an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is , and he alone is left of his mother, and his loveth him. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. And we said unto my , The lad cannot leave his : for if he should leave his , his would . And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see no more. And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant , we told him the words of my . And said, Go again, and buy us a little food. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man’s , except our youngest brother be with us. And thy servant said unto us, Ye know that my wife me two sons: And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since: And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the . Now therefore when I come to thy servant , and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life; It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will : and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant with sorrow to the . For thy servant became surety for the lad unto , saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to for ever. Now therefore, I thee, let thy servant instead of the lad a bondman to my ; and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go up to , and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on .
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
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.
All of Genesis