Genesis 43:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 43:23
And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Peace
שָׁל֨וֹםsha.Lom
H7965
safe · noun, common masculine singular absolute
fear
תִּירָ֗אוּti.Ra.'u
H3372
to fear · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
God
אֱלֹ֨הֵיכֶ֜ם'e.Lo.hei.Khem
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
God
וֵֽאלֹהֵ֤יve.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
father
אֲבִיכֶם֙'a.vi.Khem
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
given
נָתַ֨ןna.Tan
H5414
to give · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
treasure
מַטְמוֹן֙mat.mOn
H4301
a secret storehouse · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sacks
בְּאַמְתְּחֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םbe.'am.te.Cho.tei.Khem
H572
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
had
בָּ֣אba'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
money
כַּסְפְּכֶ֖םkas.pe.Khem
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
brought
וַיּוֹצֵ֥אvai.yo.Tze'
H3318
to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Simeon
שִׁמְעֽוֹןshim.'on
H8095
Shimon · proper noun, a man's name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 42:24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound hi…
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it b…
John 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, a…
Genesis 42:28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, sayi…
Luke 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the J…
John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Genesis 42:36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away:…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 43:15-25
Jacob's sons, having got leave to take Benjamin with them, were observant of the orders their father had given them, and went down the second time into Egypt to buy corn. If we should ever know what a famine of the word means, let us not think it much to travel as far for spiritual food as they did for corporal food. Now here we have an account of what passed between them and Joseph's steward, who, some conjecture, was in the secret, and knew them to be Joseph's brethren, and helped to humour the thing; I rather think not, because no man was permitted to be present when Joseph afterwards made himself known to them, Gen 45:1. Observe, 1. Joseph's steward has orders from his master (who was bu…
the men were afraid--Their feelings of awe on entering the stately mansion, unaccustomed as they were to houses at all, their anxiety at the reasons of their being taken there, their solicitude about the restored money, their honest simplicity in communicating their distress to the steward and his assurances of having received their money in "full weight," the offering of their fruit present, which would, as usual, be done with some parade, and the Oriental salutations that passed between their host and them--are all described in a graphic and animated manner.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 43:23
And he said - The address of the steward in this verse plainly proves that the knowledge of the true God was in Egypt. It is probable that the steward himself was a Hebrew, and that Joseph had given him intimation of the whole affair; and though he was not at liberty to reveal it, yet he gives them assurances that the whole business would issue happily.
I had your money - כספכם בא אלי caspechem ba elai, your money comes to me. As I am the steward, the cash for the corn belongs to me. Ye have no reason to be apprehensive of any evil; the whole transaction is between myself and you; receive therefore the money as a present from the God of your father, no matter whose hands he makes use of to c…
ON THE MONEY OF JOSEPH'S BROTHERS. —What the house steward says to you: Your God and the God of your fathers put the treasures in your sacks; your silver of good law already I have it , seems a lie, but we must think that means something. In fact, the silver that is given to them and which does not diminish precisely because it is said to be silver of good law, surely means what about it is affirmed in another text: The words of the Lord are sincere words, silver tested by fire, cleansed already in the earth, purified seven times (Ps. 12:6), that is to say, perfectly purified. [
They indeed had said to him, "We found the money of each one of us in our sacks. We have brought back our money in full weight." O mighty mysteries, and mysteries clearly portrayed! This is to say: Why are you puffed up? Do you assume too often that the money you have in your sacks is your own? What indeed do you have which you have not received? But if you have received it, why do you boast as if you have not received it? Now you have been satisfied, you have become rich; you believe that you possess the money, but the God of your fathers has given the money to you. He is your God, he is the God of your ancestors, and you have denied him. But he grants pardon and forgiveness and receives you back if you should return. He is the one who does not ask your money but gives his own. He has given you money in your sacks. Now your sacks hold money that used to hold mire; and therefore he is your companion who says, "You have cut off my sackcloth and have clothed me with gladness." The gift of gladness is Christ. He is your money; he is your price. The Lord Jesus does not demand from you the price of his grain, does not ask the weight of your money. Your money is unsound; the money in your purse is not good. "I have received your good money"; that is, it is not your material money but your spiritual money that is good. You have brought it down out of faith and devotion like the sons of Jacob; it is expended without loss and is counted out without any deficit, seeing that for such a price the loss that is death is avoided and the profit that is life is gained.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Simeon — Hearing. (1.) The second son of Jacob by Leah (Gen. 29:33). He was associated with Levi in the terrible act of vengeance against Hamor and the Shechemites (34:25, 26). He was detained by Joseph in…
Head · Bowed down: As a token of respect — Bowed down: As a token of respect
Money · Silver used as — Silver used as
Servants · Duties of, to masters: To be kind and attentive to their guests — Duties of, to masters: To be kind and attentive to their guests
Simeon · and is — and is
Treasure · .Money — .Money
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Genesis 43:23
And he said, peace be unto you, fear not,.... Do not be uneasy and disturbed, you have nothing to fear, you are in no danger:
your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks; the hidden treasure, as the word signifies, found in their sacks; was there by the providence of God, so disposing the heart of Joseph to order it to be put there, as the steward interpreted it; who by being Joseph's family had got some knowledge of the true God, and of his all wise and disposing Providence:
I had your money; he received it of them, which he acknowledges, and that was sufficient to acquit them from guile and theft, though he does not say that he put the money into their sac…
Peace be to you. Because slvm (shalom,) among the Hebrews, signifies not only peace, but any prosperous and desirable condition, as well as any joyful event, this passage may be expounded in two ways: either that the ruler of Joseph's house commands them to be of a peaceful and secure mind; or that he pronounces it to be well and happy with them. The sum of his answer, however, amounts to this, that there was no reason for fear, because their affairs were in a prosperous state. And since, after the manner of men, it was not possible that they should have paid the money for the corn which was found in their sacks, he ascribes this to the favor of God. For though true religion was then almost…
When the brethren appeared before Joseph, he ordered his steward to take them into the house, and prepare a dinner for them and for him. טבה the original form of the imperative for טבח. But the brethren were alarmed, thinking that they were taken into the house because of the money which returned the first time (השּׁב which came back, they could not imagine how), that he might take them unawares (lit., roll upon them), and fall upon them, and keep them as salves, along with their asses. For the purpose of averting what they dreaded, they approached (Gen 43:19) the steward and told him, "at the door of the house," before they entered therefore, how, at the first purchase of corn, on opening t…
The brothers, completely vulnerable and feeling the weight of God’s judgment on their consciences, approached the manager in desperation.
Rashi on Genesis 43:23
אלהיכם YOUR GOD — your God because of your own merits: and if your own merits do not suffice, then ואלהי אביכם THE GOD OF YOUR FATHER — because of your father’s merits HE HAS GIVEN YOU A TREASURE (Genesis Rabbah 92:4).
