Genesis 43:29 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 43:29
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.
to lift · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
eyes
עֵינָ֗יו'ei.Nav
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
saw
וַיַּ֞רְאvai.Yar'
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
brother
אָחִיו֮'a.Chiv
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Benjamin
בִּנְיָמִ֣יןbin.ya.Min
H1144
Binjamin · proper noun, a man's name
mother’s
אִמּוֹ֒'i.Mo
H517
a mother (as the bond of the family) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
said
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
spake
אֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם'a.mar.Tem
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
said
וַיֹּאמַ֕רvai.yo.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
God
אֱלֹהִ֥ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
gracious
יָחְנְךָ֖ya.che.ne.Kha
H2603
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
son
בְּנִֽיbe.Ni
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
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 42:13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our f…
Numbers 6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
Genesis 30:22-24 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Genesis 35:17-18 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
Genesis 42:11 We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
Genesis 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler througho…
Joshua 7:19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what t…
2 Chronicles 29:11 My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and bur…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 43:26–end
Here is, I. The great respect that Joseph's brethren paid to him. When they brought him the present, they bowed themselves before him (Gen 43:26); and again, when they gave him an account of their father's health, they made obeisance, and called him, Thy servant our father, Gen 43:28. Thus were Joseph's dreams fulfilled more and more: and even the father, by the sons, bowed before him, according to the dream, Gen 37:10. Probably Jacob had directed them, if they had occasion to speak of him to the man, the lord of the land, to call him his servant.
II. The great kindness that Joseph showed to them, while they little thought it was a brotherly kindness. Here is,
1. His kind enquiry concerning…
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 43:29
He lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin - They were probably introduced to him successively; and as Benjamin was the youngest, he would of course be introduced last.
God be gracious unto thee, my son! - A usual salutation in the east from the aged and superiors to the younger and inferiors, which, though very emphatic and expressive in ancient times, in the present day means no more than "I am your humble servant," or "I am exceedingly glad to see you;" words which among us mean-just nothing. Even in David's time they seem to have been, not only devoid of meaning, but to be used as a cloak for the basest and most treacherous designs: They bless with their mouths, but they curse i…
Moreover, "Joseph saw them and Benjamin his brother by the same mother." The Hebrews are seen now, and they are seen by Christ, who is the true Joseph, when they come with the figure who symbolizes Paul. And Joseph speaks to them gently and mildly, inviting them to take food together. Earlier, however, when they came without Benjamin, he did not even recognize them but turned away from them, as it is written, "and he spoke harshly to them." For they did not recognize him by whom they were recognized. They advance, then, by the merit of Paul, whom the Lord Jesus loved more than the other brothers, as being a younger brother begotten from the same mother. Let the Jews turn to him whom they have denied to be their Lord. Even though he was crucified from their synagogue, yet he loves them more as born of the same parent, if only they come to know, even late, the Author of their salvation. But being aware of their own offenses, they do not believe that Christ is so very merciful as to forgive their sin and pardon their wrongdoing. And thus their future line of conduct was prefigured in the patriarchs. They were invited to grace, were summoned to the banquet of the table of salvation and suspected that a false accusation was being readied against them and an ambush was being laid.
Now "raising his eyes he saw Benjamin, his brother by the same mother." The moral sense is that we see those we love before others, and the gaze of our eyes lights first on those whom we consider first in our mind's eye. And for the most part, when we are busy all around with another mental employment, we do not see those whom we find before our eyes. Thus our sight is directed by the guidance of our mind. And so, holy Joseph saw Benjamin his brother; he remembered him, he looked for him, he almost had not seen his brothers in Benjamin's absence because the sight of them was of no help whatsoever. Neither was he satisfied only to have seen him; as if not knowing him, Joseph asked, "Is this your youngest brother?" It is the way and the favor of love that we should possess those we love not only with our eyes but also by our conversation. Joseph had recognized his beloved brother, but he asked for this reason, that he might speak the name of him that he had in his heart. Indeed, Joseph did not wait for a reply but at once blessed him and was troubled at the attainment of his wish. Now "his heart was tormented," because his freedom to embrace the brother he longed for was postponed. Thereupon, "entering into his chamber he wept and washed his face and restrained himself." The stings of a great love swiftly prick the heart, unless the reins of desire are relaxed. Joseph was being overcome by feeling but put off by deliberation; reason was in contest with love. He wept, so that he could moderate the surges of his holy love.
Dictionary and topics
Salutation — “Eastern modes of salutation are not unfrequently so prolonged as to become wearisome and a positive waste of time. The profusely polite Arab asks so many questions after your health, your happiness,…
Dissembling · .Joseph — .Joseph
Salutations · .“;May God be gracious to you,” — .“;May God be gracious to you,”
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 43:29
And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin,.... He had seen him before when his brethren first presented themselves to him, but then took no particular and special notice of him, only gave him a side look as it were, but now he looked wistly at him:
his mother's son; the son of Rachel his mother, and who was his only brother by his mother's side, the rest, though his brethren, yet only by his father's side, not his mother's sons:
and said, is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? he knew he was the same, but was willing to have it from their mouths, to lead on to what he had further to say:
and he said; after they had answered his question, and told him it was h…
Against Joseph came at noon-day. It is doubtful whether this was the ordinary hour of dining among the Egyptians, or whether Joseph, on that day, sat down earlier than he was accustomed to do, on account of his guests. It is, however, most likely that the usual custom of dining was observed. Although, among the people of the East, there might be a different manner of living, dinners were in use, not only among the Egyptians, but also in Judea, and in other neighboring regions. Yet it is probable that this was to them, also, in the place of a supper, both because they would sit long at table, and our quick method of eating would not have been tolerable to people in those heated climes; especi…
When Joseph came home, they handed him the present with the most reverential obeisance.
Gen 43:27-29
Joseph first of all inquired after their own and their father's health (שׁלום first as substantive, then as adjective = שׁלם Gen 33:18), whether he was still living; which they answered with thanks in the affirmative, making the deepest bow. His eyes then fell upon Benjamin, the brother by his own mother, and he asked whether this was their youngest brother; but without waiting for their reply, he exclaimed, "God be gracious to thee, my son!" יחנך for יחנך as in Isa 30:19 (cf. Ewald, 251d). He addressed him as "my son," in tender and, as it were, paternal affection, and with special regard to…
May God be gracious to you, my son: Joseph’s blessing to his full brother fulfilled Jacob’s prayer (43:14).
Rashi on Genesis 43:29
אלהים יחנך בני GOD BE GRACIOUS UNTO THEE, MY SON — With regard of the other sons of Jacob we have heard the expression “grace” used — viz., (33:5) “[The children] whom God hath graciously given (חנן) to thy servant”. But Benjamin had not then been born and therefore was not included amongst the children of whom Jacob used this term; on this account Joseph used the term “grace” in blessing him (Genesis Rabbah 92:5).
The foregoing is in the moral sense. In the mystical sense, however, the Lord Jesus saw Paul—for "the eyes of the Lord are upon the just"—and said, "Is this your youngest brother?" He is still called the youngest, for he did not yet exhibit a venerable faith of mature age, and he had not yet grown into mature manhood, "into that measure of the age of the fullness of Christ," as Paul himself says. Indeed, he is called a young man only in that passage where he kept the garments of those who were stoning Stephen. And on that account he desired that Philemon imitate not his youth but his old age, as he wrote, "I rather beseech, since you are such a one as Paul, an old man." On that account he preaches that younger widows are to be refused, not by reason of their age but on account of a kind of wantonness in offenses that are reaching full growth and an immaturity in virtue. But chastity merits greater praise in a young man than in one who is old. Moreover, I think it is not far from the truth if we adopt the following interpretation. Although Paul was struck and taken up and was terrified because blindness had befallen him, still he began to come near when he said, "Lord, what will you have me do?" For that reason he is called the youngest by Christ, so that he who was called to grace could be excused from the guilt of his hazardous years. Yes, Christ saw him when the light shone round him; because young men are recalled from sin more by fear than by reason, Christ applied the goad and mercifully admonished him not to kick against it.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
