Genesis 42:21 - Meaning and Application

Joseph’s brothers then looked back on the wrong they had done to him, and they spoke in Hebrew, not knowing Joseph understood them. They said, “We are truly guilty about our brother.” We do not read of this response during their three days in prison, but now, when matters were still hard for them, their hearts began to soften. Joseph’s talk about fearing God may have helped stir this up in them (Genesis 42:18).

This shows what conscience does. It reminds us of things said and done long ago, and it shows us where we have gone wrong. Time does not erase the guilt of sin, and it does not wipe away conscience’s record. When they sinned against Joseph, they treated it lightly and sat down to eat. Now, more than twenty years later, conscience brought it back to them.

Affliction often does this good work. Trouble can wake the conscience and bring forgotten sin to mind (Job 13:26). Of all their sins, this was the one that now pressed hardest on them. Whenever we feel wronged by others, we should also remember the wrong we have done to others (Ecclesiastes 7:21, 22).

Reuben, Joseph’s oldest brother, remembered with some comfort that he had warned them and tried to keep them from harming Joseph (Genesis 42:22). He said, “Did I not tell you, ‘Do not sin against the child’?” This teaches that any sin is worse when we commit it after clear warning. It also comforts us, when trouble comes, if our conscience can say we did not join in the evil, but spoke against it. That will help us in the day of trouble, and it will take away some of the sting.

Joseph then showed tenderness toward them. He went away and wept (Genesis 42:24). He still had to act like a stranger, because they were not yet humbled enough, but his heart was moved. This gives us a picture of God’s tender mercy toward repentant sinners, as in Jeremiah 31:20 and Judges 10:16.

Joseph also put Simeon, one of the brothers, in prison (Genesis 42:24). He likely chose him because Simeon had been among the harshest against him, or because he saw that Simeon was still least humbled. He bound Simeon before their eyes so that all of them would feel the lesson. It may also be that, after the others left, Joseph later loosened Simeon’s bonds.

The rest of the brothers were sent away. They had come to buy grain, and they got grain, but they also found their money returned in the mouths of their sacks. In this, Christ, our Joseph, gives help without money and without price. That is why the poor are invited to buy even though they have no money (Revelation 3:17, 18).

This made them deeply afraid (Genesis 42:28). Their hearts sank, and they said to one another, “What has God done to us?” It was really a kind gift, not a harm. Still, guilty consciences often turn good things into bad ones and misread mercy as danger. They run when no one is chasing them.

Wealth can bring worry as well as poverty, and sometimes even more. If the brothers had been robbed, they could not have been more frightened than they were when they found their money returned. In the same way, the rich man whose land produced a great harvest asked, “What shall I do?” (Luke 12:17).

Their fear was especially strong because of their situation. They knew that Egyptians despised Hebrews (Genesis 43:32), so they did not expect kindness from them. They also remembered that the ruler of the land had accused them of being spies. Their own consciences were awake too, and their sins stood before them. That drove them into confusion.

When people are already discouraged, almost anything will push them lower. And when God’s actions toward us surprise us, it is wise to ask what he is doing and to think carefully about his hand at work.