Genesis 42:3

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 42:3 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Joseph`s ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Joseph`s ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt.
Genesis 42:3 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 42

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
3And Joseph`s ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.] They obeyed their father’s orders, and immediately set out for Egypt; “ten” of them went down in a body together, all but Benjamin, so that it is easily reckoned who they were, and they are called not Jacob’s sons, as they were; but Joseph’s brethren, whom they had sold into Egypt, and to whom now they were going, though they knew it not, to buy corn of him in their necessity, and to whom they would be obliged to yield obeisance, as they did.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- Joseph and Ten of His Brethren 1. שׁבר sheber, “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain). 6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ, “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch. 25. כלי kelı̂y, “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq, “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.” Twenty years, the period of Joseph’s long and anxious waiting, have come to an end. The dreams of his boyhood are now at length to be fulfilled. The famine has reached the chosen family, and they look at one another perplexed and irresolute, not knowing what to do. Genesis 42:1-5 The aged…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification