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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 42:21 - 42:24
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Simeon Kept Back in Egypt
v. 21. And they said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. More than twenty years after their crime their consciences cause them to confess that they were indeed weighed down with guilt on account of their brother, whose deep anguish and heartrending cries had at that time made no impression on them.
v. 22. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required. Reuben was by no means innocent in the matter of Joseph, and his present reminder was not in the sense of a reproach by which he meant to clear himself. But he declared their present plight to come from the avenging justice of God, who thus demanded the freedom and the blood of their brother at their hands. All these expressions showed that the brothers were deeply repentant for their sin, for they willingly bowed themselves under the punishment of the Lord.
v. 23. And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter, who was between him and his brothers and communicated all his commands to them in their own tongue, since Joseph purposely feigned ignorance of their language.
v. 24. And he turned himself about from them, and wept at this evidence of their complete change of heart;and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. He spared Reuben, either because he did not want to harm the right of the firstborn, or because Reuben was less guilty than some of the rest. His object had been attained, he had the information which he sought.