Глава 43

Jacob, under the pressure of necessity and at the urgent requests of his sons, lets Benjamin go with them Gen.43:1–2. Hunger has increased in the land. And when they had eaten the bread that they had brought from Egypt, then their father said to them: Go again, buy us some food. The bread brought by the 9 sons of Jacob, given the large number of his family, could hardly last for a long time (perhaps the servants and other members of Jacob’s household did not eat this bread, but were content with various substitutes for bread, roots, etc.), and soon, due to the increase in hunger everywhere (v. 1), the supply of bread for Jacob’s family ran out, and he again encourages his sons to go to Egypt. Gen.43:8–9. Judah said to his father Israel: Let the lad go with me, and we will rise and go, and we will live and not die, both we and you and our children; I am responsible for it, you will demand it from my hands; If I do not bring him to you and place him before you, then I will remain guilty before you all the days of my life; The speech of Judah, who now acts as the main character (as if in anticipation of the future recognition of his birthright by his father, Gen. 49:8–11), breathes the same selflessness as the speech of Reuben (Gen. 42:37): both of these brothers of Joseph were not involved in the criminal plans of other brothers for Joseph’s life, both at one time made an effort to save him, and therefore with pure they could now speak with their conscience before their father. But Judah’s speech differs from Reuben’s in greater moderation of impulses of feeling, greater prudence and persuasiveness, which all, in connection with Jacob’s predominant trust in him (compared to his attitude towards Reuben in view of Gen. 35:22), inclined the elder to recognize the need to let Benjamin go. The latter in the speech of Judas is called (v. 8) a “youth” (Heb. naar; Vulg. “puer”), although at this time he was about 25 years old, and he already had several sons (Gen. 46:21), - he is called such an epithet as the youngest of the brothers. A similar use of Heb. naar is found in other biblical passages. For example, Solomon, in prayer to God, upon his accession to the throne, calls himself a little boy (1 Kings 3:7), meanwhile at that time he already had a son, Rehoboam. However, Jacob’s special care for Benjamin stemmed not from his young age, but from his special affection for this second and last son of his from his beloved Rachel (cf. Gen. 44:27–28). Gen.43:11. Israel their father said to them: if so, then do this: take with you the fruits of this land and bring as a gift to that man some balm and some honey, styrax and frankincense, pistachios and almonds; Jacob's idea that his sons could earn the favor of the first minister of Egypt with the insignificant native works of Canaan may seem like a naive way of thinking of an old nomad who had seen only the insignificant princes of Canaan and had no idea of ​​the splendor and luxury of the Egyptian palaces. This feature, however, is very typical of the ancient and even modern East, where the appearance of subordinates to the ruler, generally inferior to the highest - without gifts is recognized as an expression of disrespect and impoliteness (cf. gifts to Solomon from the rulers subject to him, 1 Kings 10:25; cf. Matthew 2:11). As such famous works of the land of Canaan (Heb. zimrat-haarez, “the praises of the land” - everything for which it is famous among neighboring peoples) Jacob names, in addition to those named in Gen. 37:25 balsam, styrax and incense, also honey (Heb. debasch), pistachios (botnim) and almonds (schoqedim). Honey, of course, is probably not bee honey, which has always been plentiful in Egypt, but condensed grape juice, now known among the Arabs under the name “dibs” (like the so-called “Turkish delight”), which is still imported into Egypt in huge quantities. Heb. botnim, pistachios, in LXX and Slav.: “terevinf” (turpentine tree). Palestine was rich in almonds. Gen.43:12–14. take other silver into your hands; and return the silver that was put back into the hole of your sacks with your hands: perhaps this is an oversight; and take your brother and get up and go again to the man; May Almighty God grant you to find mercy from a man so that he will release to you both your other brother and Benjamin, At the same time, Jacob orders his sons to return the silver they put in their bags; then, urging them to go himself, taking Benjamin with him (v. 13), he betrays both the children and himself to the will of God and at the same time calls (v. 14) the Lord, calling Him Almighty (El-Shaddai), as was the case during the times of the manifestation of great, extraordinary mercies to Abraham (Gen. 17:1), then to Jacob himself (Gen. 28:3). In all cases of life, especially in difficult circumstances that required extraordinary help from above, the patriarchs turned with prayer to “God Almighty,” El-Shaddai; under this name they primarily knew and honored the true God, but the name Jehovah was not fully known to them (cf. Ex. 4:3), at least it was not in their usual use. and if I should already be childless, then let me be childless. - an expression of determination to submit to the destinies of God’s will (cf. Esther 4:16; 2 Kings 7:4). From this we can see how much the vicissitudes of life changed the once arrogant Jacob, teaching him perfect devotion to God. Joseph receives the brothers and organizes a feast for them Gen.43:15–16. And the people took these gifts, and doubled the silver in their hands, and Benjamin, and stood up, went to Egypt and appeared before Joseph. Joseph, seeing Benjamin [his brother, his mother's son], among them, said to the ruler of his house: Bring these people into the house and kill some of the cattle and prepare it, for these people will eat with me at noon. The brothers' audience with Joseph did not follow directly after the brothers' arrival at his palace: Joseph was absent until noon - dinner time, perhaps on official business (Josephus, Ancient 6:6), but also, probably not without the intention - to gather his courage in view of the excitement that gripped him at the sight of Benjamin and to give the brothers the opportunity to come to their senses. Gen.43:18. And these men were afraid that they brought them into the house of Joseph, and said: It is for the money that was returned before to our sacks that they brought us in to find fault with us and attack us, and take us into slavery, and our donkeys. Brought by Joseph's steward, on his orders, into the house itself, the brothers saw in this (judging by the experience of the first reception given to them by the ruler of Egypt) an unfavorable omen of the punishment ahead of them because of the payment for bread, which was returned to each of them in a way incomprehensible to them. Gen.43:19–21. And they came to the ruler of Joseph's house, and began to say to him at the door of the house, and they said: listen, our lord, we came before to buy food, and it happened that when we came to spend the night and opened our sacks, behold, everyone’s money was in the hole of his sack, our silver according to his weight, and we returned it with our own hands; In fear and indecision, they stop at the entrance of the house and briefly convey to Joseph’s steward the incident with the money, explaining to him their complete innocence in this matter and asking him to pay attention to this, in view of the accusation they expected and, perhaps, condemnation to slavery according to the legal order of antiquity (Ex. 22:3). Gen.43:23. He said: be calm, do not be afraid; Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your silver has reached me. And he brought Simeon to them. Joseph's steward, perhaps imbued with the latter's religiosity and piety, reassures Jacob's sons by pointing out that the silver they found in the bags was an extraordinary gift from their God and that he received the money they paid. The bringing of Simeon to them had a particularly calming effect on Joseph's brothers. Only now they calmly enter the house, where they were shown signs of oriental hospitality, and they prepared and prepared their gifts for the upcoming meeting with Joseph. Gen.43:26. And Joseph came home; and they brought him into the house the gifts that were in their hands, and bowed to him to the ground. Presenting gifts and prostrating are common forms of greeting in the East for high-ranking persons, especially rulers. In the prostration of all the brothers before Joseph, Joseph’s long-standing dreams, which at one time served as the source of Joseph’s misadventures, were fulfilled with literal accuracy: not only did all the brothers now bow before Joseph, but in their person both the father of them all, and Joseph’s mother, Rachel (in the person of Benjamin), bowed before him. The very setting of the meeting - when buying bread - was reminiscent of Joseph's first dream, the content related to agricultural life, to collecting bread. Gen.43:27–28. He asked them about their health and said: Is your father, the old man about whom you spoke, healthy? is he still alive? They said: Your servant our father is healthy; still alive. [He said, Blessed is this man of God.] And they bowed down and worshiped. Joseph, with brotherly love for his brothers and filial piety and tenderness for his father, inquires about the health of the first and last, and the brothers again, in gratitude to the merciful ruler of Egypt, bow before him. LXX in Art. 28 add: καὶ εἴπεν Εὐλογητὸς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος τῶ θεῶ (cf. Slav, and Russian): maybe in this gloss the Jewish view was expressed about the inappropriateness of bowing to man (cf. Esther 3:2). Gen.43:29–30. And he [Joseph] lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you told me?” And he said: may the mercy of God be with you, my son! And Joseph hastily left, because his love for his brother was inflamed, and he was ready to cry, and he entered the inner room and wept there. Turning his gaze to Benjamin, Joseph, in deep excitement, asks his brothers if this is their younger brother, and, without waiting for an answer, he calls on God’s blessing on his beloved brother, tenderly calling him “my son” - not only by right of eldest (Joseph was almost 15 years older than Benjamin), but also as the person now in charge. Under the pressure of strong feelings and memories, Joseph hurries to leave his brothers, and only in solitude does he regain self-control. In this scene of Joseph’s meeting with Benjamin, his half-brother, the nobility of character, the tenderness of family feelings, and in general the true human dignity of Joseph, not spoiled by the greatness of his position in Egypt, are especially attractive. In his moral character, as, of course, in his religious beliefs, which remained untouched in Egypt by Joseph, he is a true biblical patriarch, like his three closest ancestors. The emotional excitement that now forced Joseph to leave his brothers was not just a movement of natural feeling, but also a feeling of moral satisfaction and reassurance regarding the benevolence of the brothers’ relationship with Benjamin (he, however, later experiences this benevolence again): the feeling of relief after the expected grave danger for his beloved being is one of the strongest. Gen.43:31–32. And having washed his face, he went out, and strengthened himself and said: Serve the food. And they gave it to him especially, and to them especially, and to the Egyptians who dined with him, especially, for the Egyptians cannot eat with the Jews, because it is an abomination to the Egyptians. Having washed his face in order to remove traces of tears on it, Joseph went out to his brothers and invited them to the table. Three separate tables were set up: one for Joseph, who, as the first nobleman and, moreover, a member of the priestly caste, according to ancient Egyptian customs, should not have eaten even with other high-ranking Egyptians, not to mention foreigners, with whom no ordinary Egyptian was allowed to eat (according to Herodotus 2, 41, not a single Egyptian would have used the knife that he used Greek when eating); another table for Joseph’s Egyptian colleagues, who, as has been said, did not have the opportunity to share meals with foreigners, in particular Syrians and Jews; the third table is for Joseph's 11 brothers. The reason why the Egyptians could not eat with the Jews is expressed by the sacred writer as follows: “because it is an abomination (to’evah) to the Egyptians” (glory: “every shepherd of sheep is an abomination” - perhaps an addition to the original text, taken from Genesis 46:34). “Abomination”, to’evah, in biblical language is a religious-ritual, liturgical concept and means everything that cannot be allowed into the true service of the Lord (Jehovah) and that is forbidden to His worshipers (for example, Deut. 12:31, 13:15; Ezek. 5:11, 43:8). This place says that the Egyptians also shunned the Jews for religious reasons: according to Onkelos, because the Jews slaughtered and ate those animals that the Egyptians idolized (for example, Isis was honored in the form of a cow, Osiris in the form of Apis the bull); the Egyptians, according to some, almost did not eat meat. Gen.43:33. And they sat down before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and these people marveled at each other. That the ancient Egyptians sat at the table and did not recline (the latter custom entered the Jews during the royal period of their history and, probably, under the Assyro-Babylonian cultural influence, cf. Am. 6:4), can be seen in many sculptural images of scenes of ancient Egyptian life (in the British and other museums). Following the usual etiquette of the East, Joseph arranges places for his brothers at the table according to their seniority, thereby again leading them to bewilderment and confusion and instilling in them a superstitious fear of himself as capable of revealing secrets (cf. Gen. 44:5). Gen.43:34. And food was sent to them from him, and Benjamin's share was five times the share of each of them. And they drank, and they drank contently with him. According to a common custom in the East, sending food from the elder at a feast expressed (and now expresses) honor to the guest on his part, and an increased portion meant the host’s especially great respect for the famous guest (1 Samuel 9:23–24); Wed in Homer Il. 7, 321. Joseph sends food from his table to all his brothers (from here - incidentally - we learn that the Jews of the patriarchal period did not disdain the communication of food with foreigners, as they began to disdain during the period of law), and to Benjamin - a portion 5 times larger; according to the Midrash, he received one part equally with everyone else, another from Joseph, a third from Asenath, 4th from Manasseh, 5th from Ephraim. The copious consumption of wine at Joseph’s table was not drunkenness; rather, the wise Joseph, adhering to the proverb: in vino veritas, could observe his brothers and the impression their preference for Benjamin made on them. 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