Judah Persuades Jacob — Andrew Forrest

Genesis 43:1-14

Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” 6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

Remember, this is the central question of Genesis 37-50:

Which brother will lead the family after Jacob is gone?

REUBEN, SIMEON, LEVI, OR JUDAH?

Reuben, as we saw Friday, is not a leader. (Plus, he slept with his father’s wife/concubine, i.e., the mother of 2 of his half-brothers! [See Genesis 35:21-22].)

The 2nd and 3rd brothers are Simeon and Levi. They seem to be hot-headed and bloodthirsty, as they are the ones who led the massacre of the city of Shechem, after Shechem raped their sister Dinah. (See the sad story told in Genesis 34.)

(By the way, I have no proof of this, but I wonder if Simeon is one of the instigators of the plan to murder Joseph and cover it up with animal’s blood [See Genesis 37.] This would explain why Joseph chooses Simeon as the one to stay behind in Egypt: “And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.” [Genesis 42:24].)

So, that leaves Judah. Could he be the one to lead the family after Jacob?

The last we heard much about Judah was in Genesis 38, when he is morally humbled after he (unknowingly) impregnates his daughter-in-law. (I KNOW!)

But here, he makes a beautiful speech to their father Jacob and offers to take full responsibility for Benjamin’s safety so they can return to Egypt and get food so that the family can survive.

His speech works, and Jacob gives his leave for Benjamin to go with the brothers on their return journey to Egypt.

Could Judah be the one?

P.S. Note that, unlike the last time the brothers returned without their missing brother—the time when they sold Joseph into slavery—this time they tell the whole truth to their father….

P.P.S. Jacob is here having his own Mount Moriah moment. You’ll remember that back in Genesis 21 we read about the culminating event of Abraham’s life: his giving up of the beloved son of his old age, Isaac. Here Jacob does the same thing by agreeing to send Benjamin.