(18) I fear God (Elohim).--By the use of the name Elohim they would understand that he worshipped the same God as they did. For though he may himself have used the Egyptian word for the supreme Deity, yet doubtless he would take care that the interpreter used the word Elohim.

Verses 18-20. - And Joseph (whose bowels of mercy were already yearning towards them) said unto them the third day, This do, and live; - i.e. this do that ye may live (vide Gesenius, 'Grammar,' 130, 2; Ewald's 'Hebrew Syntax,' 348b) - for I fear God - literally, the Elohim I fear; the term Elohim being employed, since to have said Jehovah would have been to divulge, if not his Hebrew origin, at least his acquaintance with the Hebrew faith (Hengstenberg). At the same time its use would arrest them more than the preceding adjuration, By the life of Pharaoh! and, whether or not it implied that the true God was not yet unknown in Egypt (Murphy), was clearly designed to show that he was a religious and conscientious person, who would on no account condemn them on mere suspicion (Lange). If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison. Joseph's first proposal, that one should go for Benjamin while nine remained as hostages for their good faith, is now reversed, and only one is required to be detained while the other nine return. If the severity of the first proposal filled them with consternation, the singular clemency of the second could not fail to impress them. Not only were the nine to be released, but their original demand for grain to carry home to Palestine was to be complied with, the grand vizier adding, to their undoubted amazement, As for the rest of you, go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses. "How differently had they acted towards their brother, whom they had intended to leave in the pit to starve" (Keil). The Egyptian governor feels compassion for their famishing households, only he will not abandon his proposition that they must return with Benjamin. But bring your youngest brother unto me - or, more emphatically, and your brother, the little one, ye shall cause to come to me. That Joseph should have insisted on this stipulation, which he must have known would cause his aged father much anxiety and deep distress, is not to be explained as "almost designed" by Joseph as a chastisement on Jacob for his undue predilection in favor of Benjamin (Kalisch), but must be ascribed either to the intensity of his longing to see his brother (Murphy), or to a desire on his part to ascertain how his brethren were affected towards Benjamin (Lawson), or to a secret belief that the best mode of persuading his father to go down to him in Egypt was to bring Benjamin thither ('Speaker's Commentary'), or to an inward conviction that the temporary concern which Benjamin's absence might inflict on Jacob would be more than compensated for by the ultimate good which would thereby be secured to the whole family (Kurtz), or to the fact that God, under whose guidance throughout he acted, was unconsciously leading him in such a way as to secure the fulfillment of his dreams, which required the presence of both Benjamin and Jacob in Egypt (Wordsworth, ' Speaker's Commentary). The reason which Joseph himself gave to his brethren was that Benjamin's presence was indispensable as a corroboration of their veracity. So (literally, and) shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die (the death due to spies): And they did so - i.e. they consented to Joseph's proposal.

Parallel Commentaries ...


and on the third
הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י (haš·šə·lî·šî)
Article | Number - ordinal masculine singular
Strong's 7992: Third, feminine a, third, a third, a third-story cell)

day
בַּיּ֣וֹם (bay·yō·wm)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

[he]
יוֹסֵף֙ (yō·w·sêp̄)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3130: Joseph -- 'he increases', a son of Jacob, also the name of several Israelites

said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to them,
אֲלֵהֶ֤ם (’ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

“Do
עֲשׂ֖וּ (‘ă·śū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 6213: To do, make

this
זֹ֥את (zōṯ)
Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2063: Hereby in it, likewise, the one other, same, she, so much, such deed, that,

and you will live,
וִֽחְי֑וּ (wiḥ·yū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 2421: To live, to revive

[for] I
אֲנִ֥י (’ă·nî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

fear
יָרֵֽא׃ (yā·rê)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3372: To fear, to revere, caus, to frighten

God.
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative


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OT Law: Genesis 42:18 Joseph said to them the third day (Gen. Ge Gn)