Genesis · 34 verses
Genesis 43
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Benjamin receives five times as much as anyone else at Joseph’s table, and the brothers, astonishingly, carry on feasting and drinking together.
The journey is decidedvv. 1–15
The famine leaves Israel’s household with one uncomfortable condition: Benjamin must go back to Egypt. Judah undertakes the boy’s safe return with almost alarming solemnity, while Israel packs gifts, doubles the silver, and sends them off with the beautiful resignation, “if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
A dinner with a private intervalvv. 16–34
Joseph sees Benjamin and orders a feast, which frightens the brothers so thoroughly that they explain the returned silver to the steward at the door. The steward produces Simeon, washes their feet, and feeds their donkeys: a remarkably civil household for men expecting to be overpowered and enslaved. Joseph then appears, receives their gifts and bows, and finds his own composure less durable than the occasion requires. He weeps in private, returns to command the meal, and arranges the brothers by age—an arrangement mysterious enough to leave them staring at one another. Benjamin’s portion is five times the rest, yet nobody storms out; the company feasts and drinks freely with Joseph.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Gen 43:1Now the famine was still severe in the land.
Gen 43:2So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”
Gen 43:3But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’
Gen 43:4If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
Gen 43:5But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”
Gen 43:6“Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”
Gen 43:7They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
Gen 43:8And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.
Gen 43:9I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
Gen 43:10If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”
Gen 43:11Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
Gen 43:12Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.
Gen 43:13Take your brother as well, and return to the man at once.
Gen 43:14May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
Gen 43:15So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
Gen 43:16When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”
Gen 43:17The man did as Joseph had commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house.
Gen 43:18But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”
Gen 43:19So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
Gen 43:20“Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.
Gen 43:21But when we came to the place we lodged for the night, we opened our sacks and, behold, each of us found his silver in the mouth of his sack! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us.
Gen 43:22We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.”
Gen 43:23“It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
Gen 43:24And the steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and provided food for their donkeys.
Gen 43:25Since the brothers had been told that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.
Gen 43:26When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.
Gen 43:27He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?”
Gen 43:28“Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.
Gen 43:29When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
Gen 43:30Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep.
Gen 43:31Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”
Gen 43:32They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.
Gen 43:33They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.
Gen 43:34When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 270 passages were voted onto 27 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 11Genesis 37:25And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.
- 14Esther 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”
- 14Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- 23Genesis 42:24And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.
- 23John 20:26Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
- 14Acts 21:14When he would not be dissuaded, we quieted down and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
- 31Genesis 45:1Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.
- 32Exodus 8:26But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable before the Egyptians, will they not stone us?
- 32Genesis 46:34you are to say, ‘Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth—both we and our fathers.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”
- 3Genesis 44:23But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your younger brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’
- 8Genesis 42:2“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
- 9Genesis 42:37Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”
- 12Genesis 42:25Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,
- 14Nehemiah 1:11O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
- 16Genesis 44:1Then Joseph instructed his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his sack.
- 23John 14:27Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.
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