Genesis 44:18-34

Genesis 44:18-34

[18] Then Judah  came near  unto him, and said,  Oh  my lord,  let thy servant,  I pray thee, speak  a word  in my lord's  ears,  and let not thine anger  burn  against thy servant:  for thou art even as Pharaoh.  [19] My lord  asked  his servants,  saying,  Have  ye a father,  or a brother?  [20] And we said  unto my lord,  We have  a father,  an old man,  and a child  of his old age,  a little one;  and his brother  is dead,  and he alone is left  of his mother,  and his father  loveth  him. [21] And thou saidst  unto thy servants,  Bring him down  unto me, that I may set  mine eyes  [22] And we said  unto my lord,  The lad  cannot  leave  his father:  for if he should leave  his father,  his father would die.  [23] And thou saidst  unto thy servants,  Except  your youngest  brother  come down  my face  no more.  [24] And it came to pass when we came up  unto thy servant  my father,  we told  him the words  of my lord.  [25] And our father  said,  Go again,  and buy  us a little  food.  [26] And we said,  We cannot  go down:  if our youngest  brother  be  with us, then will we go down:  for we may  not see  the man's  face,  except  our youngest  brother  [27] And thy servant  my father  said  unto us, Ye know  that my wife  bare  me two  sons: [28] And the one  went out  from me, and I said,  Surely  and I saw him  not since:  [29] And if ye take  this also from  me,  and mischief  befall him,  ye shall bring down  my gray hairs  with sorrow  to the grave.  [30] Now therefore when I come  to thy servant  my father,  and the lad  be not with us; seeing that his life  is bound up  in the lad's life;  [31] It shall come to pass, when he seeth  that the lad  is not with us, that he will die:  and thy servants  shall bring down  the gray hairs  of thy servant  our father  with sorrow  to the grave.  [32] For thy servant  became surety  for the lad  unto  my father,  saying,  If I bring  him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame  to my father  for ever.  [33] Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant  abide  instead of the lad  a bondman  to my lord;  and let the lad  go up  with his brethren.  [34] For how  shall I go up  to my father,  and the lad  be not with me? lest peradventure I see  the evil  that shall come on  my father. 

What does Genesis 44:18-34 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Judah explained the whole story. He did not try to hide or excuse the brothers" guilt. This is the longest speech in Genesis. Key words are "servant" (10 times), "my lord" (7 times), and "father" (13times).
"No orator ever pronounced a more moving oration." [1]
"I would give very much to be able to pray before our Lord God as well as Judah prays here before Joseph. For this is a perfect pattern of prayer, yes, of the true feeling which should be in a prayer." [2]
Jacob had not changed in that he still doted on his youngest son. However the brothers had changed; they now loved their father and Benjamin. Note Judah"s appeal to Jacob"s old age and Benjamin"s youth ( Genesis 44:20), descriptions designed to stress each one"s vulnerability and so elicit Joseph"s pity. Judah manifested concern for Jacob as well as Benjamin ( Genesis 44:31). Rather than hating their father for favoring Joseph and then Benjamin, the brothers were now working for his welfare. The supreme proof of Judah"s repentance, and the moral high point of his career, was his willingness to trade places with Benjamin and remain in Egypt as a slave ( Genesis 44:33-34; cf. John 15:13). This is the first instance of human substitution in Scripture (cf. Genesis 22:13).
"A spiritual metamorphosis for the better has certainly taken place in Judah.... He who once callously engineered the selling of Joseph to strangers out of envy and anger is now willing to become Joseph"s slave so that the rest of his brothers, and especially Benjamin [3], may be freed and allowed to return to Canaan to rejoin their father." [4]
Jesus Christ, Judah"s descendant, demonstrated the same attitude.
"Jacob will crown Judah with kingship [5] because he demonstrates that he has become fit to rule according to God"s ideal of kingship that the king serves the people, not vice versa. Judah is transformed from one who sells his brother as a slave to one who is willing to be the slave for his brother. With that offer he exemplifies Israel"s ideal kingship." [6]
God teaches His people to be loyal to one another by convicting them of previous disloyalty to get them to love one another unselfishly. Such self-sacrificing love is essential for the leaders of God"s people.