Genesis 43:2
in Genesis 43So 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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.
KJV
And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.
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This verse in Genesis 43
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
the famine was still severe in the land
on Genesis 43:1-2
The grain they carried home from Egypt is eaten, and the famine is still severe. Jacob tells his sons to go back and buy a little more food. God had told Abram at 15:13 that his offspring would be strangers in a land not their own for four hundred years. This famine is what carries them there.
This site's exposition
Go back and buy us a little more food
Jacob asks for a little food, a small word for a large need, as if Benjamin could be left out of the errand. The whole household had lived on the first load until it ran out. Simeon has waited in Egypt all that time.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt,....
The famine continued; and the corn they had bought was all spent, for it is meat that perisheth. Jacob, as a good master of a family, is in care to provide for those of his own house food convenient; and shall not God provide for his children, for the household of faith?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Go again, buy us a little food--It was no easy matter to bring Jacob to agree to the only conditions on which his sons could return to Egypt (Ge 42:15).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
והרעב, Yehudah said to his brothers not to argue with their aged father until there would be no more bread in the house at which time he would agree to send his son Binyamin with the brothers.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֗י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר | kaasher | just when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כִּלּוּ֙ | kilu | they finished | H3615 → | 208 times |
| לֶאֱכֹ֣ל | leekhol | to eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֔בֶר | hashever | the grain | H7668 → | 9 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵבִ֖יאוּ | heviu | they had brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם | mimitzrayim | from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶם֙ | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲבִיהֶ֔ם | ʾavihem | father their | H1 → | 1212 times |
| שֻׁ֖בוּ | shuvu | go back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| שִׁבְרוּ־ | shivru- | buy | H7666 → | 21 times |
| לָ֥נוּ | lanu | for us | ||
| מְעַט־ | meat- | a little of | H4592 → | 101 times |
| אֹֽכֶל׃ | ʾokhel | food | H400 → | 43 times |
וַיְהִ֗יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רjust when
kaasherH834 →5497 times
כִּלּוּ֙they finished
kiluH3615 →208 times
לֶאֱכֹ֣לto eat
leekholH398 →810 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשֶּׁ֔בֶרthe grain
hasheverH7668 →9 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הֵבִ֖יאוּthey had brought
heviuH935 →2568 times
מִמִּצְרָ֑יִםfrom Egypt
mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶם֙to them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
אֲבִיהֶ֔םfather their
ʾavihemH1 →1212 times
שֻׁ֖בוּgo back
shuvuH7725 →1056 times
שִׁבְרוּ־buy
shivru-H7666 →21 times
לָ֥נוּfor us
lanu
מְעַט־a little of
meat-H4592 →101 times
אֹֽכֶל׃food
ʾokhelH400 →43 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
- Isaiah 2:11–12
The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
- Proverbs 18:12
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
- Proverbs 11:2
Through
1 Timothy 5:8If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
it leads to
- Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
- 2 Corinthians 12:14
See, I am ready to come to you a third time, and I will not be a burden, because I am not seeking your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save…
- Luke 11:11–13
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
- Galatians 6:10
Through
Proverbs 15:16Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:8
Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.
- Proverbs 16:8
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Chuck Missler, The Book of Genesis; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.