Historical Source

On Genesis 43:11-14

Observe here, I. Jacob's persuasibleness. He would be ruled by reason, though they were his inferiors that urged it. He saw the necessity of the case; and, since there was no remedy, he consented to yield to the necessity (v. 11): "If it must be so now, take your brother. If no corn can be had but upon those terms, we may as well expose him to the perils of the journey as suffer ourselves and families, and Benjamin amongst the rest, to perish for want of bread." Skin for skin, and all that a man has, even a Benjamin, the dearest of all, will he give for his life. No death so dreadful as that by famine, Lam. iv. 9. Jacob had said (ch. xlii. 38), My son shall not go down; but now he is over-persuaded to consent. Note, It is no fault, but our wisdom and duty, to alter our purposes and resolutions when there is a good reason for our so doing. Constancy is a virtue, but obstinacy is not. It is God's prerogative not to repent, and to make unchangeable resolves.

II. Jacob's prudence and justice, which appeared in three things: - 1. He sent back the money which they had found in the sacks' mouths, with this discreet construction of it, Peradventure it was an oversight. Note, Honesty obliges us to make restitution, not only of that which comes to us by our own fault, but of that which comes to us by the mistakes of others. Though we get it by oversight, if we keep it when the oversight is discovered, it is kept by deceit. In the stating of accounts, errors must be excepted, even those that make for us as well as those that make against us. Jacob's words furnish us with a favourable construction to put upon that which we are tempted to resent as an injury and affront; pass it by, and say, Peradventure it was an oversight. 2. He sent double money, as much again as they took the time before, upon supposition that the price of corn might have risen,--or that if it should be insisted upon they might pay a ransom for Simeon, or his prison-fees,--or to show a generous spirit, that they might be the more likely to find generous treatment with the man, the lord of the land. 3. He sent a present of such things as the land afforded, and as were scarce in Egypt--balm and honey, &c. (v. 11), the commodities that Canaan exported, ch. xxxvii. 25. Note, (1.) Providence dispenses its gifts variously. Some countries produce one commodity, others another, that commerce may be preserved. (2.) Honey and spice will never make up the want of bread-corn. The famine was sore in Canaan, and yet they had balm and myrrh, &c. We may live well enough upon plain food without dainties; but we cannot live upon dainties without plain food. Let us thank God that that which is most needful and useful is generally most cheap and common. (3.) A gift in secret pacifies wrath, Prov. xxi. 14. Jacob's sons were unjustly accused as spies, yet Jacob was willing to be at the expense of a present, to pacify the accuser. Sometimes we must not think it too much to buy peace even where we may justly demand it, and insist upon it as our right.

III. Jacob's piety appearing in his prayer: God Almighty give you mercy before the man! v. 14. Jacob had formerly turned an angry brother into a kind one with a present and a prayer; and here he betakes himself to the same tried method, and it sped well. Note, Those that would find mercy with men must seek it of God, who has all hearts in his hands, and turns them as he pleases.

IV. Jacob's patience. He concludes all with this: "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved; If I must part with them thus one after another, I must acquiesce, and say, The will of the Lord be done." Note, It is our wisdom to reconcile ourselves to the sorest afflictions, and make the best of them; for there is nothing got by striving with our Maker, 2 Sam. xv. 25, 26.

Joseph Entertains His Brethren. (b. c. 1707.)

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

On Genesis 43:11

take of the best fruits . . . a present - It is an Oriental practice never to approach a man of power without a present, and Jacob might remember how he pacified his brother (Pro 21:14) --balm, spices, and myrrh (see on Gen 37:25),

honey - which some think was dibs, a syrup made from ripe dates [BOCHART]; but others, the honey of Hebron, which is still valued as far superior to that of Egypt;

nuts - pistachio nuts, of which Syria grows the best in the world;

almonds - which were most abundant in Palestine.

John Gill

On Genesis 43:11

And their father said unto them,.... Being in some measure convinced by their reasonings, and in part at least reconciled to let Benjamin go with them, there being nothing to be done, he perceived, unless he consented to it:

if it must be so now, do this; if nothing else will do but Benjamin must go, which after all he was reluctant to, then he advises them to do as follows:

take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels; such as were the peculiar produce of the land of Canaan, and the best of it; for which it was most famous, and praised, as the word used signifies; these Jacob advises to take and put into their sacks they carried to bring back their corn in:

and carry down the man a present; the great man and governor of Egypt, whose name was not known, little thinking it was his son Joseph; this he proposed to be done, in order to procure his friendship, that he might carry it kindly and respectfully to them, release Simeon, and send back Benjamin with them. The present consisted of the following things:

a little balm: or rosin, of which there was great quantity in and about Gilead; See Gill on Jeremiah 8:22,

and a little honey; the land of Canaan in general is called a land flowing with milk and honey; and some parts of it were famous for it, as the, parts about Ziph, called from thence the honey of Ziphim (i): this is the first time mention is made of "honey" in Scripture. Some say (k) Bacchus was the inventor of it. Justin (l) makes a very ancient king of a people in the country, now called Spain, to whom he gives the name of Gorgoris, to be the first that found out the way of gathering honey; but by this it appears to be of a more early date. Dr. Shaw (m) thinks, that not honey, properly so called, is meant, but a kind of "rob" made of the juice of grapes, called by the Arabs "dibsa", a word near in sound with, and from the same root as this. And who further observes, that Hebron alone (the place were Jacob now was) sends every year to Egypt three hundred camel loads, i.e. near two thousand quintals of this rob: and Leo Africanus says (n), there is but little honey to be found in Egypt, wherefore it made this part of the present the more acceptable:

spices; of various sorts, a collection of them; though it is thought, by Bochart and others, that the "storax" is particularly meant; the best of that sort being, as Pliny (o) says in Judea. The Targum and Jarchi take it to be "wax", as do also other Jewish writers:

and myrrh; the liquor called "stacte", that drops from the myrrh tree. Some will have this "lot", as the word is, the same with "ladanum"; one should rather think that it should be the lotus or lote tree, the fruit of which, Pliny (p) says, is the size of a bean, and of a saffron colour, and Herodotus (q) says, it is sweet like a date; but that it was frequent in Egypt, and needed not be carried there. The Targum renders it "chestnuts", and so Ben Melech, as it does what follows:

nuts, and almonds, the oil of nuts, and the oil of almonds: the former design not common, but the pistachio nuts, as Jarchi observes from R. Machir; and these, as Pliny (r) says, were well known in Syria, and were good for food and drink, and against the bites of serpents; and, as Bochart (s) observes, are frequently mentioned by naturalists along with almonds, and as like unto them.

(i) Misn. Machshirin, c. 5. sect. 9. (k) "Et a Baccho mella reperta ferunt", Ovid. Fast. l. 3.((l) E Trogo, l. 44. c. 4. (m) Travels, p. 339. No. 6. Ed. 2.((n) Descriptio Africae, l. 8. p. 682. (o) Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 25. (p) Ib. l. 13. c. 17. (q) Melpomene, sive, l. 4. c. 177. Vid. Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 92. (r) Nat. Hist. l. 13. c. 5. (s) Canaan, l. 1. c. 10. col. 389.

Keil & Delitzsch

On Genesis 43:11

And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: After this, the old man gave way to what could not be avoided, and let Benjamin go. But that nothing might be wanting on his part, which could contribute to the success of the journey, he suggested that they should take a present for the man, and that they should also take the money which was brought back in their sacks, in addition to what was necessary for the corn they were to purchase; and he then commended them to the mercy of Almighty God. "If it must be so, yet do this (אפוא belongs to the imperative, although it precedes it here, cf. Gen 27:37): take of the prize (the most choice productions) of the land-a little balm and a little honey (דּבשׁ the Arabian dibs, either new honey from bees, or more probably honey from grapes, - a thick syrup boiled from sweet grapes, which is still carried every year from Hebron to Egypt), gum-dragon and myrrh (vid., Gen 37:25), pictachio nuts and almonds." בּטנים, which are not mentioned anywhere else, are, according to the Samar. vers., the fruit of the pistacia vera, a tree resembling the terebinth, - long angular nuts of the size of hazel-nuts, with an oily kernel of a pleasant flavour; it does not thrive in Palestine now, but the nuts are imported from Aleppo.

Matthew Henry

On Genesis 43:11-14

Observe here, I. Jacob's persuasibleness. He would be ruled by reason, though they were his inferiors that urged it. He saw the necessity of the case; and, since there was no remedy, he consented to yield to the necessity (Gen 43:11): "If it must be so now, take your brother. If no corn can be had but upon those terms, we may as well expose him to the perils of the journey as suffer ourselves and families, and Benjamin amongst the rest, to perish for want of bread." Skin for skin, and all that a man has, even a Benjamin, the dearest of all, will he give for his life. No death so dreadful as that by famine, Lam 4:9. Jacob had said (Gen 42:38), My son shall not go down; but now he is over-persuaded to consent. Note, It is no fault, but our wisdom and duty, to alter our purposes and resolutions when there is a good reason for our so doing. Constancy is a virtue, but obstinacy is not. It is God's prerogative not to repent, and to make unchangeable resolves.

II. Jacob's prudence and justice, which appeared in three things: - 1. He sent back the money which they had found in the sacks' mouths, with this discreet construction of it, Peradventure it was an oversight. Note, Honesty obliges us to make restitution, not only of that which comes to us by our own fault, but of that which comes to us by the mistakes of others. Though we get it by oversight, if we keep it when the oversight is discovered, it is kept by deceit. In the stating of accounts, errors must be excepted, even those that make for us as well as those that make against us. Jacob's words furnish us with a favourable construction to put upon that which we are tempted to resent as an injury and affront; pass it by, and say, Peradventure it was an oversight. 2. He sent double money, as much again as they took the time before, upon supposition that the price of corn might have risen, - or to show a generous spirit, that they might be the more likely to find generous treatment with the man, the lord of the land. 3. He sent a present of such things as the land afforded, and as were scarce in Egypt - balm and honey, etc. (Gen 43:11), the commodities that Canaan exported, Gen 37:25. Note, (1.) Providence dispenses its gifts variously. Some countries produce one commodity, others another, that commerce may be preserved. (2.) Honey and spice will never make up the want of bread-corn. The famine was sore in Canaan, and yet they had balm and myrrh, etc. We may live well enough upon plain food without dainties; but we cannot live upon dainties without plain food. Let us thank God that that which is most needful and useful is generally most cheap and common. (3.) A gift in secret pacifies wrath, Pro 21:14. Jacob's sons were unjustly accused as spies, yet Jacob was willing to be at the expense of a present, to pacify the accuser. Sometimes we must not think it too much to buy peace even where we may justly demand it, and insist upon it as our right.

III. Jacob's piety appearing in his prayer: God Almighty give you mercy before the man! Gen 43:14. Jacob had formerly turned an angry brother into a kind one with a present and a prayer; and here he betakes himself to the same tried method, and it sped well. Note, Those that would find mercy with men must seek it of God, who has all hearts in his hands, and turns them as he pleases.

IV. Jacob's patience. He concludes all with this: "If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved; If I must part with them thus one after another, I must acquiesce, and say, The will of the Lord be done." Note, It is our wisdom to reconcile ourselves to the sorest afflictions, and make the best of them; for there is nothing got by striving with our Maker, Sa2 15:25, Sa2 15:26.

Tyndale Study Notes

On Genesis 43:11-12

43:11-13 Jacob provided everything he could to ensure a favorable reception from the Egyptian governor (the man; cp. 32:13-21).

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