Why does Juda offer to stay as Joseph’s slave in Benjamin’s place?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Juda has promised to bring Benjamin back to their father. He says that returning without the boy would cause his father’s death from sorrow, so he asks to stay as a slave while Benjamin goes home with his brothers.

Chapter breakdown

Joseph tells the steward of his house to fill the brothers’ sacks with as much grain as they can hold and put each man’s money at the top of his sack. He also orders his silver cup and the price paid for the wheat to be put in the mouth of the youngest brother’s sack. These orders are carried out. When morning comes, the brothers are sent away with their donkeys.

After the brothers have left the city and gone a short way, Joseph sends for his steward and tells him to pursue them. He gives the words to use when he catches them: “Why have you returned evil for good?” The steward is to accuse them of stealing the cup from which his master drinks and in which he is accustomed to divine, and to say they have done a very evil thing. The steward follows the command, catches up with them and speaks those words.

The brothers ask why their lord speaks as though they have committed such a serious act. They point out that they brought back from Chanaan the money found at the top of their sacks. Why, then, would they steal gold or silver from his master’s house? They propose that whoever has the missing object should die and that they should all become his master’s slaves. The steward responds with a different limit: the one with whom it is found will become his servant, and the others will be blameless.

They quickly lower their sacks to the ground, and every man opens his own. The steward searches from the oldest to the youngest and finds the cup in Benjamin’s sack. The brothers tear their clothes, load their donkeys again and return to the town. Juda leads his brothers in to Joseph, who has not yet left the place, and they all fall to the ground before him.

Joseph asks why they would do this and whether they know that no one is like him in the science of divining. Challoner explains that Joseph speaks according to how he was regarded in that kingdom; the note calls him a true prophet whose knowledge far exceeded that of the Egyptian sorcerers. Juda asks what they can answer or say in their defense. He says God has found out their wrongdoing and offers all of them as slaves, including the one with whom the cup was found. Joseph refuses: the one who stole the cup will be his slave, and the others may go free to their father.

Juda comes nearer and speaks boldly. He asks Joseph to hear him without becoming angry, acknowledging that Joseph ranks after Pharao. Juda recalls Joseph asking whether they had a father or a brother. They answered that their father was old and had a young son born in his old age. The boy’s brother by the same mother was dead, they said; he alone was left of his mother, and his father loved him tenderly. Juda recalls Joseph telling them to bring the boy so he could see him. They had warned that the boy could not leave his father, because if he left him, his father would die. Joseph had answered that they would not see his face again unless their youngest brother came with them.

Juda says they returned to their father and told him everything Joseph had said. When their father told them to buy a little wheat again, they answered that they could go together only if their youngest brother came; without him, they dared not see the man’s face. Their father replied that his wife had borne him two sons. One had gone out, they had said a beast devoured him, and he had not appeared since. Their father warned that if they took the other and anything happened to him on the journey, they would bring his grey hairs down with sorrow unto hell. Juda explains that his father’s life depends on the boy’s life: if they return without the boy and their father sees he is missing, he will die, and they will bring his grey hairs down with sorrow unto hell. Challoner explains that “gray hairs” refers to the aged person. The note says the Hebrew word sheol and Greek hades here mean the place of souls below where God’s servants were kept before Christ’s coming, rather than the hell of the damned; it says Scripture and the creed call that place hell.

Juda explains that he took responsibility for the boy and promised his father that if he did not bring him back, he would be guilty of sin against his father forever. He asks to stay in his master’s service instead of the boy and to let the boy return with his brothers. He cannot return to his father without the boy, he says, because he does not want to witness the calamity that would fall on his father. The chapter ends with this request.

The story inside

Juda’s plea answers Joseph’s offer to let the other brothers go free. The steward has found the cup in Benjamin’s sack, and Joseph will keep only the accused man as his slave. Juda explains why this proposed separation matters: their father’s life depends on Benjamin’s return, and Juda has personally promised to bring the boy back. He connects the earlier demand to bring Benjamin, his father’s warning, and his own promise before asking to take the boy’s place. The account records Juda’s request, not Joseph’s decision on it (Genesis 44:17–34).

Lessons worth keeping

1
The accusation must be read alongside the action that produced it. Joseph ordered the cup placed in the youngest brother’s sack before the steward accused the brothers of stealing it. Finding it there confirms its location; it does not change the reader’s knowledge of how it got there (44:1–12).
2
The terms change twice. The brothers propose death for the one who has the cup and slavery for all; the steward limits servitude to the one with whom it is found. Joseph then rejects Juda’s offer of collective slavery and tells the others to go free. Those limits explain why Juda asks for a substitute (44:9–10, 16–17, 33).
3
Juda supports his request with a relationship and a promise. He says his father will die if Benjamin fails to return, and he has accepted responsibility for bringing him back. His offer to remain therefore answers the specific harm and obligation he has described (44:30–34).

Test your recall

How do Joseph’s demand that only the accused man stay, the father’s dependence on Benjamin, and Juda’s promise lead to Juda’s request to take the boy’s place?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 5113–5126
Genesis Chapter 44 Joseph’s contrivance to stop his brethren. The humble supplication of Juda. 44:1. And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying: Fill their sacks with corn, as much as they can hold: and put the money of every one in the top of his sack. 44:2. And in the mouth of the younger’s sack put my silver cup, and the price which he gave for the wheat. And it was so done. 44:3. And when the morning arose, they were sent away with their asses.
Lines 5127–5137
44:4. And when they were now departed out of the city, and had gone forward a little way: Joseph sending for the steward of his house, said: Arise, and pursue after the men: and when thou hast overtaken them, say to them: Why have you returned evil for good? 44:5. The cup which you have stolen, is that in which my lord drinketh, and in which he is wont to divine: you have done a very evil thing. 44:6. He did as he had commanded him. And having overtaken them, he spoke to them the same words.
Lines 5138–5151
44:7. And they answered: Why doth our lord speak so, as though thy servants had committed so heinous a fact? 44:8. The money, that we found in the top of our sacks, we brought back to thee from the land of Chanaan: how then should it be that we should steal out of thy lord’s house, gold or silver? 44:9. With whomsoever of thy servants shall be found that which thou seekest, let him die, and we will be the bondmen of my lord. 44:10. And he said to them: Let it be according to your sentence: with whomsoever it shall be found, let him be my servant, and you shall be blameless.
Lines 5152–5164
44:11. Then they speedily took down their sacks to the ground, and every man opened his sack. 44:12. Which when he had searched, beginning at the eldest, and ending at the youngest, he found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. 44:13. Then they rent their garments, and loading their asses again, returned into the town. 44:14. And Juda at the head of his brethren went in to Joseph (for he was not yet gone out of the place) and they all together fell down before him on the ground.
Lines 5165–5179
44:15. And he said to them: Why would you do so? know you not that there is no one like me in the science of divining. The science of divining.... He speaks of himself according to what he was esteemed in that kingdom. And indeed, he being truly a prophet, knew more without comparison than any of the Egyptian sorcerers. 44:16. And Juda said to him: What shall we answer my lord? or what shall we say, or be able justly to allege? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are all bondmen to my lord, both we, and he with whom the cup was found. 44:17. Joseph answered: God forbid that I should do so: he that stole the cup, he shall be my bondman: and go you away free to your father.
Lines 5180–5200
44:18. Then Juda coming nearer, said boldly: I beseech thee, my lord, let thy servant speak a word in thy ears, and be not angry with thy servant: for after Pharao thou art. 44:19. My lord. Thou didst ask thy servants the first time: Have you a father or a brother. 44:20. And we answered thee, my lord: We have a father an old man, and a young boy, that was born in his old age; whose brother by the mother is dead; and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him tenderly. 44:21. And thou saidst to thy servants: Bring him hither to me, and I will set my eyes on him. 44:22. We suggested to my lord: The boy cannot leave his father: for if he leave him, he will die. 44:23. And thou saidst to thy servants: Except your youngest brother come with you, you shall see my face no more.
Lines 5201–5230
44:24. Therefore when we were gone up to thy servant our father, we told him all that my lord had said. 44:25. And our father said: Go again, and buy us a little wheat. 44:26. And we said to him: We cannot go: if our youngest brother go down with us, we will set out together: otherwise, without him we dare not see the man’s face. 44:27. Whereunto he answered: You know that my wife bore me two. 44:28. One went out, and you said: A beast devoured him; and hitherto he appeareth not. 44:29. If you take this also, and any thing befall him in the way, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow unto hell. 44:30. Therefore, if I shall go to thy servant, our father, and the boy be wanting, (whereas his life dependeth upon the life of him,) 44:31. And he shall see that he is not with us, he will die, and thy servants shall bring down his grey hairs with sorrow unto hell. His gray hairs.... That is, his person, now far advanced in years.—With sorrow unto hell.... The Hebrew word for hell is here sheol, the Greek hades: it is not taken for the hell of the damned; but for that place of souls below where the servants of God were kept before the coming of Christ. Which place, both in the Scripture and in the creed, is named hell.
Lines 5231–5241
44:32. Let me be thy proper servant, who took him into my trust, and promised, saying: If I bring him not again, I will be guilty of sin against my father for ever. 44:33. Therefore I, thy servant, will stay instead of the boy in the service of my lord, and let the boy go up with his brethren. 44:34. For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I be a witness of the calamity that will oppress my father.