5
The sonsבְּנֵיof Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלcameוַיָּבֹאוּto buyלִשְׁבֹּרamongבְּתוֹךְthose who came,הַבָּאִיםforכִּיthe famineהָרָעָבwasהָיָהin the landבְּאֶרֶץof Canaan.כְּנָעַן
Genesis 42:5
Study it in the app“The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.”
With the Hebrew beneath
Genesis 42:5, word by word
- The sonsבְּנֵיbene
son
The male born of a father and mother; in the plural, also sons and daughters.
Where else “bene” appears- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael
Israel
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
Where else “yisrael” appears- cameיָּבֹאוּyavou
come
To come, arrive: "days are coming".
Where else “yavou” appears- to buyשְׁבֹּרshebor
buy grain
To get wheat or barley by paying for it, especially in time of famine.
Where else “shebor” appears- amongתוֹךְtoch
midst
The central point of something, or the company of several: in the midst of them.
Where else “toch” appears- the famineרָעָבraav
famine, hunger
Hunger; famine, a shortage of food in a region.
Where else “raav” appears- wasהָיָהhaya
exist
To exist: "let there be light".
Where else “haya” appears- in the landאֶרֶץerets
land
A region or nation, above all Israel's.
Where else “erets” appears- of Canaanכְּנָעַןkenaan
Canaan
See it on the mapWhere else “kenaan” appears
Places in this verse
Canaan
Today: Israel, West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, western Syria
The land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, today Israel, Palestine and parts of Lebanon.
God promised this land to Abraham and his descendants (Gen 17:8). Israel entered it after forty years in the wilderness (Josh 5:12).
The context
4But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers, for he said, “Harm might come to him.”
5 · This verse (above)
6Joseph was the governor over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.
To study Genesis 42 in a group
1. What it says
What did Joseph do when he saw his brothers, and what did they find in their sacks (vv. 7-28)?
2. What it means
Why did the brothers say they were paying for what they did to their brother (v. 21)?
3. How I live it
What mistake from the past do you need to face honestly today?