GENESIS 44
14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. 15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” 16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” 17 But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”18 Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ 21 Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not see my face again.’ – Genesis 44:14-23
GENESIS 44 JUDAH PLEADS JOSEPH
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Judah comes back from their trip to Canaan and fell before Joseph
He begged Joseph to let go of Benjamin to come back to Canaan
If he doesn’t come back, their father would die for he already lost one son
Judah humbly asks Joseph to consider their father’s condition.
I have no idea why Joseph was keeping the brothers all in suspense and in agony regarding taking Benjamin in his custody. Maybe a part of Joseph’s wounded youth was surfacing in this narrative. As a trauma survivor myself, I at times am taken over by my traumatized parts and do not think straight. If Joseph has forgiven them, I do not understand why he is making them agonize. Why was he testing them and not just telling them who he is instead of keeping them in terror of what might happen to Benjamin?
REFLECTION
- What have we discovered about Judah and Joseph in this scene?
