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ascertained before he made himself known to them. Moreover, its reality must be
tested by the severest trial to which their altered feelings could be subjected.
Thus viewing it, we can understand the whole conduct of Joseph. Of course, his first
object would be to separate the sons of Jacob from the crowd of other purchasers, so
as to deal specially with them, without, however, awakening their suspicions; his next
to ascertain the state of matters at home. Then he would make them taste undeserved
sorrow by the exercise of an arbitrary power, against which they would be helpless -
even as Joseph had been in their hands. Thus they might see their past sin in their
present sorrow. All these objects were attained by one and the same means. Joseph
charged them with being spies, who, on pretense of buying corn, had come to find out
the defenseless portions of the land. The accusation was not unreasonable in the then
state of Egypt, nor uncommon in Eastern countries. It was not only that this afforded
a pretext for dealing separately with them, but their answer to the charge would
inform Joseph about the circumstances of his family. For, naturally, they would not
only protest their innocence, but show the inherent improbability of such an
imputation. Here no argument could be more telling than that they were "all one
man's sons," since no one would risk the lives of all his children in so dangerous a
business. But this was not enough for Joseph. By reiterating the charge, he led them
to enter into further details, from which he learned that both his father and Benjamin
were alive. Still their reference to himself as one "who is not," seemed to imply
persistence in their former deceit, and must have strengthened his doubts as to their
state of mind. But now experience of violence would show them not only their past
guilt, but that, however God might seem to delay, He was the avenger of all wrong.
More than that, if Benjamin were placed relatively to them in the same circumstances
of favoritism as Joseph had been; and if, instead of envying and hating him, they
were prepared, even when exposed through him to shame and danger, not only to
stand by him, but to suffer in his stead, then they had repented in the truest sense, and
their state of mind was the opposite of what it had been twenty years ago.^73
Proceeding on this plan, Joseph first imprisoned all the ten, proposing to release one
of their number to fetch Benjamin, in order to test, as he said, the truthfulness of their
statements.
This excessive harshness was probably intended to strike terror into their hearts; and,
at the end of three days, he so far relented as to retain only one of their number as a
hostage; at the same time encouraging them both by the statement that, in so doing,
his motive was "fear of God," and by the assurance that, once satisfied of their
innocence, he cherished no evil design against them. The reference to "fear of God"
on the part of an Egyptian, and this apparent shrinking from needless rigor, must have
cut them to the heart, as it brought out in contrast their own implacable conduct
towards Joseph. Simeon was chosen to remain behind as hostage, because he was the
next oldest to Reuben, who was not detained, since he had endeavored to save the life
(^)