Genesis 42:1

Joseph’s father Jacob, he lived in Canaan country with his other sons. At that time, there was no rain and no food plants growing in Canaan country. Then somebody said to Jacob, “There is lots of food in Egypt country.” So Jacob talked to his sons, and he said to them, “Don’t just stand around doing nothing.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

In Context

2Somebody told me that there is lots of food in Egypt country. Go there and buy food for all of us. If you don’t go and buy food for us, we will die.”

Read all of Genesis 42

Cross References

Genesis 41:57And there was no rain in other countries too. It was really bad everywhere. So the people that lived in those other countries, they went to Egypt, and they bought food from Joseph’s workers too.

Acts 7:12Then Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt. So he sent his sons to Egypt to get food. Those men were our grand-fathers that lived a long time ago. When they got to Egypt, they met Joseph, but he looked so different that they didn’t know him. Then they bought some food and took it home.

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:1

We had, in the foregoing chapter, the fulfilling of the dreams which Joseph had interpreted: in this and the following chapters we have the fulfilling of the dreams which Joseph himself had dreamed, that his father's family should do homage to him. The story is very largely and particularly related of what passed between Joseph and his brethren, not only because it is an entertaining story, and probably was much talked of, both among the Israelites and among the Egyptians, but because it is very instructive, and… Read the whole commentary →

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