Genesis 42:2

Somebody 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.”

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

In Context

1Joseph’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.

3So 10 of Jacob’s sons left Canaan country, and they went to Egypt country to buy food there. Those 10 men were Joseph’s half-brothers. They had the same father as Joseph, but different mothers.

Read all of Genesis 42

Cross References

Genesis 43:2Jacob’s family finished eating all that food that they got in Egypt country, and they didn’t have any more food. So Jacob said to his sons, “Go back to Egypt country, and buy a bit more food for us.”

Genesis 43:8Then Judah talked to his father Jacob again. He said, “I will look after that young man Benjamin. Let him go with me to Egypt country. We will go there straight away, with the rest of our brothers, so that we can buy food. If we don’t go and buy food, our mob will get so hungry that we will all die. That’s true for us, and you, and our kids. We all need that food, so that we can stay alive.”

Psalms 118:17My enemies will not kill me. I will keep on living, and I will tell people about the good things that God does.

Matthew 4:4But Jesus told him, “No. I will not do that. You know what God says. These words are in his book, ‘People don’t live just by eating bread, but they live by every word that God says.’”

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:2-7

Jacob Sends to Egypt to Buy Corn. ( b. c. 1706.) 1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. 3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befal him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 42:2