And Jacob said to his sons, Why are you idle? Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy food for us.^[1] This is not something Jacob said one time; he says it daily to his sons who come to Christ’s grace too late, Why are you idle? Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. From this grain there comes the grain that rises again.^[2] And so whoever suffers famine ought to attribute it to his own laziness. Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Generally, indeed, younger men hear of something more quickly than their elders, for many of the former travel about and are engaged out of doors. But an old man is the first to hear of this business matter, yet an old man who has lived to a great age in faith, an old man whose old age is worthy of respect, and the time of his old age is a spotless life.^[3]

Nor does everyone undertake this business matter, but only the sons of Jacob and only those sons of more mature age. Thus ten sons go, whereas the youngest son does not go.^[1] The father did not send him; else infirmity may befall him. Benjamin, the youngest, was still subject to infirmity. Granted, [in] the name Benjamin the patriarch is read, but Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin,^[2] was being prefigured. Jacob was right to hesitate over his infirmity. Indeed, he was made infirm so that he could be healed. Paul suffered blindness, but this was an infirmity unto salvation.^[3]

Yes, that blindness brought Paul light. We have received the story; let us come to know the mystery. The patriarchs had gone at first without Benjamin, as the apostles first went without Paul. Each came, not as the first, but was summoned by those who were the first, and by his arrival he made the goods of those who were first more plenteous.

They did all this out of ignorance for the time being. You see, it was a long time since they had last seen Joseph, and so they no longer recognized their brother’s appearance. After all, it was likely that some change had occurred in him now that he had reached maturity. Still, I’m inclined to think that it all happened as a result of the dispensation of the God of all so that they would fail to recognize their brother either from conversing with him or by sight. After all, how on earth would they have formed such an idea? I mean, they were under the impression that he had become a slave of the Ishmaelites and by now was enduring slavery under the barbarians. Whereas they were in no position to conceive any other idea and so recognize Joseph, he recognized them as soon as he saw them and took every care to conceal his identity, wishing to deal with them as with foreigners.

They answered and said, We do not even know the Egyptian language so that, by speaking Egyptian, we might escape notice and deceive the Egyptians. That we dwell in the land of Canaan you can learn from our offering. Moreover, there are twelve of us, and it is impossible that we should all have the same evil purpose of spying. We have come of our own will to stand before you. That we are completely ignorant of the Egyptian language and do not wear the clothing of Egyptians also testifies to our truthfulness. It is clear that we are not spies, for we are twelve. We are recognized everywhere because of our race and our number. Behold, one of our brothers is with our father and another is no more.

O what duplicity! They included in the number even the one sold to merchants and said not We were twelve but We are twelve; see, the youngest is with our father. This in fact was what Joseph was anxious to learn, whether or not they had treated their brother in the same way. See, the youngest is with our father, while the other one is no longer alive. They did not admit their guilt openly but said simply, He is no longer alive. From this he arrived at the suspicion that they had done the same thing to Benjamin as well, and so he replied, That is what I said to you—you are spies. In fact, you are not to leave here until your youngest brother comes here.^[1] I want to see him, I desire to set my eyes on the one who caused the same birth pangs as I. Actually, I suspect the same hatred for your brother as you displayed toward me. So if you are prepared to, send one of your number and bring him here to me;^[2] as for yourselves, stay in prison until he arrives. You see, when he arrives he will clear you of all suspicion. If in fact this doesn’t happen, it will be clear that you are spies and have come here for that purpose. With these words he put them in jail.^[3]

This, you see, is what sin is like: when it is done and takes effect, then it shows the excess of its own impropriety. Just as an inebriate imbibes great quantities of drink without feeling any harmful effects of the wine but later comes to know the extent of the damage from his exploits, so too with sin. When it is committed, it clouds the mind, and like a dense fog it blinds the intellect, but later conscience is stirred and flays the mind unmercifully with every kind of accusation, highlighting the impropriety of what was done. Notice, after all, in this case too, these men coming to their senses, and, when they saw danger pressing upon them from all sides, they then admitted what had been done by them and said, True, we are being punished for our brother since we ignored his distress of spirit. It is not idly or to no purpose, they are saying, that we suffer this, but rightly so, and quite rightly: we are paying the penalty for the inhumanity and savagery we displayed toward our brother. We ignored his distress of spirit when he pleaded with us without our heeding him. Since we proved lacking in compassion, they say, and displayed great savagery, hence we too now experience the same: So for this reason this distress has come upon us.

If we notice carefully, dearly beloved, we will realize that Joseph did to his brothers what we believe God did to blessed Jacob. Truly he was so holy that he could not have hated them. Therefore we must believe that he wearied them with so many tribulations, in order to arouse them to a confession of their sin and the healing of repentance. Finally, with great grief, they said they suffered those ills deservedly, because they had sinned against their brother, whose anguish of heart they witnessed. Since blessed Joseph knew that his brothers could not be forgiven their sin of murder without much penance, once, twice and a third time he worried them with salutary trials as with a spiritual fire. His purpose was not to vindicate himself but to correct them and free them from so grave a sin. Furthermore, before they confessed their sin and consumed the crime that they had committed by mutual reproaches, he did not cause himself to be recognized or give them the kiss of peace. However, when Joseph saw them humbly afflicted for the sin they had committed, he kissed them one by one and wept over each one, moistening their necks as they trembled in fear with the dew of his tears and washing away the hatred of his brothers with the tears of charity.

Hearing people talk about his brother, Joseph longed for him and said, I will prove in this manner that you are not spies, if your younger brother comes along with you.^[1] And taking Simeon from them he had him bound before him and sent him to prison.^[2] If you want to know who is Benjamin, our younger brother, desired by our Joseph, that is, Christ, he is Paul, formerly Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin according to his testimony,^[3] who asserts to be the least among the apostles.^[4] In Simeon we can recognize Peter bound by the threefold chain of denial, that Peter whom fear has bound and love has untied.

See how Joseph takes every means of putting fear into them so that, on seeing Simeon’s bonds, they may reveal whether they manifested any sympathy for their brother. You see, everything he does is to test their attitude out of his wish to discover if they had been like that in dealing with Benjamin. Hence Joseph also had Simeon bound in front of them to test them carefully and see if they showed any signs of affection for him. That is to say, concern for Simeon led them to hasten Benjamin’s arrival, which he was anxious for, so as to gain assurance from his brother’s arrival.