Texts in Conversation
In Genesis 42, Joseph gives an order and his servants fill the brothers’ sacks and put the silver back in. Jubilees rewrites this so Joseph fills the sacks himself, making the gesture feel like a brother’s kindness rather than a stranger’s command.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 42:25
Hebrew Bible
24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, he had Simeon taken from them and tied up before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. 26 So they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Jubilees 42:7
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
6 And after that he set them free again, and detained Simeon alone and sent off his nine brothers. 7 And he filled their sacks with grain, and he put their gold in their sacks, and they did not know. 8 And he commanded them to bring their younger brother, for they had told him their father was living and their younger brother.
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... 7 The verse is closely related to Genesis 42:25. Genesis 42:25 “Joseph then gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return every man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This was done for them.” Jubilees 42:7 “He filled their sacks with grain and returned their money to them in their sacks. But they did not know (this).” Joseph acts like a high-ranking official in Genesis: he gives a command and others carry it out. Among his orders is that the brothers receive what they need for the long trip home in addition to filling their sacks with grain and returning their money. Joseph acts more like a caring brother in Jubilees, where he is the one who fills the sacks with grain and places their money in them, although one has to imagine that he also gave them provisions for the trip since the text does not mention it. ...
James C. VanderKam, Jubilees 2: A Commentary on the Book of Jubilees Chapters 22-50 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018), 1063.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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