Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I
fear God:
He concluded with them, at last, that one of them should be left as a hostage, and the rest should go home and fetch Benjamin. It was a very encouraging word he said to them (Ge 42:18): I fear God; as if he had said, "You may assure yourselves I will do you no wrong; I dare not, for I know that, high as I am, there is one higher than I." Note, With those that fear God we have reason to expect fair dealing. The fear of God will be a check upon those that are in power, to restrain them from abusing their power to oppression and tyranny. Those that have no one else to stand in awe of ought to stand in awe of their own consciences. See Ne 5:15, So did not I, because of the fear of God.
19 if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of
your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
20 but bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be
verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
21 And they said one to another. We are verily guilty concerning our
brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
They remembered with regret the barbarous cruelty wherewith they persecuted him: We are verily guilty concerning our brother. We do not read that they said this during their three days' imprisonment; but now, when the matter had come to some issue and they saw themselves still embarrassed, now they began to relent. Perhaps Joseph's mention of the fear of God (Ge 42:18) put them upon consideration and extorted this reflection. Now see here,
(1.) The office of conscience; it is a remembrancer, to bring to mind things long since said and done, to show us wherein we have erred, though it was long ago, as the reflection here mentioned was above twenty years after the sin was committed. As time will not wear out the guilt of sin, so it will not blot out the records of conscience; when the guilt of this sin of Joseph's brethren was fresh they made light of it, and sat