Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys."Interesting how their thoughts parallel so closely what they did to Joseph. Do they see this as possibly being some type of revenge by God? They sold their brother to slavery in Egypt, so now they have to go to Egypt and will be taken as slaves there? Honestly, reading this verse, what comes to mind is Threepio from Star Wars moaning "We're doomed..."
Is it possible that Joseph planned all this out, to garner this reaction from them? We know that he knew they were afraid and saw what happened to them before as some sort of payback for what they'd done to their brother. While at first reading it appears that Joseph saw his brothers and found an excuse to eat with them, I wonder if there was a little malice aforethought regarding the details of what happened. We know he didn't speak to them before the meal, so this was their first contact since returning.
So, the question is: were the brothers that pessimistic, or was Joseph that sneaky, or are both true?
I've always thought it was both... :)
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