“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 said to one another: surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come on us. The brothers' self-recognition — surely we are being punished — is the first recorded acknowledgment of guilt for what they did to Joseph. The new detail, that Joseph pleaded with them for his life, is the first revelation of what actually happened at the pit. The application: the distress that comes twenty-two years later forces the confession that was never made at the time. The guilt that was buried is now surfacing.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a note on this verse
0/2000
No notes on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!