Genesis 44:12

 Genesis 44:12

And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

a. NASB 1995: He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c.Amplified Bible: The steward searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.  [AMPLIFIED BIBLE 2015 AMP Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: He searched; he began with the oldest and ended with the youngest; and the goblet was found in Benjamin’s sack.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.”

a. [And he] searched [Strong: 2664 châphas, khaw-fas'; a primitive root; to seek; causatively, to conceal oneself (i.e. let be sought), or mask:—change, (make) diligent (search), disquise self, hide, search (for, out).]

b. [and] began [Strong: 2490 châlal, khaw-lal'; a primitive root (compare H2470); also denominative (from H2485) properly, to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively, to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an 'opening wedge'); to play (the flute):—begin (× men began), defile, × break, defile, × eat (as common things), × first, × gather the grape thereof, × take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.]

c. [at the] eldest [Strong: 1419 gâdôwl, gaw-dole'; or גָּדֹל gâdôl; (shortened) from H1431; great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent:— aloud, elder(-est), exceeding(-ly), far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, × sore, (×) very.]

d. [and] left [Strong: 3615 kâlâh, kaw-law'; a primitive root; to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitive (to complete, prepare, consume):—accomplish, cease, consume (away), determine, destroy (utterly), be (when... were) done, (be an) end (of), expire, (cause to) fail, faint, finish, fulfil, × fully, × have, leave (off), long, bring to pass, wholly reap, make clean riddance, spend, quite take away, waste.]

e. [at the] youngest [Strong: 6996 qâṭân, kaw-tawn'; or קָטֹן qâṭôn; from H6962; abbreviated, i.e. diminutive, literally (in quantity, size or number) or figuratively (in age or importance):—least, less(-er), little (one), small(-est, one, quantity, thing), young(-er, -est).]

f. [and the] cup [Strong: 1375 gᵉbîyaʻ, gheb-ee'-ah; from an unused root (meaning to be convex); a goblet; by analogy, the calyx of a flower:—house, cup, pot.]

g. [was] found [Strong: 4672 mâtsâʼ, maw-tsaw'; a primitive root; properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present:— be able, befall, being, catch, × certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), × have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-) on, meet (with), × occasion serve, (be) present, ready, speed, suffice, take hold on.]

h. [in] Benjamin’s [Strong: Binyâmîyn, bin-yaw-mene'; from H1121 and H3225; son of (the) right hand; Binjamin, youngest son of Jacob; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory:—Benjamin.]

i. sack [Strong: 572 ʼamtachath, am-takh'-ath; from H4969; properly, something expansive, i.e. a bag:—sack.]

1). Why did Joseph deal with his brothers the way he did? Some Jewish writers maintain that before Joseph would reveal himself to his brothers he needed to know if they still hated him. If he showed himself here he would never know if they still hated him. Some of the brothers hated him enough to kill him.

a). Genesis 37:4-11 [Classic Amplified] But when his brothers saw that their father loved [Joseph] more than all of his brothers, they hated him and could not say, Peace [in friendly greeting] to him or speak peaceably to him.

37:5 Now Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him still more.

37:6 And he said to them, Listen now and hear, I pray you, this dream that I have dreamed:

37:7 We [brothers] were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about my sheaf and bowed down!

37:8 His brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or are you going to have us as your subjects and dominate us? And they hated him all the more for his dreams and for what he said.

37:9 But Joseph dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers [also]. He said, See here, I have dreamed again, and behold, [this time not only] eleven stars [but also] the sun and the moon bowed down and did reverence to me!

37:10 And he told it to his father [as well as] his brethren. But his father rebuked him and said to him, What is the meaning of this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down ourselves to the earth and do homage to you?

37:11 Joseph’s brothers envied him and were jealous of him, but his father observed the saying and pondered over it.

b). Genesis 37:18 And when they saw him far off, even before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.