JOSEPH’S SILVER CUP It was not possible for Joseph, having seen the face of his younger brother Benjamin, who entered his house, and sat at his table, to let him go again. So, prudently, he ordered to put his silver cup in the mouth of Benjamin’s sack. By that, he could retain him, and at the same time be sure of his brothers’ honesty towards him: will they forsake their younger brother and go without him, or abide to him. 1- Putting the cup in Benjamin’s sack 1-13. 2- Judah redeems his younger brother 14-34. 1- PUTTING THE CUP IN BENJAMIN’S SACK Joseph commanded the steward of his house to put each man’s money in the top of his sack, and to put his cup, the silver cup, in the top of the sack of Benjamin, together with his money. That cup was used for drinking. Some nations had certain superstitions, by throwing a coin or a ring in it then see the pattern and direction of the bubbles that appear, by this they thought that they could predict the future. This custom is still found in Egypt, but in another form: turning the cup of coffee upside down after drinking, to see the different patterns made by the coffee grounds. Some others used that cup to bring about sleep, through deep and long meditation in the bubbles that appear in it, that give them some relaxation. As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, and when they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph’s steward followed and overtook them, and rebuked them for their alleged stealing of his master’s silver cup, repaying evil for good! Their response was: “Why does my lord say these word?! Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing. Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money that we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?! With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves” (Gen. 44:7-9) So he searched, and began with the oldest, and left off with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city. Thus, Joseph’s plan worked: Benjamin returned to him, though unfairly accused of stealing and he discovered the change of heart of his brothers, having torn their clothes and returned in bitterness, for the sake of their youngest brother Benjamin. Because of that, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. For their repentance, and their unselfish love for their youngest brother, all of them were found worthy of the third encounter with Joseph; as though with the Lord Christ, risen from the dead, to proclaim His resurrection to and in them. What is that cup, found in the sack of Benjamin, that made all of them return to Joseph, but the cup that the Lord Christ drank for our sake, saying: “O, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). The Lord drank that cup, as He received the passions on behalf of all humanity; and by drinking it. He got us back to the city, after we departed from it together with our donkeys. We return to the Holy City, the Upper Jerusalem, carrying the heavenly grains, through the body, that does not go back to the Paradise of Eden, where Adam and Eve have been, but to eternal life. We return, not with a natural (animal) body, but with one that carries a new nature, fit for eternity, as expressed by 4 the apostle Paul: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body... And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:44-49). The man said, ”With whomever of your servants, it is found, let him die; and we also will be my lord’s servants” (Gen. 44: 9). That is the voice of humanity that cried out, “It was expedient that one man should die for the people” (John 18:14). The Lord Christ bore the cup for our sake, and died according to the flesh; and indeed we all became slaves to our Lord; as though the previous words were realized literally in the Person of the Lord Christ and those who believe in Him. The men tore their clothes, having cast away the old man and set forth, together with Benjamin the bearer of the cup, to the city, to encounter with Joseph, the glorified. 2- JUDAS REDEEMS HIS YOUNGER BROTHER If Benjamin became a symbol of Christ the Lord, who occupied the rearmost row, as though the least of all, in order to bear on our behalf the cup of wrath of the Lord, to pay our debt, and to enter with us into the city of God, where we encounter the glorified Lord of the land, he, from another aspect, represents the humanity that bears the sin, for whose sake, the One, of the tribe of Judah, came out to intercede and to offer His life for its salvation. That was what Judah did, as he, with the spirit of humility, approached Joseph to deliver himself a ransom for his younger brother, saying, “For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.’ Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father” (Gen. 44:32-34). Judah recited to Joseph the talk between them and their father, and told him how the soul of their father is attached to the lad, especially that his brother has been torn to pieces. And now, he could not bear to see the evil that would befall the old man. That attachment of Jacob’s soul to Benjamin, which motivated Judah to offer himself a surety for the sake of his brother, is a faint portrait of the love that binds the Father to mankind; to make the Only-Begotten Son, in His love to His Father, and to humanity, to offer Himself a redeemer and Savior.
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