KJV ORIGINAL
And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
Joseph turned away from his brothers and cried; then he turned back to them and spoke with them. He took Simeon from among them and had him tied up right in front of them.
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
Joseph is overwhelmed with emotion seeing his brothers after so many years, but he hides his tears and continues testing them by keeping Simeon as a prisoner.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs during the severe famine when Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy grain, not recognizing that the powerful Egyptian official was their brother they had sold into slavery years earlier. Joseph is testing his brothers to see if they have changed, particularly whether they would abandon another brother as they once did to him.
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