And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke harshly to them. He asked them, 'Where do you come from?' They answered, 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.'
Joseph recognizes his brothers who once sold him into slavery, but he hides his identity and treats them as strangers while they desperately seek food during a famine.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs during a severe famine that affected both Egypt and Canaan. Joseph, now a powerful ruler in Egypt after interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, had prepared Egypt for this famine by storing grain during seven years of plenty. His brothers, unaware that their brother was alive and ruling in Egypt, had come to buy grain to survive.
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