Genesis 43:2

So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jacob addresses his sons after they have consumed the initial supply of grain brought from Egypt during the severe famine. He commands them to return to Egypt to purchase additional food.

The words — The Hebrew כִלּוּ (kiLu) means "they finished," marking the exhaustion of the grain they previously brought. The narrative pivot וַ/יְהִי (va/y.Hi) transitions from the famine's severity to Jacob's urgent directive.

The thread — The depleted supply connects to Jacob’s initial awareness of Egyptian provisions in Genesis 42:1 and frames Judah’s conditional response in Genesis 43:4. The sons’ later appeal in Genesis 43:20 recalls this first trip as purely commercial, highlighting the escalating stakes.

Why it lands — The verse forces a recognition of depleted resources and the necessity of returning to a place of past tension. It requires a reader to track how practical survival drives the narrative toward unavoidable confrontation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיְהִ֗יva/y.Hiand/ it was כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רka./'a.Sherjust/ when כִּלּוּ֙ki.Luthey finished לֶאֱכֹ֣לle./'e.Kholto/ eat אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַשֶּׁ֔בֶרha./She.verthe/ grain אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhich הֵבִ֖יאוּhe.Vi.'uthey had brought מִמִּצְרָ֑יִםmi./mitz.Ra.yimfrom/ Egypt וַיֹּ֤אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said אֲלֵיהֶם֙'a.lei./Hemto/ them אֲבִיהֶ֔ם'a.vi./Hemfather/ their שֻׁ֖בוּShu.vugo back שִׁבְרוּ־shiv.ru-buyלָ֥נוּLa./nufor/ usמְעַט־me.'at-a little of אֹֽכֶל׃'O.khelfood

King James Version

And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

Cross-references

Genesis 42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
Genesis 43:4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
Genesis 43:20 “Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.
Proverbs 15:16 Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 31:16 She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.
1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 6:6 Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.