What Does Genesis 42:18 Mean?

On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God." The third day brings a modified test. "Do this and you will live": the contrast to the death implied by the spy accusation is the clear incentive for compliance. The modification Joseph announces in verses 19 to 20 is more compassionate than the initial design: instead of nine staying and one going, one will stay and nine will go: allowing nine brothers to return to their families and father rather than remaining in Egyptian custody indefinitely. The modification reflects Joseph's concern for his father, who would be without all ten sons if the first plan stood.

"I fear God": Joseph's explanation for his modified treatment is a remarkable theological self-disclosure in an Egyptian context. The Egyptian official who has been speaking with the authority of Pharaoh's oath now attributes his merciful dealing to the fear of God. Not the fear of Pharaoh, not Egyptian policy, not personal preference: the fear of God is what has modified the test. This statement also continues the pattern of Joseph's theological transparency that began in Genesis 40:8 ("interpretations belong to God") and Genesis 41:16 ("God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer"). Joseph consistently attributes his capacity and his conduct to God rather than to himself.

The statement "I fear God" is also a signal that the brothers do not yet understand: the man who fears God is the same man who suffered because of their action against God's dreamer. The fear of God that now moderates Joseph's treatment of his brothers is the same relationship with God that sustained him through pit, slavery, and prison. The fear of God in verse 18 is not a general religious attitude but the specific orientation that has characterized Joseph throughout the Joseph story: the man who would not sin against God (Genesis 39:9) because God was with him is the man who now administers justice with mercy because God is still with him.