What Does Genesis 43:16 Mean?

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon." Joseph sees Benjamin: and immediately the official harshness of Genesis 42 is set aside. He does not speak roughly; he does not accuse; he issues instructions for a feast. "Bring the men into the house, slaughter an animal, make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon." The test's pressure phase is over; Benjamin's presence has satisfied the requirement; the guilty brothers are about to be guests instead of suspects.

The slaughtering of an animal for a midday feast is a significant hospitality gesture: the ancient equivalent of a formal dinner, requiring preparation, expense, and the time investment of an elaborate meal. Joseph is not offering the brothers a minimal reception; he is preparing an occasion. The feast is the beginning of the restoration phase of the Joseph narrative: where Genesis 42 featured accusation, imprisonment, and hostage-taking, Genesis 43 will feature dinner, gifts, and a reversal of the threatening dynamic. Joseph is moving toward revelation at a pace the situation will allow.

The steward of Joseph's house: the household administrator of the prime minister's estate: is the executor of the instructions. Joseph's instructions are given in the language of authority: "bring," "slaughter," "make ready." The man who was sold into slavery and imprisoned is now giving instructions for government-level hospitality. The feast he is preparing for his brothers is funded by the authority and resources of the office God placed him in through the long descent from Canaan. The dinner Joseph prepares for his guilty brothers is an act of grace funded by the very position their betrayal set in motion.