What Does Genesis 44:1 Mean?

And he commanded the steward of his house, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack." Joseph's instructions to the steward after the feast set up the final test. First: fill the sacks with as much grain as they can carry: maximum provision, not minimum. He is loading his brothers up with all the food they can take. Second: return every man's money in the mouth of his sack: the same kindness as the first trip. The provision is extravagant and the payment is returned. Everything looks like generosity.

The instruction to put each man's money in the mouth of his sack is the same action as Genesis 42:25, where Joseph first had the silver returned. On that occasion it produced terror and the question "what is this that God has done to us?" (Genesis 42:28). On this occasion, the silver's return will be overshadowed by the discovery of the cup in Benjamin's sack: the much more serious discovery that will be the final test's mechanism. The pattern of generosity-that-looks-alarming is repeated, but this time the alarm will be about something far more significant than unexplained returned silver.

The maximum grain provision: "as much as they can carry": communicates Joseph's care for his father and the household back in Canaan. He is not giving the minimum required to keep the family alive until the next trip; he is loading them with as much as the animals can carry. The generous provision is the brother's heart under the official's orders. Every act of provision Joseph makes toward his brothers: the feast, the returned silver, the full loads of grain: is the love under the test. The test is real; the love is equally real.