What Does Genesis 44:2 Mean?

"And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain." And he did as Joseph told him. The silver cup added to Benjamin's sack is the instrument of the final test. The cup is specifically described as Joseph's: his personal cup, the one associated with divination ("with which my lord divines": v.5). Placing a high official's personal divination cup in a foreigner's baggage is about as serious an accusation as possible in the ancient world: theft of ritual property from a senior official. The stakes of the final test are as high as Joseph can make them.

The cup goes in Benjamin's sack: the youngest's sack, specifically. The test is designed to put Benjamin in the most jeopardy. In Genesis 44, when the cup is "found" in Benjamin's sack, the official will declare that Benjamin must remain as his servant; the other brothers may go free. The question the test poses is: will the brothers accept the offer to let Benjamin be enslaved while they go free: the same dynamic as Genesis 37, where they let Joseph be sold while they went free? Or will they refuse to go without Benjamin, as Judah pledged (Genesis 43:9)?

"And he did as Joseph told him": the steward executes the instructions precisely. The sacks are packed, the silver is returned, and the cup is placed in Benjamin's sack. Everything is ready for the departure. The steward, who knows what is being put in the sacks and why, is Joseph's instrument for the final stage of the test that began with the false spy accusation in Genesis 42:9. The test is moving to its conclusion.