Joseph continues his elaborate prank upon his elder brothers, who have returned to Egypt and brought their youngest brother Ben with them this time. Joe sets them up in this crib and makes ready a feast, but the brothers are fearful that "he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses." As it happens, Joseph was indeed plotting something quite like that, as he arranges for his silver goblet to be found by Joe's men in little Ben's sack, the upshot of which was that Ben must be given as bondsman to Joe. "Your ass is mine, Ben." was redacted from the manuscripts at some point, but I'm almost sure Joe said it.
Evidently it was by this ruse that Joe meant to take Ben into his household and away from his other brothers, leaving them none the wiser.
At this point, though, Joe's ruse of making himself strange unto his brothers finally falls through. When Judah offers himself in Ben's place, Joe can't take it anymore and loses it. He reveals himself to all of his brothers, declares them forgiven, and sends them back again to Canaan to retrieve their father.
Usually I have something snarky and sarcastic to say, but these chapters are really quite moving in a positive way. Good story.
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