Seminaries and Institutes
Genesis 44: Joseph Tests His Brothers


“Genesis 44: Joseph Tests His Brothers,” Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide (2002), 38

“Genesis 44,” Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide, 38

Genesis 44

Joseph Tests His Brothers

Early in the story of Joseph and his brothers, it did not seem that the older brothers cared much about what happened to their younger brothers, nor did it seem like they worried much about the feelings of their father. As you read, notice how those feelings changed.

Studying the Scriptures

Do activities A and B as you study Genesis 44.

  1. How Is This Story a Symbol?

    President Brigham Young taught that “Joseph was foreordained to be the temporal saviour of his father’s house, and the seed of Joseph are ordained to be the spiritual and temporal saviours of all the house of Israel in the latter days” (in Journal of Discourses, 7:290). The Prophet Joseph Smith was a direct descendant of Joseph, son of Jacob; most members of the Church are of the lineage of either Ephraim or Manasseh, Joseph’s two sons. How are Joseph’s modern descendants (the Church) spiritually doing for the house of Israel what he temporally did for his family anciently?

  2. How Is Judah a Type of Christ?

    Describe how Judah’s actions in Genesis 44:18–34 were like the future actions of his descendant Jesus Christ.