Gen 43:1 And the famine was sore in the land.

As the Lord had shown Joseph previously,  the famine was bad, making it impossible for Jacob and his family to survive without returning to Egypt where Joseph by his knowledge of God had the wisdom to provide not only for the Egyptians but also for the  surrounding countries that also had famine.

Gen 43:2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.
Gen 43:3 And Judah spoke unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
Gen 43:4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:
Gen 43:5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
Gen 43:6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

Jacob wondered why they would even have told the Egyptians that they had a brother, not knowing that the man they spoke to inquired to purposely find out about the welfare of Benjamin and Jacob. Perhaps Joseph worried that his brothers would have done away with Benjamin too. He probably figured that if they sold himself (Joseph) into slavery they might not have changed and might have done the same to Benjamin.

Gen 43:7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

They had no idea that the man was Joseph and the inquiries would lead to bringing Benjamin down to Egypt. I still suspect that Jacob may have distrusted his sons and suspected them of harming Joseph.

Gen 43:8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.
Gen 43:9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever:

Judah was willing to take responsibility for the safety of Benjamin. This shows that they truly did have a change of heart for selling Joseph the way they did previously.

Gen 43:10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
Gen 43:11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
Gen 43:12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:

Jacob was an honest man who wanted to give back the money that was found in their sacks. Perhaps also he was hoping this act would show the Egyptian that they were sincere and thus insuring the safety of his children.

Gen 43:13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:
Gen 43:14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
Gen 43:15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
Gen 43:16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.

How Joseph longed after his brothers. Naturally he would have been closest to Benjamin for Benjamin was his full brother, having the same mother and father.

Gen 43:17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
Gen 43:18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

This type of thing just wasn't done normally. To have strangers who only came to buy food invited to the household of the second ruler of the land, probably seemed strange to them.

Gen 43:19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,
Gen 43:20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
Gen 43:21 And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.
Gen 43:22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.
Gen 43:23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

Joseph did not forget Simeon who had been in ward all that time awaiting the return of his brothers.

Gen 43:24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.
Gen 43:25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

They made themselves ready to dine with this important figure in Egypt. As will all rulers, they could not just waltz in without preparation.

Gen 43:26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.
Gen 43:27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?

I wonder if the brothers had wondered why so much concern from a stranger about their father.

Gen 43:28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
Gen 43:29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spoke unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.
Gen 43:30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

Joseph had a hard time pretending to feel impartial and harsh when he was a person of great compassion and loved his family.

Gen 43:31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
Gen 43:32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

In other words the Egyptians was what we would call in today's world, racists. They thought they were above the Hebrews.

Gen 43:33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marveled one at another.

How would a strange Egyptian possibly know their ages and who was born first? Joseph seemed to have been giving them little hints of who he was.

Gen 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Perhaps Joseph purposely gave Benjamin bigger portions to test his brethren to see if they still had the evil jealousy that provoked their treatment of him in earlier years. This would stir that up if in fact the jealousy was still there.

I'm sure we also have to fight envy in our lives today. Envy is very dangerous because it leads to sin if we do not overcome it. Those brothers had to live with what they did.  The guilt must have been tremendous.  This came about because they could not overcome the feelings of envy toward Joseph. 

Perhaps someone got the promotion or raise that we thought we deserved. A friend may have gotten an A when we got a C. Instead of being happy for them, we pout and whine about the unfairness of it all. God sees all this and He knows all about it. If we could only trust in Him, He will work things out for those who trust Him. We don't have to be like the world that teaches selfishness and self-centeredness. We can be different when we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ, receiving the forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Only through Him can we overcome the flesh and walk in the spirit. We don't have to be a slave to sin and end up with a life of misery over the guilt from our actions.  Prisons are full of people who did things out of envy or anger and later lived to regret it.  .

Genesis 44