Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
Here is, I. The penitent reflection Joseph's brethren made upon the wrong they had formerly done to him, Gen 42:21. They talked the matter over in the Hebrew tongue, not suspecting that Joseph, whom they took for a native of Egypt, understood them, much less that he was the person they spoke of. 1.
Commenting on Genesis 42:21-28
And he said unto his brethren, my money is restored,.... The money paid for the corn is returned: and, lo, it is even in my sack; this put them all upon opening their sacks, where every man found his money, though not expressed, see Gen 43:21, and their heart failed them; through surprise and fear; or "went out" (c) front them, as it were, they...
took . . . Simeon, and bound him--He had probably been the chief instigator--the most violent actor in the outrage upon Joseph; and if so, his selection to be the imprisoned and fettered hostage for their return would, in the present course of their reflections, have a painful significance.