That's the situation the brothers of Joseph found themselves in, as told in Legends of the Jews.
They arrive at Joseph's house – remember, they don't know it's him yet, disguised as a powerful Egyptian ruler – and they stand at the door, humbled. "We are in badly reduced circumstances," they say to the steward. "In our country we supported others, and now we depend upon thee to support us." Can you hear the desperation in their voices? The shame?
After that incredibly direct (and probably difficult!) introduction, they try to explain about the money, the money they had found mysteriously returned to their sacks. They offer it back, an act of honesty amidst their hardship.
The steward, a figure of kindness in this tense drama, reassures them. "However it may be," he says, "whether for the sake of your own merits, or for the sake of the merits of your fathers, God hath caused you to find a treasure, for the money ye paid for the corn came into my hand." It's a fascinating line, isn't it? This idea that divine favor, chesed, can come in unexpected ways, even through something as simple as returned money.
And then, the moment they've been waiting for. The steward brings Simeon out to them. Now, according to Legends of the Jews, Simeon had… changed. The text describes him as looking like a "leather bottle," so fat and rotund had he become during his stay in Egypt. It's a rather… colorful image, isn't it? Perhaps a testament to the generous hospitality he had received, or maybe just a bit of legendary exaggeration.
Simeon, freed from prison the moment they left the city, tells his brothers about the royal treatment he’s been receiving. He's been entertained with splendor in the house of the ruler of Egypt. Imagine the mix of emotions the brothers must have felt: relief, joy, and perhaps a little bit of confusion, wondering what was going on.
This little scene, a brief moment of respite amidst a larger, more complex narrative, reminds us that even in times of hardship, glimmers of hope and kindness can appear in the most unexpected places. And sometimes, just sometimes, a brother can come back looking a little… rounder than you remember! What do you think the brothers were really feeling at this moment?