According to ancient records an Egyptian official’s house was very large, the dining hall being the principal room. There were many other rooms including separate quarters for the women. This may be the reason we hear nothing of Joseph’s family in this scene.

At this point in the story, the brothers are still on the outside of the house following the steward. They apparently do not want to go inside until they have cleared up the matter of the money.

They went up to the steward … spoke to him at the door: that is, “The brothers stopped at the door and spoke to Joseph’s head servant.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .