John Calvin Commentary Genesis 42:1

"Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?" — Genesis 42:1 (ASV)

Now when Jacob saw. Moses begins, in this chapter, to address the occasion which drew Jacob with his whole family into Egypt, and thus leaves it to us to consider by what hidden and unexpected methods God may perform whatever he has decreed. Although God's providence is in itself a labyrinth, yet when we connect the outcome of things with their beginnings, that admirable method of operation shines clearly in our view, which is not generally acknowledged, only because it is far removed from our observation. Also, our own indolence hinders us from perceiving God, with the eyes of faith, as holding the government of the world, because we either imagine fortune to be the controller of events or, adhering to near and natural causes, we weave them together and spread them as veils before our eyes. Therefore, since scarcely any more illustrious representation of Divine Providence is to be found than this history provides, let pious readers carefully exercise themselves in meditation on it, so that they may acknowledge that those things which, in appearance, are fortuitous, are directed by the hand of God.

Why do ye look one upon another? People are said to look at one another when each is waiting for the other, and, for lack of counsel, no one dares to attempt anything. Jacob, therefore, censures this inactivity of his sons because none of them endeavors to provide for the present necessity. Moses also says that they went into Egypt at their father's command, and even without Benjamin, by which he intimates that filial reverence at that time was great, because envy of their brother did not prevent them from leaving their wives and children and undertaking a long journey. He also adds that they came in the midst of a great crowd of people, which enhances the fame of Joseph, who, while supplying food for all Egypt and dispensing it by measure until the end of the drought, could also afford assistance to neighboring nations.