Genesis 43:31. He washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
Orientals in general are great eaters of bread. It has been computed that three persons in four live entirely upon it, or else upon such compositions as are made of barley or wheat flour. No doubt the term “bread” was often used to denote food in general; but this was because bread was more generally used than any other article of diet. When Joseph’s brethren had cast him into the pit, “they sat down to eat bread” (Gen. 37:25). When Moses was in Midian he was invited to “eat bread” (Ex. 2:20). The witch of En-dor “set a morsel of broad” before Saul and his servants (1 Sam. 28:22-25).