Genesis 42:2

And he said, behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt,
&c.] This explains what is meant by the phrase he saw, one sense being put for another: get ye down thither;
as fast as you can without delay; Egypt lay lower than Canaan, and therefore they are bid to go down, as when they went from thence to Canaan they are said to go up, ( Genesis 45:25 ) ; and buy for us from thence, that we may live, and not die;
which shows the famine was very pressing, since, unless they could buy corn from Egypt they could not live, but must die.