Genesis 44:19
17 But Joseph replied, “Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace.”
18 Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’
20 And we answered, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
21 Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’
- KJV
- My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
- WEB
- My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’
- ASV
- My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
- DARBY
- My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
- BLB
- My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Is there for you⁺ a father or a brother?’
- ÅB
- Min herre spurte sine tjenere: Har dere far eller bror?
- OTB
- Min herre spurte sine tjenere, ‘Har dere en far eller en bror?’
- B1930
- Min herre spurte sine tjenere: Har I far eller bror?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Genesis 43:7
They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
Read in contextGenesis 43:29
When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
Read in contextGenesis 42:7–10
And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”
Read in context