They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly.
Parallel Translations
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They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly.
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And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
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And they said: 'Thy servant our father is well, he is yet alive.' And they bowed the head, and made obeisance.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Genesis 43:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 37:7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
- Genesis 43:26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to the earth before him.
- Genesis 37:9-10 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?”
- Exodus 18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent.
- 2 Samuel 1:2 on the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes torn, and earth on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the earth, and showed respect.
- 2 Samuel 14:4 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, showed respect, and said, “Help, O king!”
- 1 Kings 1:16 Bathsheba bowed, and showed respect to the king. The king said, “What would you like?”
- 2 Chronicles 24:17 Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came, and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 43:28 And they answered, Thy servant our father…
Gen 43:28 And they answered, Thy servant our father [is] in good health, he [is] yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
Ver. 28. {See Trapp on "Gen 43:26"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thy servant; by which expression delivered in Jacob’s name,…
Thy servant; by which expression delivered in Jacob’s name, and by his order, Jacob himself made obeisance to him, as was foretold, Gen 37:9.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he lifted up his eyes and saw his…
And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin,.... He had seen him before when his brethren first presented themselves to him, but then took no particular and special notice of him, only gave him a side look as it were, but now he looked wistly at him:
his mother's son; the son of Rachel his mother, and who was his only brother by his mother's side, the rest, though his brethren, yet only by his father's side, not his mother's sons:
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and said, is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? he knew he was the same, but was willing to have it from their mouths, to lead on to what he had further to say:
and he said; after they had answered his question, and told him it was he:
God be gracious unto thee, my son; speaking as a superior, a governor, in which capacity he was a father to his inferiors; and as a man, a relation, a brother, though not as yet discovered; he spoke in the most tender and affectionate manner, and, as a religious good man, he wishes the best thing he could for his brother, the grace and goodness of God; and which may be understood in the largest and most expressive sense, as including all good things, temporal, spiritual, and eternal.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 43:28. When they brought him the present, they…
Gen 43:28. When they brought him the present, they bowed themselves before him, and again, when they gave him an account of their father’s health, they made obeisance, and called him, Thy servant, our father — Thus were Joseph’s dreams fulfilled more and more; and even the father, by the sons, bowed before him. Probably Jacob had directed them, if they had occasion to speak of him to the man, the lord of the land, to call him his servant.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Living. The Samaritan and Septuagint add, "Joseph replied, Blessed…
Living. The Samaritan and Septuagint add, "Joseph replied, Blessed be he of God: and bowing themselves," &c. Thus all Joseph’s brethren adore him, chap. xxxvii. 7. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (28) They bowed down.—This was the literal fulfilment of…
(28) They bowed down.—This was the literal fulfilment of the first dream concerning the eleven sheaves making obeisance. As their business in Egypt was to buy corn, there was a fitness also in their being represented as sheaves.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And they answered, Thy servant our father is in…
And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Your servant our father
Your servant our father
They refer to their father as "Your servant" to show respect. AT: "Our father who serves you"
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They prostrated themselves and bowed down
These words basically mean the same thing. They laid down in front of the man to show him respect. AT: "They bowed down in front of him" (See: Symbolic Action)
he lifted up his eyes
This means "he looked up." (See: Idiom)
his mother's son, and he said
This can be translated with a new sentence. AT: "his mother's son. Joseph said"
Is this your youngest brother ... me?
Possible meanings are 1) Joseph is truly asking a question to confirm that this man is Benjamin, or 2) it is a rhetorical question. AT: "So this is your youngest brother ... me." (See: Rhetorical Question)
my son
This is a friendly way one man speaks to another man of lower rank. AT: "young man"
translationWords
servant
prostrate
bow
Benjamin
grace
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.