He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”
Parallel Translations
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He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”
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And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
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And he washed his face, and came out; and he refrained himself, and said: 'Set on bread.'
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Genesis 43:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 45:1 Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he called out, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
- 1 Peter 3:10 For, “He who would love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
- Isaiah 42:14 “I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
- Jeremiah 31:16 Yahweh says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded,” says Yahweh. “They will come again from the land of the enemy.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hebrew, bread.
Hebrew, bread.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 43:31 And he washed his face, and went…
Gen 43:31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
Ver. 31. Set on bread.] Which the Latins call panis of παν, either because all covet it, or because whatever else the cheer be, men always set on bread. {a}
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{a} Isidor., lib. xx.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they set on for him by himself,.... A…
And they set on for him by himself,.... A table was placed and provisions set upon it in one part of the room for Joseph by himself; which was done either because he was an Hebrew, and the Egyptians might not eat with him, nor he with them; or rather for the sake of grandeur, he being the next man in the kingdom to Pharaoh:
and for them by themselves; another table was placed and spread for Joseph's brethren by themselves, the reason of which is after given:
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and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves; a third table was laid for such Egyptian noblemen and others, who were at this time Joseph's guests, or used to dine with him:
because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians; the reason of which, as given by the Targums of Onkelos and, Jonathan, is, because the creatures the Egyptians worshipped the Hebrews eat; but it is a question whether such creatures as oxen, sheep, goats, &c. which were eaten by the Hebrews, were so early worshipped by the Egyptians; though they were in later times, and particularly the Apis or ox, which is supposed by many to be worshipped on the account of Joseph, and so after his time; rather the abhorrence the Egyptians had the Hebrews in was on account of their being shepherds, on a political account, they having before this time suffered much by the insurrections and rebellions of such sort of persons among themselves, who set up a kingdom and kings of their own, called the "Hycsi", or pastor kings: or else this difference made between the Egyptians and Hebrews at eating, was not on account of what they did eat, as of the certain rites and customs the Egyptians had peculiar to themselves in dressing their food, and eating it; and therefore would not eat with any of another nation; so that this was not any particular distaste they had to the Hebrews, but was their usage towards men of all nations; for so Herodotus says (c), that"no Egyptian, man or woman, might kiss the month of a Greek, or use a knife, or spit, or pot;''that is, a knife a Greek had cut anything with, or a spit he had roasted meat on, or a pot he had boiled it in; and adds,"nor might taste of the flesh of an ox, cut with the knife of a Greek.''And indeed they would not eat nor converse with any of another religion (d), be they who they would.
(c) Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 41. (d) Chaeremon apud Porphyr. de abstinentia, l. 4. sect. 6.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain THE DINNER. (Gen 43:31-34)
THE DINNER. (Gen 43:31-34)
Joseph said, Set on bread--equivalent to having dinner served, "bread" being a term inclusive of all victuals. The table was a small stool, most probably the usual round form, "since persons might even then be seated according to their rank or seniority, and the modern Egyptian table is not without its post of honor and a fixed gradation of place" [WILKINSON]. Two or at most three persons were seated at one table. But the host being the highest in rank of the company had a table to himself; while it was so arranged that an Egyptian was not placed nor obliged to eat from the same dish as a Hebrew.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 31. he refrained himself] Joseph’s effort of self-constraint broke…
31. he refrained himself] Joseph’s effort of self-constraint broke down in Gen_45:1.
Set on bread] As we should say, “serve up dinner.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (31) He washed his face.—This was done to remove…
(31) He washed his face.—This was done to remove all traces of his tears.
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 he washed his face (an indication of the…
And he washed his face (an indication of the violence of his weeping), and went out (from his chamber), and refrained himself (keeping his tears in check), and said, Set on bread an expression used at the present day in Egypt for bringing dinner (Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. 2. p. 41, ed. 1878).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.