They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ ”
Parallel Translations
-
They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ ”
-
And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
-
And they said: 'The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying: Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words; could we in any wise know that he would say: Bring your brother down?'
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Genesis 43:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 43:3 Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’
- Genesis 42:13 They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.”
- Genesis 43:27 He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hebrew, to the mouth of these words: that is,…
Hebrew, to the mouth of these words: that is, that thing which he asked us.
Or, of our estate and condition.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 43:7 And they said, The man asked us…
Gen 43:7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, [Is] your father yet alive? have ye [another] brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?
Ver. 7. Could we certainly know, &c.] Inferences many times axe made upon what we say or do, such as we never thought of, Arbitror nonnullos in quibusdam locis librorum meorum opinaturos, me sensisse quod non sensi, aut non sensisse quod sensi, saith Augustine. {a} And it fell out accordingly. For, as Baronius witnesseth, after St Austin’s death, there arose up divisions, who, out of his writings, wrested and misconstrued, brought in many errors; which they endeavoured to maintain by the name and authority of St Augustine. {b} And the like may be said of Luther.
Read full note →
{a} Aug., lib. i., De Trin., cap. 3, ad finem.
{b} Qui ex eius scriptis male perceptis complures invexerunt errores. - Annal, tom. vi., ad Ann. 450.
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 We told him according to the tenor of these…
We told him according to the tenor of these words; we gave answers suitable to his questions, or such as his words required.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Asked us. This is perfectly consonant with what they…
Asked us. This is perfectly consonant with what they say, chap. xlii. 13, and chap. xliv. 19. They mentioned their having a brother at home, without the smallest suspicion of doing wrong.
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).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. The man asked straitly] The word “straitly” (i.e.…
7. The man asked straitly] The word “straitly” (i.e. “strictly, closely,” cf. Jos_6:1), like “solemnly” in Gen_43:3, simply emphasizes the force of the verb in Heb. Shakespeare, Rich. III, i. 3:
“His majesty hath straitly given in charge
Read full note →
That no man shall have private conference
… with his brother.”
This verse is evidently independent of Gen_42:13 (E), where the information was voluntarily given by the brethren in proof of their sincerity.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And they said, The man asked us straitly of…
And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? Though not appearing in the preceding narrative of the historian, (Gen_42:13, Gen_42:32) it must yet be held as accurate that the information given to Joseph about Jacob and Benjamin was supplied in answer to direct inquiries, since Judah afterwards gives the same account of it (Gen_44:19) when pleading before Joseph in behalf of Benjamin. And we told him according to the tenor of these words literally, according to these words, i.e. either in conformity to his questions (Ainsworth, Rosenm Keil), kata ththsin tauthn (LXX.), juxta id quod fuerat sciscitatus (Vulgate), or like those words we have told thee (Kalisch). Could we certainly know (literally, knowing could we know) that he would say, Bring your brother down?
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.