When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good?
Parallel Translations
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When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good?
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And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
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And when they were gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward: 'Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them: Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Genesis 44:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 10:32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”
- Psalms 35:12 They reward me evil for good, to the bereaving of my soul.
- Deuteronomy 2:16 So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,
- 1 Samuel 24:17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.
- Psalms 109:5 They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
- Proverbs 17:13 Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
- 2 Chronicles 20:11 behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (5 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 44:4 [And] when they were gone out of…
Gen 44:4 [And] when they were gone out of the city, [and] not [yet] far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Ver. 4. Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?] This, blind nature saw to be the sum of all sins. Ingratum dixeris, omnia dixeris. Some vices are such as nature smiles upon, though frowned at by divine justice; not so this. Hercules is much condemned by the heathens for killing his schoolmaster Linus; Alexander, for doing the like by his friend Clitus; Nero, by his tutor Seneca: Muleasses, king of Tunis, is cried out on, for torturing to death the Manifet and Mesnar, by whose means especially he had aspired to the kingdom. {a} Philip, king of Macedonia, caused a soldier of his, that had offered unkindness to one that had kindly entertained him, to be branded in the forehead, with these two words; Hospes ingratus. Unthankfulness is a monster in nature, a solecism in manners, a paradox in divinity, a parching wind to dry up the fountain of further favour. Benjamin’s five fold mess was no small aggravation to the theft here laid to his charge. {b}
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{a} Turk. Hist., fol. 642.
{b} Manlii, loc. com.
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 when they were gone out of the city,…
And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off,.... Which perhaps was Tanis, the Zoan of the Scriptures; see Eze 30:14, margin:
Joseph said unto his steward, up, follow after the men; who no doubt was ready provided with men and horses, to go out and pursue when Joseph should give the orders, he being privy to Joseph's intentions, and with whom the scheme was concerted, and the secret was. Joseph appears to have been up very early this morning, and had observed the exact time of his brethren's departure, and guessed whereabouts they might be when he sent his steward, and others after them; for it can hardly be thought he was sent alone after eleven men, and to charge them with a theft, and bring them back again:
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and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? in taking away the silver cup, when they had been so kindly and bountifully entertained. This he was to represent as base ingratitude, as it would have appeared, had it been fact. In much such manner was Esop used by the inhabitants of Delphos; they, being displeased with him, put a sacred cup or vial into his bags, which he, being ignorant of, went on his way towards Phocis; and they ran after him, and seized him, and charged him with sacrilege (h).
(h) Scholia ad Vespes Aristophanis, p. 534. Ed. Genev. 1607.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Pursue; escorted by a troop of horsemen, to prevent…
Pursue; escorted by a troop of horsemen, to prevent resistance. (Menochius)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain When they were gone out of the city .…
When they were gone out of the city . . . Joseph said unto his steward--They were brought to a sudden halt by the stunning intelligence that an article of rare value was missing from the governor's house. It was a silver cup; so strong suspicions were entertained against them that a special messenger was despatched to search them.
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 4. the city] The name of the city is…
4. the city] The name of the city is most unfortunately not given. Memphis would be suitable: cf. Gen_45:10. The moment of the men’s arrest is well timed. Everything had gone off well. They had got their corn; they had been acquitted of any complicity in the return of the money; they had been hospitably treated by the “lord”; they were well on their way homeward.
Wherefore have ye rewarded] The guilt of Joseph’s brethren is presented in an ascending scale of enormity: (1) it was theft; (2) by guests from their host’s table; (3) of an article of special sanctity. The LXX, in order to supply the connexion between Gen_44:4-5, inserts at the end of Gen_44:4, Ἵνα τί ἐκλέψατέ μου τὸ κόνδυ τὸ ἀργυροῦν; = “Wherefore have ye stolen my silver cup?”
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.