“No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food.
Parallel translations
- WEB They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
- KJV And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
- BSB “Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.
- NKJV And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
- NASB And they said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The brothers protest their innocence, insisting they have only come to buy food. Their deference shows the dreams already coming true.
Overview
Calling Joseph "my lord" and themselves his "servants," the brothers unknowingly fulfill the homage Joseph foresaw. Their plea is honest as far as it goes; they truly came for grain in the famine. Yet a deeper guilt, unconfessed, still lies beneath their words.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 37:8His brothers said to him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
- 1 Sam 26:17Saul knew David’s voice, and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”
- 1 Kgs 18:7As Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. He recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
- Gen 27:29Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”
- Gen 27:37Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?”
- Gen 44:9With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 42:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.