And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:
Parallel translations
- WEB and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.
- BSB “Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.
- NKJV and said, “O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food;
- NASB and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,
- NLT “Sir,” they said, “we came to Egypt once before 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
They respectfully remind the steward they came the first time only to buy food. They begin their honest account of the silver.
Overview
Addressing him as "my lord," the brothers carefully set out the facts to clear themselves. Their straightforward truth-telling marks growth from the men who once lied to their father. The explanation prepares for the steward's surprising word of grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 42:3And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
- Gen 42:10And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
- Gen 43:3And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
- Gen 42:27And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.
- Gen 43:7And 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?
- Gen 42:35And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
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 43:20 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.