and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,
Parallel translations
- WEB and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.
- KJV And said, O sir, we came indeed down at 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;
- 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 42:3Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
- Gen 42:10They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
- Gen 43:3Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’
- Gen 42:27As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack.
- Gen 43:7They 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?’”
- Gen 42:35As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their 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.