“Your servant our father is well,” they answered. “He is still alive.” And they bowed down to honor him.
Parallel translations
- WEB They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed down humbly.
- KJV And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.
- NKJV And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.
- NASB And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” Then they bowed down again in homage.
- NLT “Yes,” they replied. “Our father, your servant, is alive and well.” And they bowed low again.
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 report their father is well and alive, and bow down humbly again. Their renewed homage continues to fulfill Joseph's dreams.
Overview
The brothers' answer assures Joseph that Jacob still lives, deepening his longing for reunion. Their repeated bowing once more enacts the submission God foretold. The moment underscores the faithfulness of God's word across the long years of separation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 37:7We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine.”
- Gen 43:26When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought, and they bowed to the ground before him.
- Exod 18:7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.
- 2 Sam 14:4When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”
- 2 Sam 1:2On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
- Gen 37:9–10Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
- 1 Kgs 1:16And Bathsheba bowed down in homage to the king, who asked, “What is your desire?”
- 2 Chr 24:17After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 43:28 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.