Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”
Parallel translations
- KJV And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.
- BSB “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one who was found with the cup.”
- NKJV Then Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”
- NASB So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord? What words can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been found.”
- NLT Judah answered, “Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves—all of us, not just our brother who had your cup in his sack.”
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
Judah confesses that God has uncovered their iniquity and offers all of them as slaves. He acknowledges a deeper guilt than the missing cup.
Overview
Judah does not defend their innocence regarding the cup but confesses that God has exposed a hidden iniquity, surely their long-buried sin against Joseph. Recognizing divine justice at work, he offers the whole group into slavery rather than escape alone. This humble acceptance of guilt marks the genuine repentance Joseph has been seeking.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Gen 44:9With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”
- Dan 9:7Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
- Luke 12:2But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known.
- Num 32:23“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out.
- Josh 7:18He brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.
- Ezra 9:15Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one can stand before you because of this.”
- Ezra 9:10“Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,
- Prov 17:15He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
- Prov 28:17A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.
- Isa 27:9Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherah poles and the incense altars shall rise no more.
- Isa 5:3“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- Acts 2:37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
- Gen 37:9He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.”
- Gen 42:21–22They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.”
- Gen 37:7for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
- Gen 43:8–9Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones.
- Gen 37:18–28They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
- Gen 44:32For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’
- Matt 7:2For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- Judg 1:7Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
- Deut 25:1If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
- Josh 7:1But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against the children of Israel.
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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 44:16 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
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