Then Judah approached him and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.
- KJV Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.
- BSB Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
- NKJV Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.
- NLT Then Judah stepped forward and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you. Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself.
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 steps forward to plead humbly and earnestly with Joseph, acknowledging his great power. His speech becomes one of the most moving intercessions in Scripture.
Overview
Judah begins a heartfelt appeal, careful and respectful before one as great as Pharaoh's deputy. His willingness to risk himself for Benjamin and his father shows the depth of his change since proposing Joseph's sale. As ancestor of the Messianic line, Judah here foreshadows the self-giving intercession ultimately fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Exod 32:22Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
- Gen 41:40You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.”
- Gen 18:30He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?” He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
- Gen 18:32He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”
- Gen 41:44Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.”
- Dan 3:19–23Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
- Dan 5:19and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down.
- Dan 3:15Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good: but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
- Acts 2:29“Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
- Ps 79:5How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
- John 5:22For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
- 2 Sam 14:12Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Say on.”
- Esth 1:12But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him.
- Prov 19:12The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
- Job 33:31Mark well, Job, and listen to me. Hold your peace, and I will speak.
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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 44:18 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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