Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’
Parallel translations
- WEB You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’
- KJV And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
- NKJV Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’
- NASB Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I may set my eyes on him.’
- NLT “And you said to us, ‘Bring him here so I can see him with my own eyes.’
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 recalls Joseph's demand to bring Benjamin down so he could see him. He frames the present crisis as flowing from Joseph's own command.
Overview
Judah reminds Joseph that he himself insisted on seeing Benjamin. By recounting this, Judah underscores that the brothers acted only under compulsion. The narration moves toward the heart of his plea: the impossibility of returning without the boy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 42:15And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
- Gen 42:20Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.
- Jer 40:4But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”
- Jer 24:6I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
- Amos 9:4Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”
- Gen 43:29When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
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 44:21 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.