And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
Parallel translations
- WEB You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’
- BSB Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’
- 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 42:15Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
- Gen 42:20But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
- Jer 40:4And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
- Jer 24:6For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
- Amos 9:4And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
- Gen 43:29And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, 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.