Genesis 42:21
in Genesis 42Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
KJV
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
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This verse in Genesis 42
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWe are verily guilty - How finely are the office and influence of conscience exemplified in these words! It was about twenty-two years since they had sold their brother, and probably their conscience had been lulled asleep to the present hour. God combines and brings about those favorable circumstances which produce attention and reflection, and give weight to the expostulations of conscience.
This site's exposition
Surely we are being punished because of our brother
on Genesis 42:21-22
In front of him they name the thing at last, that they are being punished for their brother. Chapter 37 never reported that Joseph pleaded with them, and the reader learns it here from the men who would not listen. Reuben tells them they must now account for his blood. Genesis first made a brother answer for blood in chapter 4, where Abel's blood cried out from the ground.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This, you see, is what sin is like: when it is done and takes effect, then it shows the excess of its own impropriety. Just as an inebriate imbibes great quantities of drink without feeling any harmful effects of the wine but later comes to know the extent of the damage from his exploits, so too with sin. When it is committed, it clouds the mind, and like a dense fog it blinds the intellect, but later conscience is stirred and flays the mind unmercifully with every kind of accusation, highlighting the impropriety of what was done. Notice, after all, in this case too, these men coming to their senses, and, when they saw danger pressing upon them from all sides, they then admitted what had been done by them and said, "True, we are being punished for our brother since we ignored his distress of spirit." It is not idly or to no purpose, they are saying, that we suffer this, but rightly so, and quite rightly: we are paying the penalty for the inhumanity and savagery we displayed toward our brother. "We ignored his distress of spirit when he pleaded with us without our heeding him." Since we proved lacking in compassion, they say, and displayed great savagery, hence we too now experience the same: "So for this reason this distress has come upon us."
If we notice carefully, dearly beloved, we will realize that Joseph did to his brothers what we believe God did to blessed Jacob. Truly he was so holy that he could not have hated them.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
We are very guilty concerning our brother - We do not read that they said this during their three days imprisonment; but now when the matter was come to some issue, and they saw themselves still embarrassed, they began to relent.
They talked the matter over in the Hebrew tongue, not suspecting that Joseph, whom they took for a native of Egypt, understood them, much less that he was the person they spoke of. They remembered with regret the barbarous cruelty wherewith they persecuted him: We are verily guilty concerning our brother.
And they said one to another,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
put them . . . into ward three days--Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Ge 42:21, 22].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2497: “A New Leaf for the New Year” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
YOU know the story from which our text is taken, how Joseph's brothers, being envious of him, sold him for a slave, deceived his aged father concerning him and then endeavored to forget the deed. They appear to have gone on with sad consciences for a number of years, but, by-and-by, there was a sore famine in all lands and from all countries people went into Egypt to buy corn. So old Jacob told his sons that they must go down into Egypt to buy from the stores there laid up for the time of famine. And they went, not knowing that Joseph was there in great power. He knew them and, at first treated them very roughly, charged them with being spies, and put them in prison for three days. Afterwards he said to them, "If you are true men, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your prison: go you, carry corn for the famine of your houses: but bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die." Then it was, but not till then, that they said, one to another, "We are truly guilty concerning our brother." See, from this narrative, how, sometimes, trouble and sorrow bring men to repentance. Personal affliction or bereavement, or trial of one kind or another may be most useful to us by making us think about our own condition in the sight of God, and our actions toward Him as well as with regard to our fellow men. There may be someone in this congregation who has had sore troubles, wave upon wave, affliction upon affliction.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2497: “A New Leaf for the New Year” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
YOU know the story from which our text is taken, how Joseph's brothers, being envious of him, sold him for a slave, deceived his aged father concerning him and then endeavored to forget the deed. They appear to have gone on with sad consciences for a number of years, but, by-and-by, there was a sore famine in all lands and from all countries people went into Egypt to buy corn. So old Jacob told his sons that they must go down into Egypt to buy from the stores there laid up for the time of famine.
The words behind it
23 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אָחִ֗יו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | 630 times |
| אֲבָל֮ | ʾaval | indeed | H61 → | |
| אֲשֵׁמִ֣ים׀ | ʾashemim | [are] guilty | H818 → | |
| אֲנַחְנוּ֮ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אָחִינוּ֒ | ʾachinu | brother our | H251 → | 630 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| רָאִ֜ינוּ | rainu | we saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| צָרַ֥ת | tzarat | [the] distress of | H6869 → | 73 times |
| נַפְשׁ֛וֹ | nafsho | self his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בְּהִתְחַֽנְנ֥וֹ | behitchano | when sought favor he | H2603 → | 78 times |
| אֵלֵ֖ינוּ | ʾeleinu | to us | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמָ֑עְנוּ | shamaenu | we listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּן֙ | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| בָּ֣אָה | baah | it has come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵלֵ֔ינוּ | ʾeleinu | to us | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַצָּרָ֖ה | hatzarah | the distress | H6869 → | 73 times |
| הַזֹּֽאת׃ | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
וַיֹּאמְר֞וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
אִ֣ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אָחִ֗יוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →630 times
אֲבָל֮indeed
ʾavalH61 →
אֲשֵׁמִ֣ים׀[are] guilty
ʾashemimH818 →
אֲנַחְנוּ֮we
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אָחִינוּ֒brother our
ʾachinuH251 →630 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
רָאִ֜ינוּwe saw
rainuH7200 →1300 times
צָרַ֥ת[the] distress of
tzaratH6869 →73 times
נַפְשׁ֛וֹself his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
בְּהִתְחַֽנְנ֥וֹwhen sought favor he
behitchanoH2603 →78 times
אֵלֵ֖ינוּto us
ʾeleinuH413 →5510 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמָ֑עְנוּwe listened
shamaenuH8085 →1159 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּן֙-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
בָּ֣אָהit has come
baahH935 →2568 times
אֵלֵ֔ינוּto us
ʾeleinuH413 →5510 times
הַצָּרָ֖הthe distress
hatzarahH6869 →73 times
הַזֹּֽאת׃<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hosea 5:15Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:16
O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Psalms 78:34
When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
- Deuteronomy 4:29–31
But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Isaiah 26:16
Through
Proverbs 21:13Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:27
Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.
- Proverbs 1:28
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
- Matthew 6:14
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- Matthew 7:2
For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Proverbs 28:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 91.6; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2497: “A New Leaf for the New Year” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 64.9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.