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Genesis 43:7

in Genesis 43

They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they said, The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we in any wise know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

KJV

And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

This verse in Genesis 43

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Why did you bring this trouble upon me

on Genesis 43:6-7

Israel blames his sons for answering a stranger's questions honestly. His sons had taken a young goat and Joseph's robe to deceive him at 37:31. Their answer is that the man questioned them in detail about themselves and their family, and the demand for the brother came after.

This site's exposition

Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?

The questions about a living father and another brother appear here for the first time. Chapter 42 recorded only the brothers' own words, and Judah repeats the questions at 44:19. Joseph was asking after Jacob and Benjamin from the first hour.

The words behind it

26 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּאמְר֡וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • שָׁא֣וֹלcarefully <to ask>

    shaolH7592 →171 times

  • שָֽׁאַל־he asked

    shaal-H7592 →171 times

  • הָ֠אִישׁthe man

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • לָ֣נוּof us

    lanu

  • וּלְמֽוֹלַדְתֵּ֜נוּand of kindred our

    ulemoladtenuH4138 →22 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הַע֨וֹד¿ still

    haodH5750 →490 times

  • אֲבִיכֶ֥ם[is] father your

    ʾavikhemH1 →1212 times

  • חַי֙living

    chaiH2416 →498 times

  • הֲיֵ֣שׁ¿ [does] there

    hayeshH3426 →140 times

  • לָכֶ֣ם[belong] to you

    lakhem

  • אָ֔חa brother

    ʾachH251 →630 times

  • וַנַ֨גֶּד־and we told

    vanaged-H5046 →370 times

  • ל֔וֹto him

    lo

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • פִּ֖י[the] mouth of

    piH6310 →498 times

  • הַדְּבָרִ֣יםthe words

    hadevarimH1697 →1440 times

  • הָאֵ֑לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • הֲיָד֣וֹעַ¿ really <to know>

    hayadoa'H3045 →945 times

  • נֵדַ֔עdid we know

    neda'H3045 →945 times

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • יֹאמַ֔רhe will say

    yomarH559 →5305 times

  • הוֹרִ֖ידוּbring down

    horiduH3381 →381 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲחִיכֶֽם׃brother your

    ʾachikhemH251 →630 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Genesis 43:3

    But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’

    it leads to

    • Genesis 44:23

      But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your younger brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’

    • Genesis 43:5

      But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

  • Through

    Genesis 42:13

    But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

    it leads to

    • Genesis 37:30

      returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

    • Genesis 44:20

      And we answered, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and…

    • Genesis 42:32

      We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’

  • Through

    Genesis 43:27

    He asked if they were well, and then he asked, “How is your elderly father you told me about? Is he still alive?”

    it leads to

    • Genesis 42:13

      But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

    • 1 Samuel 25:5

      So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

    • 1 Chronicles 18:10

      he sent his son Hadoram to greet King David and bless him for fighting and defeating Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver…

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.