Genesis 43:20

20 "Please, sir," they said, "we came here to buy food once before.

Genesis 43:20 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 43:20

And said, O sir
Or, "on me, my lord" F1, one said in the name of the rest, perhaps Judah, on me let the blame lie, if guilty of rudeness in making our address to thee; or as the Vulgate Latin version, "we pray, sir, that thou wouldest hear us"; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra say the phrase is expressive of beseeching, entreating, and supplicating: we came indeed down at the first time to buy food;
not to spy the land but to buy corn, and not to get it by fraud or tricking but by paying for it the price that was required.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (ynda yb) "in me Domine mi", Montanus.

Genesis 43:20 In-Context

18 The men were frightened, because they had been brought to Joseph's house. They thought, "We've been brought here because of the money that was put back into our sacks the first time. They're going to attack us, overpower us, take our donkeys, and make us slaves."
19 So they came to the man in charge of Joseph's house and spoke to him at the door.
20 "Please, sir," they said, "we came here to buy food once before.
21 When we stopped for the night, we opened our sacks, and each man found all of his money inside. So we brought it back with us.
22 We also brought more money to buy food. We have no idea who put our money back in our sacks."
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