Genesis 43:20

20 and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,

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 Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys."
19 So they came near to Joseph's house steward , and spoke to him at the entrance of the house,
20 and said, "Oh, my lord , we indeed came down the first time to buy food,
21 and it came about when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and behold, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full. So we have brought it back in our hand.
22 "We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks."
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