Genesis 43:6

6 And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?

Genesis 43:6 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 43:6

And Israel said
In answer to the speech of Judah: wherefore dealt ye [so] ill with me;
had done that which brought so much evil upon him, gave him so much grief and trouble, and threw him into such perplexity and distress, that he knew not what to do, or course to take: [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
which he thought was done imprudently and unadvisedly, and that there was no need of it; which, had it not been done, would have prevented this anxiety of mind he was now in, and the mischief he feared would follow.

Genesis 43:6 In-Context

4 If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food:

5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you.

6 And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother?

7 And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living? have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother?

8 Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction.