Genesis 43:20

20 and said, ¹"Oh, my lord, ²we 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Genesis 43:20 In-Context

18 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, "It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys."

19 So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house,

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

21 And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us,

22 and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks."

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 44:18
• 2. Genesis 42:3, 10