Genesis 42:21 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 42:21
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
one
אִ֣ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
another
אָחִ֗יו'a.Chiv
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
verily
אֲבָל֮'a.Val
H61
nay · interjection
guilty
אֲשֵׁמִ֣ים'a.she.Mim
H818
guilty · adjective, masculine plural absolute
brother
אָחִינוּ֒'a.chi.Nu
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
that
אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sher
H834
who · relative particle
saw
רָאִ֜ינוּra.'I.nu
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common plural
anguish
צָרַ֥תtza.Rat
H6869
tightness (i.e. figuratively · noun, common feminine singular construct
soul
נַפְשׁ֛וֹnaf.Sho
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
Genesis 37:23-28 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on h…
Job 36:8-9 And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction;
Mark 9:43-45 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fi…
Genesis 41:9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
Numbers 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
Judges 1:7 And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I h…
2 Samuel 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:21-28
Here is, I. The penitent reflection Joseph's brethren made upon the wrong they had formerly done to him, Gen 42:21. They talked the matter over in the Hebrew tongue, not suspecting that Joseph, whom they took for a native of Egypt, understood them, much less that he was the person they spoke of.
1. They remembered with regret the barbarous cruelty wherewith they persecuted him: We are verily guilty concerning our brother. We do not read that they said this during their three days' imprisonment; but now, when the matter had come to some issue and they saw themselves still embarrassed, now they began to relent. Perhaps Joseph's mention of the fear of God (Gen 42:18) put them upon consideration…
put them . . . into ward three days--Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Gen 42:21-22].
Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:21
We are verily guilty - How finely are the office and influence of conscience exemplified in these words! It was about twenty-two years since they had sold their brother, and probably their conscience had been lulled asleep to the present hour. God combines and brings about those favorable circumstances which produce attention and reflection, and give weight to the expostulations of conscience. How necessary to hear its voice in time, for here it may be the instrument of salvation; but if not heard in this world, it must be heard in the next; and there, in association with the unquenchable fire, it will be the never-dying worm. Reader, has not thy sin as yet found thee out? Pray to God to tak…
And they said one to another,.... Before they went out of the prison, at least while in the presence of Joseph:
we are verily guilty concerning our brother; meaning Joseph, whom they had sold for a slave, and who they supposed was dead through grief and hard servitude; and now being in trouble themselves, it brings to mind the sin they had been guilty of, which, though committed twenty two years ago, was still fresh in their memories, and lay heavy on their consciences; for length of time neither makes sin less, nor the conscience lighter, when it is revived and charged home upon it, and which was aggravated particularly by the following circumstance:
in that we saw the anguish of his soul…
The Church Fathers
If we notice carefully, dearly beloved, we will realize that Joseph did to his brothers what we believe God did to blessed Jacob. Truly he was so holy that he could not have hated them. Therefore we must believe that he wearied them with so many tribulations, in order to arouse them to a confession of their sin and the healing of repentance. Finally, with great grief, they said they suffered those ills deservedly, because they had sinned against their brother, "whose anguish of heart they witnessed." Since blessed Joseph knew that his brothers could not be forgiven their sin of murder without much penance, once, twice and a third time he worried them with salutary trials as with a spiritual fire. His purpose was not to vindicate himself but to correct them and free them from so grave a sin. Furthermore, before they confessed their sin and consumed the crime that they had committed by mutual reproaches, he did not cause himself to be recognized or give them the kiss of peace. However, when Joseph saw them humbly afflicted for the sin they had committed, he kissed them one by one and wept over each one, moistening their necks as they trembled in fear with the dew of his tears and washing away the hatred of his brothers with the tears of charity.
This, you see, is what sin is like: when it is done and takes effect, then it shows the excess of its own impropriety. Just as an inebriate imbibes great quantities of drink without feeling any harmful effects of the wine but later comes to know the extent of the damage from his exploits, so too with sin. When it is committed, it clouds the mind, and like a dense fog it blinds the intellect, but later conscience is stirred and flays the mind unmercifully with every kind of accusation, highlighting the impropriety of what was done. Notice, after all, in this case too, these men coming to their senses, and, when they saw danger pressing upon them from all sides, they then admitted what had been done by them and said, "True, we are being punished for our brother since we ignored his distress of spirit." It is not idly or to no purpose, they are saying, that we suffer this, but rightly so, and quite rightly: we are paying the penalty for the inhumanity and savagery we displayed toward our brother. "We ignored his distress of spirit when he pleaded with us without our heeding him." Since we proved lacking in compassion, they say, and displayed great savagery, hence we too now experience the same: "So for this reason this distress has come upon us."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Joseph — Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add…
Conviction · .Joseph’s brother, on account of their cruelty to Joseph — .Joseph’s brother, on account of their cruelty to Joseph
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And they said one to another. This is a remarkable passage, showing that the sons of Jacob, when reduced to the greatest straits, recall to memory a fratricide committed thirteen years previously. Before affliction pressed upon them, they were in a state of torpor. Moses relates that, even lately, they had spoken without agitation of Joseph's death, as if conscious to themselves of no evil. But now they are compelled (so to speak) to enter into their own consciences. We see then, how in adversity, God searches and tries men; and how, while dissipating all their flattering illusions, he not only pierces their minds with secret fear, but extorts a confession which they would gladly avoid. And…
On the third day Joseph modified his severity. "This do and live," i.e., then ye shall live: "I fear God." One shall remain in prison, but let the rest of you take home "corn for the famine of your families," and fetch your youngest brother, that your words may be verified, and ye may not die, i.e., may not suffer the death that spies deserve. That he might not present the appearance of despotic caprice and tyranny by too great severity, and so render his brethren obdurate, Joseph stated as the reason for his new decision, that he feared God. From the fear of God, he, the lord of Egypt, would not punish or slay these strangers upon mere suspicion, but would judge them justly. How differently…
Clearly we are being punished: The brothers sensed that having to bring Benjamin back to Egypt against their father’s wishes was God’s punishment for their having sold Joseph to the traders. The sense of divine retribution began to awaken feelings of remorse that Joseph’s cries for mercy and their father’s tears (37:34-35) had failed to arouse.
Rashi on Genesis 42:21
אבל VERILY — It is to be understood as the Targum renders it: בקושטא “in truth”. I have seen a statement in (Genesis Rabbah 91:8) that in the Roman (Latin) language אבל means ברם (verum) truly, indeed.
באה אלינו [THIS DISTRESS] HAS COME UPON US — The word באה has the accent upon the ב because it is the perfect tense — for it had already come upon them. The Targum therefore renders it by אתת which is a perfect tense in Aramaic — it has come.
