Genesis 43:18

And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
men	הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֗ים ha.'a.na.Shim	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
afraid	וַיִּֽירְא֣וּ vai.yi.re.'U	H3372	to fear · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
brought	הֽוּבְאוּ֮ hu.ve.'U	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hophal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Joseph’s	יוֹסֵף֒ yo.Sef	H3130	Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
house	בֵּ֣ית beit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
said	וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ vai.yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Because	דְּבַ֤ר de.Var	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine singular construct
money	הַכֶּ֙סֶף֙ ha.Ke.sef	H3701	silver (from its pale color) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
returned	הַשָּׁ֤ב ha.Shav	H7725	to turn back (hence · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
sacks	בְּאַמְתְּחֹתֵ֙ינוּ֙ be.'am.te.cho.Tei.nu	H572	properly · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix
time	בַּתְּחִלָּ֔ה ba.te.chi.Lah	H8462	a commencement · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
in	מֽוּבָאִ֑ים mu.va.'Im	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hophal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
occasion	לְהִתְגֹּלֵ֤ל le.hit.go.Lel	H1556	to roll (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, hithpael infinitive construct
fall	וּלְהִתְנַפֵּ֣ל u.le.hit.na.Pel	H5307	to fall · conjunction + preposition + verb, hithpael infinitive construct
take	וְלָקַ֧חַת ve.la.Ka.chat	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
bondmen	לַעֲבָדִ֖ים la.'a.va.Dim	H5650	a servant · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
asses	חֲמֹרֵֽינוּ cha.mo.Rei.nu	H2543	a male ass (from its dun red) · noun, common both genders plural construct + pronominal suffix

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

Genesis 42:35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their fat…
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…
Genesis 42:28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, sayi…
Deuteronomy 22:14 And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found he…
Deuteronomy 22:17 And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter…
Judges 13:22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
Judges 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Phi…
Job 15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 43:15-25

Jacob's sons, having got leave to take Benjamin with them, were observant of the orders their father had given them, and went down the second time into Egypt to buy corn. If we should ever know what a famine of the word means, let us not think it much to travel as far for spiritual food as they did for corporal food. Now here we have an account of what passed between them and Joseph's steward, who, some conjecture, was in the secret, and knew them to be Joseph's brethren, and helped to humour the thing; I rather think not, because no man was permitted to be present when Joseph afterwards made himself known to them, Gen 45:1. Observe, 1. Joseph's steward has orders from his master (who was bu…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 43:18

the men were afraid--Their feelings of awe on entering the stately mansion, unaccustomed as they were to houses at all, their anxiety at the reasons of their being taken there, their solicitude about the restored money, their honest simplicity in communicating their distress to the steward and his assurances of having received their money in "full weight," the offering of their fruit present, which would, as usual, be done with some parade, and the Oriental salutations that passed between their host and them--are all described in a graphic and animated manner.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 43:18

And the men were afraid - A guilty conscience needs no accuser. Every thing alarms them; they now feel that God is exacting retribution, and they know not what the degrees shall be, nor where it shall stop. Fall upon us - התגלל עלינו hithgolel alainu, roll himself upon us. A metaphor taken from wrestlers; when a man has overthrown his antagonist, he rolls himself upon him, in order to keep him down. And our asses - Which they probably had in great number with them; and which, if captured, would have been a great loss to the family of Jacob, as such cattle must have constituted a principal part of its riches.

John Gill on Genesis 43:18

And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house,.... It not being usual, as Jarchi observes, for those that came to buy corn to lodge there, but at an inn in the city: and they said, because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; to examine and inquire of them how they came to go away without paying for their corn, take up their money again after they had laid it down, and take it away with them, and so were guilty of tricking and defrauding, if not of theft: that he may seek occasion against us: or "roll on us" (z); cast all the shame on them, and leave the reproach and scandal of it on them: and fall upon us; with hard wor…

The Church Fathers

But when the [brothers] saw Joseph's servants hurrying to unburden their beasts and to bring in their baggage, they said to themselves, grieving, "We have bereaved our father of Benjamin, and we shall never again see the face of our father. It was with treachery that our money was put into the openings of our packs, so that if we escape [the charge of] spying they might seize us and make us slaves [on the charge] of theft. Let us confess to the steward about the money before he begins to accuse us so that our brother Benjamin might free us from [the charge of] spying and the confession of our lips from [the charge of] theft."
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 37:4

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

Money · Silver used as — Silver used as
Servant · .Thieves punished by being ma — .Thieves punished by being ma
Servants · Divided into: Bond — Divided into: Bond
Treasure · .Money — .Money

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).

Genesis 43:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 43:15-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 43:18

Adam Clarke on Genesis 43:18

John Gill on Genesis 43:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 43:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 43:15-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 43:18

Adam Clarke on Genesis 43:18

John Gill on Genesis 43:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 43:16-22

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 43:16-25

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 43:18

Rashi on Genesis 43:18