Genesis 44:18

Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Judah	יְהוּדָ֗ה ye.hu.Dah	H3063	Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a man's name
near	וַיִּגַּ֨שׁ vai.yi.Gash	H5066	to be or come (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
said	וַיֹּאמֶר֮ vai.yo.Mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Oh	בִּ֣י bi	H994	oh that! · interjection
lord	אֲדֹנִי֒ 'a.do.Ni	H113	sovereign · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
servant	עַבְדְּךָ֤ 'av.de.Kha	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
speak	יְדַבֶּר ye.da.ber-	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
word	דָבָר֙ da.Var	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine singular absolute
lord’s	אֲדֹנִ֔י 'a.do.Ni	H113	sovereign · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
ears	בְּאָזְנֵ֣י be.'a.ze.Nei	H241	broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
anger	אַפְּךָ֖ 'a.pe.Kha	H639	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
burn	יִ֥חַר Yi.char	H2734	to glow or grow warm · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
servant	בְּעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ be.'av.De.kha	H5650	a servant · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Pharaoh	כְּפַרְעֹֽה ke.far.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · preposition + noun, masculine singular absolute

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

Exodus 32:22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
Genesis 18:30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will no…
Genesis 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Genesis 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will no…
Genesis 41:44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
2 Samuel 14:12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
Esther 1:12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned…
Job 33:31 Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I will speak.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 44:18–end

We have here a most ingenious and pathetic speech which Judah made to Joseph on Benjamin's behalf, to obtain his discharge from the sentence passed upon him. Perhaps Judah was a better friend to Benjamin than the rest were, and more solicitous to bring him off; or he thought himself under greater obligations to attempt it than the rest, because he had passed his word to his father for his safe return; or the rest chose him for their spokesman, because he was a man of better sense, and better spirit, and had a greater command of language than any of them. His address, as it is here recorded, is so very natural and so expressive of his present feelings that we cannot but suppose Moses, who wro…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 44:16

Judah said, What shall we say?--This address needs no comment--consisting at first of short, broken sentences, as if, under the overwhelming force of the speaker's emotions, his utterance were choked, it becomes more free and copious by the effort of speaking, as he proceeds. Every word finds its way to the heart; and it may well be imagined that Benjamin, who stood there speechless like a victim about to be laid on the altar, when he heard the magnanimous offer of Judah to submit to slavery for his ransom, would be bound by a lifelong gratitude to his generous brother, a tie that seems to have become hereditary in his tribe. Joseph's behavior must not be viewed from any single point, or in…

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Adam Clarke on Genesis 44:18

Thou art even as Pharaoh - As wise, as powerful, and as much to be dreaded as he. In the Asiatic countries, the reigning monarch is always considered to be the pattern of all perfection; and the highest honor that can be conferred on any person, is to resemble him to the monarch; as the monarch himself is likened, in the same complimentary way, to an angel of God. See Sa2 14:17, Sa2 14:18. Judah is the chief speaker here, because it was in consequence of his becoming surety for Benjamin that Jacob permitted him to accompany them to Egypt. See Gen 43:9. "Every man who reads," says Dr. Dodd, "to the close of this chapter, must confess that Judah acts here the part both of the affectionate brot…

The Church Fathers

ERRONEOUS NARRATION OF JUDAH. — In Judah's account many things are said differently than Joseph had dealt with his brethren, even though Joseph had spoken with him. And this goes so far as to say nothing at all of that accusation that they were spies. But it is not clear whether things were stopped voluntarily or if this omission caused the forgetfulness, due to the concern. Because even what they said about Joseph asking them about their father and his brother, and that they answered those things when asked, it is strange that this narrative can even reach a point of view that it is true. However, although there are some false things in the story, the author was mistaken for forgetting rather than daring to lie, especially for one whom the author included in the story, not as who knew nothing, but as one who, even the things he knew, knew to move his mercy. [
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 146 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

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

Judah — Praise, the fourth son of Jacob by Leah. The name originated in Leah’s words of praise to the Lord on account of his birth: “Now will I praise [Heb. odeh] Jehovah, and she called his name Yehudah”…
Judah · .Goes down into Egypt for corn (grain) — .Goes down into Egypt for corn (grain)
Readings, Select · General references — General references

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 44:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 44:18–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 44:16

Adam Clarke on Genesis 44:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 44:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 44:18–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 44:16

Adam Clarke on Genesis 44:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 44:18

John Calvin on Genesis 44:18–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 44:18-20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 44:18-34

Rashi on Genesis 44:18