Kejadian 42:7

42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ²  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ³ 

Kejadian 44:16

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ⁴  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ⁵  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ⁶  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

Kejadian 47:4

47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents ⁷  in the land. There ⁸  is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

[42:7]  ¹ sn But pretended to be a stranger. Joseph intends to test his brothers to see if they have changed and have the integrity to be patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He will do this by putting them in the same situations that they and he were in before. The first test will be to awaken their conscience.

[42:7]  ² tn Heb “said.”

[42:7]  ³ tn The verb is denominative, meaning “to buy grain”; the word “food” could simply be the direct object, but may also be an adverbial accusative.

[44:16]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ⁵ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ⁶ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[47:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “to sojourn.”

[47:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “for there.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.