Kejadian 44:13-16

44:13 They all tore their clothes! Then each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

44:14 So Judah and his brothers ¹  came back to Joseph’s house. He was still there, ²  and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ³  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ⁴ 

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ⁵  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ⁶  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ⁷  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

[44:14]  ¹ sn Judah and his brothers. The narrative is already beginning to bring Judah to the forefront.

[44:14]  ² tn The disjunctive clause here provides supplemental information.

[44:15]  ³ tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”

[44:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.

[44:16]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.