Kejadian 44:5

44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup ¹  and use it for divination? ²  You have done wrong!’” ³ 

Kejadian 44:10

44:10 He replied, “You have suggested your own punishment! ⁴  The one who has it will become my slave, ⁵  but the rest of ⁶  you will go free.” ⁷ 

Kejadian 44:12

44:12 Then the man ⁸  searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack!

Kejadian 44:16

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ⁹  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ¹⁰  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ¹¹  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

[44:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Is this not what my master drinks from.” The word “cup” is not in the Hebrew text, but is obviously the referent of “this,” and so has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[44:5]  ² tn Heb “and he, divining, divines with it.” The infinitive absolute is emphatic, stressing the importance of the cup to Joseph.

[44:5]  ³ tn Heb “you have caused to be evil what you have done.”

[44:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “Also now, according to your words, so it is.” As the next statement indicates, this does mean that he will do exactly as they say. He does agree with them the culprit should be punished, but not as harshly as they suggest. Furthermore, the innocent parties will not be punished.

[44:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found will become my slave.”

[44:10]  ⁶ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:10]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word נָקִי (naqi) means “acquitted,” that is, free of guilt and the responsibility for it.

[44:10]  sn The rest of you will be free. Joseph’s purpose was to single out Benjamin to see if the brothers would abandon him as they had abandoned Joseph. He wanted to see if they had changed.

[44:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:16]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.