Genesis 44:19

Literal Standard Version

My lord has asked his servants, saying, Do you have a father or brother?

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?'

King James Version
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

Lexham English Bible
My lord had asked his servants, saying, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?'

New Century Version
When we were here before, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?'

New English Translation
My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?'

Amplified Bible
"My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'

New American Standard Bible
"My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'

Geneva Bible (1587)
My Lord asked his seruants, saying, Haue ye a father, or a brother?

Legacy Standard Bible
My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?'

Contemporary English Version
You asked us if our father was still alive and if we had any more brothers.

Complete Jewish Bible
My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father? or a brother?'

Darby Translation
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

Easy-to-Read Version
When we were here before, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?'

English Standard Version
My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?'

George Lamsa Translation
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father, or a brother?

Good News Translation
Sir, you asked us, ‘Do you have a father or another brother?'

Christian Standard Bible®
My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’

Literal Translation
My lord asked his servants, saying, Is there a brother or a father to you?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
My lorde axed his seruauntes, and sayde: Haue ye yet a father or brother?

American Standard Version
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

Bible in Basic English
My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
My lorde asked his seruauntes, saying: haue ye a father, or a brother?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
My lord asked his servants, saying: Have ye a father, or a brother?

King James Version (1611)
My lord asked his seruants, saying; Haue ye a father, or a brother?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Sir, thou askedst thy servants, saying, Have ye a father or a brother?

English Revised Version
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

Berean Standard Bible
My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou axidist first thi seruauntis, Han ye a fadir, ether a brother?

Young's Literal Translation
My lord hath asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father or brother?

Update Bible Version
My lord asked his slaves, saying, Have you a father, or a brother?

Webster's Bible Translation
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

World English Bible
My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?'

New King James Version
My lord asked his servants, saying, "Have you a father or a brother?'

New Living Translation
"My lord, previously you asked us, your servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?'

New Life Bible
My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?'

New Revised Standard
My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
It was, my lord, who asked his servants, saying, - Have ye a father, or a brother?

Douay-Rheims Bible
My lord. Thou didst ask thy servants the first time: Have you a father or a brother.

Revised Standard Version
My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'

Contextual Overview

¹⁸And Judah comes near to him and says, "O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and do not let your anger burn against your servant—for you are as Pharaoh. ¹⁹My lord has asked his servants, saying, Do you have a father or brother?²⁰And we say to my lord, We have a father, an aged one, and a child of old age, a little one; and his brother died, and he is left alone of his mother, and his father has loved him. ²¹And you say to your servants, Bring him down to me, and I set my eye on him; ²²and we say to my lord, The youth is not able to leave his father, when he has left his father, then he has died; ²³and you say to your servants, If your young brother does not come down with you, you do not add to see my face. ²⁴And it comes to pass, that we have come up to your servant my father, that we declare to him the words of my lord; ²⁵and our father says, Return, buy for us a little food, ²⁶and we say, We are not able to go down; if our young brother is with us, then we have gone down; for we are not able to see the man's face, and our young brother not with us. ²⁷And your servant my father says to us, You have known that my wife bore two to me,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Genesis 42:7-10, Genesis 43:7, Genesis 43:29

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:7 - your sheaves Genesis 37:9 - the sun

Cross-References

Genesis 43:7
And they say, "The man asked diligently concerning us, and concerning our family, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have you a brother? And we declare to him according to the tenor of these things; do we certainly know that he will say, Bring down your brother?"

Genesis 43:29
And he lifts up his eyes and sees his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and says, "Is this your young brother, of whom you have spoken to me?" And he says, "God favor you, my son."

Genesis 44:7
and they say to him, "Why does my lord speak according to these words? Far be it from your servants to do according to this word;

Genesis 44:10
And he says, "Now also, according to your words, so it [is]; he with whom it is found becomes my servant, and you are acquitted";

Gill's Notes on the Bible

My lord asked his servants,.... The first time they came down to Egypt to buy corn; he puts him in mind of what passed between them at that time:

saying, have ye a father or a brother? which question followed upon their saying that they were the sons of one man, Genesis 42:11.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- The Ten Brothers Were Tested

Joseph has had the satisfaction of seeing his brother Benjamin safe and well. He has heard his brothers acknowledging their guilt concerning himself. He resolves to put their attachment to Benjamin, and the genuineness of their change of disposition, to a test that will at the same time expose Benjamin to no hazard.

Genesis 44:1-5

And my cup. - Besides returning each man’s money as before, a silver cup of Joseph’s is put in Benjamin’s bag, after which, when daylight comes, they are dismissed. They are scarcely out of the town when Joseph’s steward is ordered to overtake them, and charge them with stealing the cup. “And whereby indeed he divineth.” Divining by cups, we learn from this, was a common custom in Egypt (Herodotus ii. 83). It is here mentioned to enhance the value of the cup. Whether Joseph really practised any sort of divination cannot be determined from this passage.

Genesis 44:6-12

The cup is found in Benjamin’s bag. “Spake unto them these words.” The words of Joseph, supplying of course the mention of the cup which is expressed in the text only by the pronoun this. “We brought back to thee.” Silver that we might have retained, and to which you made no claim when we tendered it, we brought back. How or why should we therefore, steal silver? “Now also according to your words let it be.” He adopts their terms with a mitigation. He with whom the cup is found shall become a slave for life, and the rest be acquitted. The steward searches from the oldest to the youngest. The cup is found where it was put.

Genesis 44:13-17

“They rent their garments;” the natural token of a sorrow that knows no remedy. “And Judah went.” He had pledged himself for the safety of Benjamin to his father. And he was yet there; awaiting no doubt the result which he anticipated. “They fell before him on the earth.” It is no longer a bending of the head or bowing of the body, but the posture of deepest humiliation. How deeply that early dream penetrated into the stern reality! “Wot ye not that such a man as I doth certainly divine?” Joseph keeps up the show of resentment for a little longer, and brings out from Judah the most pathetic plea of its kind that ever was uttered. “The God,” the great and only God, “hath found out the iniquity of thy servants;” in our dark and treacherous dealing with our brother. “Behold, we are servants to my lord.” He resigns himself and all to perpetual bondage, as the doom of a just God upon their still-remembered crime. “He shall be my servant; and ye, go up in peace to your father.” Now is the test applied with the nicest adjustment. Now is the moment of agony and suspense to Joseph. Will my brothers prove true? says he within himself. Will Judah prove adequate to the occasion? say we. His pleading with his father augured well.

Verse 18-34

“And Judah came near unto him.” He is going to surrender himself as a slave for life, that Benjamin may go home with his brothers, who are permitted to depart. “Let thy servant now speak a word in the ears of my lord.” There is nothing here but respectful calmness of demeanor. “And let not thine anger burn against thy servant.” He intuitively feels that the grand vizier is a man of like feelings with himself. He will surmount the distinction of rank, and stand with him on the ground of a common humanity. “For so art thou as Pharaoh.” Thou hast power to grant or withhold my request. This forms, the exordium of the speech. Then follows the plea. This consists in a simple statement of the facts, which Judah expects to have its native effect upon a rightly-constituted heart. We will not touch this statement, except to explain two or three expressions. A young lad - a comparative youth. “Let me set mine eyes upon him” - regard him with favor and kindness. “He shall leave his father and he shall die.” If he were to leave his father, his father would die. Such is the natural interpretation of these words, as the paternal affection is generally stronger than the filial. “And now let thy servant now abide instead of the lad a servant to my lord.” Such is the humble and earnest petition of Judah. He calmly and firmly sacrifices home, family, and birthright, rather than see an aged father die of a broken heart.