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Genesis 42:22-24
New English Translation
Genesis 42:22-24
New English Translation
22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!”[a] 23 (Now[b] they did not know that Joseph could understand them,[c] for he was speaking through an interpreter.)[d] 24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again,[e] he had Simeon taken[f] from them and tied up[g] before their eyes.
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- Genesis 42:22 tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.
- Genesis 42:23 tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
- Genesis 42:23 tn “was listening.” The brothers were not aware that Joseph could understand them as they spoke the preceding words in their native language.
- Genesis 42:23 tn Heb “for [there was] an interpreter between them.” On the meaning of the word here translated “interpreter” see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ and M. A. Canney, “The Hebrew melis (Prov IX 12; Gen XLII 2-3),” AJSL 40 (1923/24): 135-37.
- Genesis 42:24 tn Heb “and he turned to them and spoke to them.”
- Genesis 42:24 tn Heb “took Simeon.” This was probably done at Joseph’s command, however; the grand vizier of Egypt would not have personally seized a prisoner.
- Genesis 42:24 tn Heb “and he bound him.” See the note on the preceding verb “taken.”
Genesis 42:22-24
New International Version
Genesis 42:22-24
New International Version
22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?(A) But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting(B) for his blood.”(C) 23 They did not realize(D) that Joseph could understand them,(E) since he was using an interpreter.
24 He turned away from them and began to weep,(F) but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.(G)
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