Genesis 42:19

Genesis 42:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
• New International Version (NIV)If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households.
• English Standard Version (ESV)if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households,
• New King James Version (NKJV)If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses.

Context of Genesis 42:19

17He imprisoned them all for three days. 18On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say and you will live, for I fear God. If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison while the rest of you go and take grain back for your hungry families. 20But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then your words will be verified and you will not die.” They did as he said. 21They said to one other, “Surely we’re being punished because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!”

Genesis 42:19 word by word

אִם־כֵּנִ֣ים אַתֶּ֔ם אֲחִיכֶ֣ם אֶחָ֔ד יֵאָסֵ֖ר בְּבֵ֣ית מִשְׁמַרְכֶ֑ם וְאַתֶּם֙ לְכ֣וּ הָבִ֔יאוּ שֶׁ֖בֶר רַעֲב֥וֹן בָּתֵּיכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• trueכֵּןkên · rightH3651
• let oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• of your brethrenאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
• be boundאָסַר'âsar · to bindH631
• in the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• of your prisonמִשְׁמָרmishmâr · custodyH4929
• goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• ye, carryבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
• cornשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber · grainH7668
• for the famineרְעָבוֹןre‛âbôn · famineH7459
• of your housesבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004

Cross-references for Genesis 42:19

• Genesis 40:3so he imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard in the same facility where Joseph was confined.
• Isaiah 42:7to open blind eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons.
• Jeremiah 37:15The officials were very angry at Jeremiah. They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary, which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners.
• Genesis 42:1When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?”
• Genesis 41:56While the famine was over all the earth, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt.
• Genesis 43:1Now the famine was severe in the land.
• Genesis 45:23To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, food, and provisions for his father’s journey.

Commentaries on Genesis 42:19

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-38Verses 1-38 - Joseph and Ten of His Brethren 1. שׁבר sheber “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain). 6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch. 25. כלי kelı̂y “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.” Twenty years, the period of Joseph‘s long…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-20Verses 7-20 Joseph was hard upon his brethren, not from a spirit of revenge, but to bring them to repentance. Not seeing his brother Benjamin, he suspected that they had made away with him, and he gave them occasion to speak of their father and brother. God, in his providence, sometimes seems harsh with those he loves, and speaks roughly to those for whom yet he has great mercy in store. Joseph settled at last, that one of them should be left, and the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-20Rather than keep all but one, Joseph would release all but one to take grain home to their starving families.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-2417-24. put them ... into ward three days--Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Ge 42:21, 22].Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 42:19

• Commerce
• Dissembling
• Prison

In the dictionaries

• Bereave
• Corn
• Dungeon
• Espy
• Famine
• Fear
• Joseph
• Lade
• Lord
• Nakedness

Commentaries on Genesis 42

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings