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

17So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. 18On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. If you really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. 20But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die.” To this they agreed. 21Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.”

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 40:3and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard.
• Isaiah 42:7You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.
• Jeremiah 37:15They were furious with Jeremiah and had him flogged and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary. Jonathan’s house had been converted into a prison.
• Genesis 42:1When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another?
• Genesis 41:56So with severe famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt.
• Genesis 43:1But the famine continued to ravage the land of Canaan.
• Genesis 45:23He also sent his father ten male donkeys loaded with the finest products of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other supplies he would need on his 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