^43:3But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned² us, ‘You will not see my face³ unless your brother is with you.’ ^43:4If you send⁴ our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy food for you. ^43:5But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

^43:6Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble⁵ on me by telling⁶ the man you had one more brother?”

^43:7They replied, “The man questioned us⁷ thoroughly⁸ about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’⁹ So we answered him in this way.¹⁰ How could we possibly know¹¹ that he would say,¹² ‘Bring your brother down’?”

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Footnotes

2 The infinitive absolute with the finite verb stresses the point. The primary meaning of the verb is “to witness; to testify.” It alludes to Joseph’s oath, which was tantamount to a threat or warning.
3 The idiom “see my face” means “have an audience with me.”
4 Heb “if there is you sending,” that is, “if you send.”
5 The verb may even have a moral connotation here, “Why did you do evil to me?”
6 The infinitive construct here explains how they brought trouble on Jacob.
7 The word “us” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 The infinitive absolute with the perfect verbal form emphasizes that Joseph questioned them thoroughly.
9 The report given here concerning Joseph’s interrogation does not exactly match the previous account where they supplied the information to clear themselves (see 42:13). This section may reflect how they remembered the impact of his interrogation, whether he asked the specific questions or not. That may be twisting the truth to protect themselves, not wanting to admit that they volunteered the information. (They admitted as much in 42:31, but now they seem to be qualifying that comment.) On the other hand, when speaking to Joseph later (see 44:19), Judah claims that Joseph asked for the information about their family, making it possible that 42:13 leaves out some of the details of their first encounter.
10 Heb “and we told to him according to these words.”
11 The infinitive absolute emphasizes the imperfect verbal form, which here is a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of a past time).
12 Once again the imperfect verbal form is used as a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of past time).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ” Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ”

Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?”

They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ”

“Why have you caused me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?”

They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

NLTNew Living Translation

But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food. But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either. Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ”

“Why were you so cruel to me?” Jacob moaned. “Why did you tell him you had another brother?”

“The man kept asking us questions about our family,” they replied. “He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How could we know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Judah said to him, “The man solemnly admonished us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you, but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ” Then Israel said, “Why did you bring trouble to me by telling the man you still had a brother?” And they said, “The man asked explicitly about us and about our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother?’ And we answered him according to these words. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring down your brother’?”

KJV 1900King James Version

And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

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