Genesis 42:30

 Genesis 42:30

The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

a. NASB 1995:  “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: “The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: The man who is the lord of the land spoke roughly to us and took us for spies of the country.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: The man, the lord of the land,spoke harshly to us and considered us as spying out the land. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.”

a. [The] man [Strong: 376 ʼîysh, eesh; contracted for H582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant); a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation):—also, another, any (man), a certain, champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), none, one, people, person, steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy.]

b. [who is the] lord [Strong: 113 ʼâdôwn, aw-done'; or (shortened) אָדֹן ʼâdôn; from an unused root (meaning to rule); sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine):—lord, master, owner.

c. [of the] land [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × nations, way, + wilderness, world.]

d. spake [Strong: 1696 dâbar, daw-bar'; a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:—answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.]

e. roughly [Strong: 7186 qâsheh, kaw-sheh'; from H7185; severe (in various applications):—churlish, cruel, grievous, hard((-hearted), thing), heavy, impudent, obstinate, prevailed, rough(-ly), sore, sorrowful, stiff(necked), stubborn, in trouble.

f. [to] us [Strong: 854 ʼêth, ayth; probably from H579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:—against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

g. [and] took [Strong: 5414 nâthan, naw-than'; a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.):—add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, × avenge, × be (healed), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, × doubtless, × without fail, fasten, frame, × get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), × have, × indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), lie, lift up, make, O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, × pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up), sing, slander, strike, (sub-) mit, suffer, × surely, × take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, weep, willingly, withdraw, would (to) God, yield.]

h. us [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

i. [for] spies [Strong: 7270 râgal, raw-gal'; a primitive root; also as denominative from H7272 to walk along; but only in specifically, applications, to reconnoiter, to be a tale-bearer (i.e. slander); to lead about:—backbite, search, slander, (e-) spy (out), teach to go, view.]

j. [of the] country [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × nations, way, + wilderness, world.]

1). Although he knew they were not spies he accused them of being spies. This was one part of the plan that Joseph used in order to test them. He at first said that they would all be thrown in prison except the one who would go get the younger brother, then he threw them all in prison for three days perhaps to jolt their consciences.

2). Joseph settled on a strategy of allowing 9 brothers to carry back the food for their families, while one was kept bound as insurance they would fulfill the bargain.