Genesis 43:20

 Genesis 43:20

And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:

a. NASB 1995: And said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: And said, “O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food; [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: And said, O sir, we came down truly the first time to buy food; [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: And they said, “If you please, my lord: We had indeed come down originally to buy food.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: And said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. [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. “And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:”

a. [And] said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

b. O [Strong: 994 bîy, bee; perhaps from H1158 (in the sense of asking); properly, a request; used only adverbially (always with 'my Lord'); oh that!; with leave, or if it please:—alas, O, oh.] 

c. sir [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.]

d. [we] came [Strong: 3381 yârad, yaw-rad'; a primitive root; to descend (literally, to go downwards; or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy, etc.; or figuratively, to fall); causatively, to bring down (in all the above applications):—× abundantly, bring down, carry down, cast down, (cause to) come(-ing) down, fall (down), get down, go(-ing) down(-ward), hang down, × indeed, let down, light (down), put down (off), (cause to, let) run down, sink, subdue, take down.]

e. indeed down [Strong: 3381 yârad, yaw-rad'; a primitive root; to descend (literally, to go downwards; or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy, etc.; or figuratively, to fall); causatively, to bring down (in all the above applications):—× abundantly, bring down, carry down, cast down, (cause to) come(-ing) down, fall (down), get down, go(-ing) down(-ward), hang down, × indeed, let down, light (down), put down (off), (cause to, let) run down, sink, subdue, take down.]

f. [at the] first time [Strong: 8462 tᵉchillâh, tekh-il-law'; from H2490 in the sense of opening; a commencement; relatively original (adverb, -ly):—begin(-ning), first (time).]

g. [to] buy [Strong: 7666 shâbar, shaw-bar'; denominative from H7668; to deal in grain:—buy, sell.]

h. food [Strong: 400 ʼôkel, o'-kel; from H398; food:—eating, food, meal(-time), meat, prey, victuals.]

1). Joseph’s ten older brothers had been living with a guilty conscience for over twenty years, they must have thought of Joseph and wondered what had become of him in Egypt.

2). Why did Joseph deal with his brothers the way he did? Some Jewish writers maintain that before Joseph would reveal himself to his brothers he needed to know if they still hated him. If he showed himself here he would never know if they still hated him.  

3). Joseph accused them of being spies after he “remembered the dreams”. According to Genesis 42:6, one of the dreams had just been fulfilled. It is possible that God had already given Joseph the wisdom through dreams about to deal with his brothers before they had ever come to Egypt.