Genesis 44:3

 Genesis 44:3

As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

a. NASB 1995: As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Amplified Bible: As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.  [AMPLIFIED BIBLE 2015 AMP Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: The day dawned and the men were sent off, they and their donkeys.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.  [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. Amplified Bible: As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.  [AMPLIFIED BIBLE 2015 AMP Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.]

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

1. “As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.”

a. [As soon as the] morning [Strong: 1242 bôqer, bo'-ker; from H1239; properly, dawn (as the break of day); generally, morning:—(+) day, early, morning, morrow.]

b. [was] light [Strong: 215 ʼôwr, ore; a primitive root; to be (causative, make) luminous (literally and metaphorically):—× break of day, glorious, kindle, (be, en-, give, show) light (-en, -ened), set on fire, shine.]

c. [the] men [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.]

d. [were] sent away [Strong: 7971  shâlach, shaw-lakh'; a primitive root; to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications):—× any wise, appoint, bring (on the way), cast (away, out), conduct, × earnestly, forsake, give (up), grow long, lay, leave, let depart (down, go, loose), push away, put (away, forth, in, out), reach forth, send (away, forth, out), set, shoot (forth, out), sow, spread, stretch forth (out).]

e. they [Strong: 1992 hêm, haym; or (prolonged) הֵמָּה hêmmâh; masculine plural from H1931; they (only used when emphatic):—it, like, × (how, so) many (soever, more as) they (be), (the) same, × so, × such, their, them, these, they, those, which, who, whom, withal, ye.]

f. [and their] asses [Strong: 2543 chămôwr, kham-ore'; or (shortened) חֲמֹר chămôr; from H2560; a male ass (from its dun red):—(he) ass.]

1). 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.