Genesis 42:22

Then Joseph’s oldest brother Reuben, he said to the others, “You know, I told you mob not to hurt Joseph, but you didn’t listen to me. And look, now God is doing payback to us.”

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

In Context

21Then Joseph’s brothers talked to each other in their own language. They said, “You know, a long time ago, we made bad trouble for our brother Joseph. We chucked him into a big hole in the ground, and then we sold him to some men from the Midian tribe. At that time, we saw that he was really frightened, and he asked us strongly to be good to him, but we didn’t listen. That’s the reason why we’ve got this bad trouble now. God is punishing us for those things that we did to Joseph.”

23Joseph listened to his brothers, and he understood what they said, because he knew their language. But Joseph’s brothers didn’t know that he understood them. You see, Joseph always talked to his brothers in the Egypt language, then somebody else talked to them in their own language and told them what Joseph said. So they thought he only talked the Egypt language.

Read all of Genesis 42

Cross References

Genesis 4:10God said to Cain, “You did a really bad thing. Your brother’s blood is on the ground. It’s like his blood is calling out to me. It is telling me you killed him.

Genesis 9:6You see, I made people to be like myself, so they are important. So if somebody kills another person dead, you have to kill that murderer dead.

Genesis 37:29Joseph’s brother Reuben was somewhere else, so he didn’t see his brothers sell Joseph to that Midian mob. He thought that Joseph was still in that hole in the ground. And Reuben wanted to save Joseph, so he went to that hole to get him out. But he saw that Joseph wasn’t in that hole any more, and he got really upset. He was so upset that he tore his clothes.

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:22-29

Reflections of Joseph's Brethren. ( b. c. 1706.) 21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. 23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. 24 And… Read the whole commentary →

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