My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
The words are Judah's, spoken in his plea to Joseph for Benjamin, recalling Joseph's earlier question to his servants whether they had a father or a brother. That original question was put to learn about their family, whether their father or a brother was still living, and whether Benjamin was still alive and with their father. By repeating it Judah introduced the family circumstances behind Benjamin's journey to Egypt, together with his own concern for the lad and his pledge to protect him.
Judah went on to explain that their father had been reluctant to let Benjamin go down to Egypt. He declared that his father's life was bound up with the lad's, so that loss of the boy would bring grief upon the aged father. This account prepared his final appeal to remain himself as a slave in Benjamin's place, that Benjamin might return to their father.
The words are Judah's, spoken in his plea to Joseph for Benjamin, recalling Joseph's earlier question to his servants whether they had a father or a brother. That original question was put to learn about their family, whether their father or a brother was still living, and whether Benjamin was still alive and with their father. By repeating it Judah introduced the family circumstances behind Benjamin's journey to Egypt, together with his own concern for the lad and his pledge to protect him.
Judah went on to explain that their father had been reluctant to let Benjamin go down to Egypt. He declared that his father's life was bound up with the lad's, so that loss of the boy would bring grief upon the aged father. This account prepared his final appeal to remain himself as a slave in Benjamin's place, that Benjamin might return to their father.