Genesis 42:10

Summary

In this verse, Joseph's brothers respond to an accusation by denying it and stating their true purpose: they explain that they, his servants, have come only to buy food. The reply combines a negation with a term of respectful address and a description of their action using an infinitive of purpose.

Key words

• yomeru ("they said", H0559) — qal narrative form, marking the next event in the story's sequence ("and then they said").
• adoni ("my lord", H0113) — construct noun with a first-person singular suffix, literally "lord of me," used as a term of deferential address toward the person spoken to.
• avadeikha ("your servants", H5650) — construct noun with second-person masculine singular suffix, the brothers referring to themselves in the third person as a mark of submission.
• ba'u ("they have come", H0935) — qal perfect, indicating a completed action prior to the moment of speaking.
• lishbor ("to buy", H7666) — infinitive construct with the preposition li ("to"), expressing purpose: "in order to buy."

What the text says

The sentence opens with the narrative verb yomeru ("they said", H0559), introducing direct speech. The negation lo ("no", H3808) stands immediately before adoni ("my lord", H0113), producing the short, emphatic denial "No, my lord" — a direct rejection of whatever charge preceded (context indicates an accusation of espionage, though that clause is not part of this verse). The construct form adoni with the first-person suffix marks the brothers positioning themselves as subordinate to the addressee.

The conjunction va ("and", H9002) then introduces the second clause, where the subject shifts to avadeikha ("your servants", H5650) — the brothers describing themselves in third person rather than "we," reinforcing the deferential tone established by adoni. The verb ba'u ("they have come", H0935) is a qal perfect, presenting their arrival as an already-completed fact. The purpose of that arrival is given through the infinitive construct lishbor ("to buy", H7666), governed by the preposition li, followed by the object okhel ("food", H0400).

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the bare negation lo ("no", H3808) as "Non est ita" ("it is not so"), adding an explanatory phrase not present in the Hebrew, which simply juxtaposes "no" with "my lord." The LXX (Swete) matches the Hebrew more closely with οὐχί, κύριε ("no, lord"). Among the modern translations given, RV1909 and BSB render adoni as "my lord," matching the Hebrew's first-person suffix, while SBLIBRE renders it "señor nuestro" ("our lord"), a divergence from the singular suffix attested in the Hebrew form adoni.