Genesis 43:18
וַיִּֽירְאוּ הָֽאֲנָשִׁים כִּי הֽוּבְאוּ בֵּית יוֹסֵף וַיֹּאמְרוּ עַל־דְּבַר הַכֶּסֶף הַשָּׁב בְּאַמְתְּחֹתֵינוּ בַּתְּחִלָּה אֲנַחְנוּ מֽוּבָאִים לְהִתְגֹּלֵל עָלֵינוּ וּלְהִתְנַפֵּל עָלֵינוּ וְלָקַחַת אֹתָנוּ לַעֲבָדִים וְאֶת־חֲמֹרֵֽינוּ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיִּֽירְא֣וּ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֗ים כִּ֣י הֽוּבְאוּ֮ בֵּ֣ית יוֹסֵף֒ וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ עַל־דְּבַ֤ר הַכֶּ֙סֶף֙ הַשָּׁ֤ב בְּאַמְתְּחֹתֵ֙ינוּ֙ בַּתְּחִלָּ֔ה אֲנַ֖חְנוּ מֽוּבָאִ֑ים לְהִתְגֹּלֵ֤ל עָלֵ֙ינוּ֙ וּלְהִתְנַפֵּ֣ל עָלֵ֔ינוּ וְלָקַ֧חַת אֹתָ֛נוּ לַעֲבָדִ֖ים וְאֶת־חֲמֹרֵֽינוּ׃
ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ἄνθρωποι ὅτι εἰσηνέχθησαν εἰς τὸν οἶκον ἸωσὴΦ εἶπαν Διὰ τὸ ἀργύριον τὸ ἀποστραφὲν ἐν τοῖς μαρσίπποις ἡμῶν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἡμεῖς εἰσαγόμεθα, τοῦ συκοφαντῆσαι ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπιἡμῖν, τοῦ λαβεῖν ἡμᾶς εἰς παῖδας καὶ τοὺς ὄνους ἡμῶν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Ibique exterriti, dixerunt mutuo: Propter pecuniam, quam retulimus prius in saccis nostris, introducti sumus: ut devolvat in nos calumniam, et violenter subjiciat servituti et nos, et asinos nostros.
Pero ellos se asustaron al ver que los llevaban a la casa de José, y pensaron: “Nos traen aquí por el dinero que apareció en nuestros costales la primera vez. Seguro que nos van a tender una trampa, nos atacarán, nos convertirán en sus esclavos y se quedarán con nuestros burros”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y aquellos hombres tuvieron temor, cuando fueron metidos en casa de José, y decían: Por el dinero que fué vuelto en nuestros costales la primera vez nos han metido aquí, para revolver contra nosotros, y dar sobre nosotros, y tomarnos por siervos á nosotros, y á nuestros asnos.
But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph ’s house. “ We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “ They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
The brothers become afraid upon realizing they have been brought into Joseph's house. They reason among themselves that this must be connected to the silver that had returned in their sacks on the earlier journey, and they fear a plot to overpower them and reduce them and their donkeys to slavery.
Key words
- yi.re.'U ("they were afraid", H3372) — qal narrative form, marking the men's emotional reaction as the next event in the story sequence.
- hu.ve.'U ("they were brought", H0935) — hophal (causative-passive) perfect: the action is completed and the subject is acted upon, not acting.
- mu.va.'Im ("[are] being brought", H0935) — hophal passive participle, describing an ongoing state of being brought, echoing the same passive verb root used earlier for the completed action.
- hit.go.Lel ("roll himself", H1556) — hithpael (reflexive/reciprocal) infinitive, an idiomatic expression built on the root for "rolling."
- hit.na.Pel ("throw himself", H5307) — hithpael infinitive, paired with the previous word, both governed by the preposition le ("to").
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative vav on yi.re.'U ("they were afraid"), followed immediately by a causal clause introduced by ki ("that/because"): the men were afraid because they had been brought (hu.ve.'U, hophal) into the house of Joseph. The hophal stem here places the brothers in a passive role — something is done to them, not by them — which sets the tone for their fear.
Their internal speech, introduced by va.yo.me.Ru ("and they said"), restates their situation using the same passive root again: mu.va.'Im ("we are being brought"), now as a participle describing their present condition rather than a completed act. They link this to "the matter of the silver" (de.Var ha.Ke.sef) that had "returned" (Shav, a qal participle) in their sacks "at the beginning" (ba.te.chi.Lah), i.e., on the earlier trip.
The feared outcome is expressed through two hithpael infinitives in sequence — le.hit.go.Lel ("to roll himself") and u.le.hit.na.Pel ("to throw himself"), each followed by 'a.Lei.nu ("upon us"). These reflexive/reciprocal forms describe someone acting forcefully against them, followed by la.Ka.chat 'o.Ta.nu la.'a.va.Dim ("to take us as slaves") and the seizure of cha.mo.Rei.nu ("our donkeys").
Differences between versions
The Hebrew idioms le.hit.go.Lel ("to roll [himself]") and le.hit.na.Pel ("to throw [himself]") are rendered in the LXX as "to slander/falsely accuse us" (συκοφαντῆσαι) and "to attack us" (ἐπιθέσθαι), shifting the imagery from physical rolling/falling to verbal accusation. The Vulgate similarly renders the first infinitive as "devolvat...calumniam" ("might roll upon us a false accusation"), introducing the notion of calumny not explicit in the Hebrew verbs themselves, while keeping a sense of violent subjection ("violenter subiiciat servituti") for the second.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.