Genesis 44:18
New International Version
Then Judah went up to him and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.

New Living Translation
Then Judah stepped forward and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you. Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself.

English Standard Version
Then Judah went up to him and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.

King James Bible
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.

New King James Version
Then Judah came near to him and said: “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.

New American Standard Bible
Then Judah approached him and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.

NASB 1995
Then Judah approached him, and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.

NASB 1977
Then Judah approached him, and said, “Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Judah came near to him and said, “O my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.

Amplified Bible
Then Judah approached him, and said, “O my lord, please let your servant say a word to you in private, and do not let your anger blaze against your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh [so I speak as if directly to him].

Christian Standard Bible
But Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But Judah approached him and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.

American Standard Version
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh, my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Yehuda came near to him and said, “I beg of you my Lord, let your Servant speak a word before you my Lord, and let not your anger be hot against your Servant, because you are as Pharaoh.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Judas drew near him, and said, I pray, Sir, let thy servant speak a word before thee, and be not angry with thy servant, for thou art next to Pharao.

Contemporary English Version
Judah went over to Joseph and said: Sir, you have as much power as the king himself, and I am only your slave. Please don't get angry if I speak.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then Juda coming hearer, said boldly: I beseech thee, my lord, let thy servant speak a word in thy ears,and be not angry with thy servant: for after Pharao thou art,

English Revised Version
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then Judah went up to Joseph and said, "Please, sir, let me speak openly with you. Don't be angry with me, although you are equal to Pharaoh.

Good News Translation
Judah went up to Joseph and said, "Please, sir, allow me to speak with you freely. Don't be angry with me; you are like the king himself.

International Standard Version
But Judah approached him and begged him, "Your Excellency, please allow your servant to speak to you privately. Please don't be angry with your servant, since you are equal to Pharaoh.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then Judah came near unto him, and said: 'Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

Literal Standard Version
And Judah comes near to him and says, “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and do not let your anger burn against your servant—for you are as Pharaoh.

Majority Standard Bible
Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.

New American Bible
Judah then stepped up to him and said: “I beg you, my lord, let your servant appeal to my lord, and do not become angry with your servant, for you are the equal of Pharaoh.

NET Bible
Then Judah approached him and said, "My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. Please do not get angry with your servant, for you are just like Pharaoh.

New Revised Standard Version
Then Judah stepped up to him and said, “O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself.

New Heart English Bible
Then Judah approached him, and said, "My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word in the ears of my lord, and do not become angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then Judah came near to him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thy anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

World English Bible
Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.

Young's Literal Translation
And Judah cometh nigh unto him, and saith, 'O, my lord, let thy servant speak, I pray thee, a word in the ears of my lord, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant -- for thou art as Pharaoh.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judah Pleads for Benjamin
18Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’…

Cross References
Genesis 18:30
Then Abraham said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?" He replied, "If I find thirty there, I will not do it."

Genesis 18:32
Finally, Abraham said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?" And He answered, "On account of the ten, I will not destroy it."

Genesis 37:7
We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine."

Genesis 37:8
"Do you intend to reign over us?" his brothers asked. "Will you actually rule us?" So they hated him even more because of his dream and his statements.

Genesis 41:40
You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you."

Genesis 44:17
But Joseph replied, "Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace."

Exodus 32:22
"Do not be enraged, my lord," Aaron replied. "You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.


Treasury of Scripture

Then Judah came near to him, and said, Oh my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant: for you are even as Pharaoh.

Oh my Lord.

let thy.

Genesis 18:30,32
And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there…

2 Samuel 14:12
Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

Job 33:31
Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I will speak.

anger.

Exodus 32:22
And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

Esther 1:12
But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

Psalm 79:5
How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

as Pharaoh.

Genesis 41:40,44
Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou…

Proverbs 19:12
The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.

Daniel 3:15,19-23
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? …

Jump to Previous
Anger Angry Approached Burn Ears Equal Judah Lord's Pharaoh Please Servant Speak Word
Jump to Next
Anger Angry Approached Burn Ears Equal Judah Lord's Pharaoh Please Servant Speak Word
Genesis 44
1. Joseph's policy to stay his brothers.
6. The silver cup is found in Benjamin's sack.
14. They are brought before Joseph.
18. Judah's humble supplication to Joseph.














Verses 18-34. - Then Judah came near to him, and said, - the speech of Judah in behalf of his young brother Benjamin has been fittingly characterized as "one of the master. pieces of Hebrew composition" (Kalisch), "one of the grandest and fairest to be found in the Old Testament" (Lange), "a more moving oration than ever orator pronounced" (Lawson), "one of the finest specimens of natural eloquence in the world" (Inglis). Without being distinguished by either brilliant imagination or highly poetic diction, "its inimitable charm and excellence consist in the power of psychological truth, easy simplicity, and affecting pathos" (Kalisch) - Oh my lord (the interjection Oh is the same as that used by Judah in Genesis 43:20; q.v.), let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears (probably pressing towards him in his eagerness), and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh (i.e. one invested with the authority of Pharaoh, and therefore able, like Pharaoh, either to pardon or condemn). My lord asked his servants, saying, Have yea father, or a brother! And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age (vide Genesis 37:3), a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. Substantially this is the account which the brethren gave of themselves from the first (Genesis 42:13); only Judah now with exquisite tact as well as resistless pathos dwells on the threefold circumstance that the little one whose life was at stake was inexpressibly dear to his father for his dead brother's sake as well as for his departed mother's and his own. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. This last clause is also a rhetorical enlargement of Joseph's words, ἐπιμελοῦμαι αὐτοῦ (LXX.); the phrase, to set one's eyes on any one, being commonly used in a good sense, signifying to regard any one with kindness, to look to his good (cf. Ezra 5:5; Job 24:23; Jeremiah 39:12; Jeremiah 40:4). And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die. Judah in this no doubt correctly reports the original conversation, although the remark is not recorded in the first account. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more (cf. Genesis 43:3-5). And it came to pass (literally, it was) when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. The effect upon Jacob of their sad communication Judah does not recite (Genesis 42:36), but passes on to the period of the commencement of the second journey. And our father laid (i.e. after the consumption of the corn supply), Go again, and buy us a little food (vide Genesis 43:2). And we laid, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us. And thy servant my father said unto us (at this point Judah with increased tenderness alludes to the touching lamentation of the stricken patriarch as he first listens to the unwelcome proposition to take Benjamin from his side), Ye know that my wife - Rachel was all through her life the wife of his affections (cf. Genesis 46:19) - bare me two sons: - Joseph and Benjamin (Genesis 30:22, 24; Genesis 35:18) - and the one (Joseph) went out from me (and returned not, thus indirectly alluding to his death), and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since. Jacob means that had Joseph been alive, he would certainly have returned; but that as since that fatal day of his departure from Hebron he had never beheld him, he could only conclude that his inference was correct, and that Joseph was devoured by some beast of prey. And if ye take this also from me (in the sense which the next clause explains), and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave - Sheol (vide Genesis 37:35). Now therefore (literally, and now) when I come (or go) to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life (or soul) is bound up in the lad's life (or soul); it shall come to pass, when he sooth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever (vide Genesis 43:9). Now therefore (literally, and now), I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman (or servant) to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. "There was no duty that imperiously prohibited Judah from taking the place of his unfortunate brother. His children, and even his wife, if he had been in the married state, might have been sent to Egypt. He was so far master of his own liberty that he could warrantably put himself in Benjamin's room, if the governor gave his consent" (Lawson). For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on (literally, shall find) my father. The sublime heroism of this noble act of self-sacrifice on the part of Judah it is impossible to over-estimate. In behalf of one whom he knew was preferred to a higher place in his father's affection than himself, he was willing to renounce his liberty rather than see his aged parent die of a broken heart. The self-forgetful magnanimity of such an action has never been eclipsed, and seldom rivaled. After words so exquisitely beautiful and profoundly pathetic it was impossible for Joseph to doubt that a complete change had passed upon his brethren, and in particular upon Judah, since the day when he had eloquently urged, and they had wickedly consented, to sell their brother Joseph into Egypt. Everything was now ready for the denouement in this domestic drama. The story of Joseph's discovery of himself to his astonished brethren is related in the ensuing chapter.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Judah
יְהוּדָ֗ה (yə·hū·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3063: Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites

approached
וַיִּגַּ֨שׁ (way·yig·gaš)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5066: To draw near, approach

[Joseph]
אֵלָ֜יו (’ê·lāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

and said,
וַיֹּאמֶר֮ (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Sir,
בִּ֣י (bî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 994: Oh that!, with leave, if it please

please
נָ֨א (nā)
Interjection
Strong's 4994: I pray', 'now', 'then'

let your servant
עַבְדְּךָ֤ (‘aḇ·də·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

speak
יְדַבֶּר־ (yə·ḏab·ber-)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

personally to my lord.
אֲדֹנִ֔י (’ă·ḏō·nî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller

Do not
וְאַל־ (wə·’al-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

be angry
יִ֥חַר (yi·ḥar)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Jussive - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2734: To glow, grow warm, to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy

with your servant,
בְּעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ (bə·‘aḇ·de·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

for
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you are an equal to
כָמ֖וֹךָ (ḵā·mō·w·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3644: Like, as, when

Pharaoh.
כְּפַרְעֹֽה׃ (kə·p̄ar·‘ōh)
Preposition-k | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6547: Pharaoh -- a title of Egypt kings


Links
Genesis 44:18 NIV
Genesis 44:18 NLT
Genesis 44:18 ESV
Genesis 44:18 NASB
Genesis 44:18 KJV

Genesis 44:18 BibleApps.com
Genesis 44:18 Biblia Paralela
Genesis 44:18 Chinese Bible
Genesis 44:18 French Bible
Genesis 44:18 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Genesis 44:18 Then Judah came near to him (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 44:17
Top of Page
Top of Page