Genesis 42:9
New International Version
Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

New Living Translation
And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

English Standard Version
And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

Berean Standard Bible
Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

King James Bible
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

New King James Version
Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

New American Standard Bible
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.”

NASB 1995
Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.”

NASB 1977
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts of our land.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them and said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the nakedness of the land.”

Amplified Bible
Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies; you have come [with a malicious purpose] to observe the undefended parts of our land.”

Christian Standard Bible
Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land."”

American Standard Version
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Yoseph remembered the dream that he dreamt of them and said to them, “You are spies and you have come to notice the report of the land.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Joseph remembered his dream, which he saw; and he said to them, Ye are spies; to observe the marks of the land are ye come.

Contemporary English Version
Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them and said, "You're spies! You've come here to find out where our country is weak."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And remembering the dreams, which formerly he had dreamed, he said to them: You are spies. You are come to view the weaker parts of the land.

English Revised Version
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then he remembered the dreams he once had about them. "You're spies!" he said to them, "And you've come to find out where our country is unprotected."

Good News Translation
He remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said, "You are spies; you have come to find out where our country is weak."

International Standard Version
Furthermore, Joseph remembered the dreams that he had about them. So he accused them, "You're spies! You've come here to spy on our undefended territories!"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them: 'Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.'

Literal Standard Version
and Joseph remembers the dreams which he dreamed of them and says to them, “You [are] spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

Majority Standard Bible
Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

New American Bible
he was reminded of the dreams he had about them. He said to them: “You are spies. You have come to see the weak points of the land.”

NET Bible
Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, "You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!"

New Revised Standard Version
Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them. He said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

New Heart English Bible
Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies. You have come to look for the vulnerabilities of the country."

Webster's Bible Translation
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said to them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land have ye come.

World English Bible
Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

Young's Literal Translation
and Joseph remembereth the dreams which he dreamed of them, and saith unto them, 'Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye have come.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Joseph's Brothers Sent to Egypt
8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” 10“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.…

Cross References
Genesis 37:6
He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had:

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."

2 Samuel 10:3
the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, "Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?"


Treasury of Scripture

And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said to them, You are spies; to see the nakedness of the land you are come.

remembered.

Genesis 37:5-9
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more…

Ye are spies.

Genesis 42:9,16,30,31,34
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come…

Numbers 13:2,16-20
Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them…

Joshua 2:1
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

nakedness.

Exodus 32:35
And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

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Dreamed Dreams Dreamt Exposed Joseph Memory Nakedness Parts Places Remembered Secretly Spies Undefended Unprotected Weakness
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Dreamed Dreams Dreamt Exposed Joseph Memory Nakedness Parts Places Remembered Secretly Spies Undefended Unprotected Weakness
Genesis 42
1. Jacob sends his ten sons to buy grain in Egypt.
16. They are imprisoned by Joseph as spies.
18. They are set at liberty, on condition to bring Benjamin.
21. They have remorse for Joseph.
24. Simeon is kept for a pledge.
25. They return with grain, and their money.
29. Their relation to Jacob.
36. Jacob refuses to send Benjamin.














(9) Ye are spies.--This is the suspicion under which every traveller labours in the East; but in those days the whole Semitic race was especially looked upon in Egypt with distrust, and, as we saw in Genesis 12:15. a chain of fortresses had been built to protect the land from their incursions. Such an arrival, therefore, as that of Joseph's brethren would be a matter of state, worthy of the attention of the highest officials; and probably they had themselves come prepared to be assailed with the accusation of having political objects in view in their visit.

The nakedness of the land.--That is, its defenceless condition, from the want of fortresses and garrisons. Egypt was chiefly assailable on the side of Palestine, and was often at war with the Hittites there. So also the Hyksos, who subdued Egypt, were Semites from Palestine, and thus there was reason for looking closely at visitors from that quarter.

Verse 9. - And Joseph remembered (i.e. the sight of his brethren prostrating themselves before him recalled to his mind) the dreams which he dreamed (or had dreamed) of them (vide Genesis 37:5) and said unto them, Ye are spies (literally, ye are spying, or going about, so as to find out, the verb רָגַל signifying to move the feet); to see the nakedness of the land - not its present impoverishment from the famine (Murphy), but is unprotected and unfortified state (Keil). Cf. urbs nuda praesidio (Cic., 'Att.,' 7:13); taurus nudatus defensoribus (Caes., 'Bell. Gall.,' 2:6); τεῖχος ἐυμνώθη (Homer, 'Iliad,' 12:399) - ye are come. The Egyptians were characteristically distrustful of strangers, - AEgyptii prae aliis gentibus diffi-dere solebant peregrinis (Rosenmüller), - whom they prevented, when possible, from penetrating into the interior of their country (Wilkinson's 'Ancient Egyptians,' vol 1.p. 328, ed. 1878). In particular Joseph's suspicion of his Canaanitish brethren was perfectly natural, since Egypt was peculiarly open to attacks from Palestine (Herodotus, 3:5). Verss. 10-12. - And they said unto him. Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. "They were not filled with resentment at the imputation" cast upon them by Joseph; "or, ff they were angry, their pride was swallowed up by fear" (Lawson). We are all one man's sons; we are true men, i.e. upright, honest, viri bonae fidei (Rosenmüller), rather than εἰρηνικοὶ (LXX.), pacifici (Vulgate) - thy servants are no spies. It was altogether improbable that one man should send ten sons at the same time and to the same place on the perilous business of a spy, hence the simple mention of the fact that they were ten brethren was sufficient to establish their sincerity. Yet Joseph affected still to doubt them. And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come - assuming a harsh and almost violent demeanor hot out of heartless cruelty (Kalisch), but in order to hide the growing weakness of his heart (Candlish).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Joseph
יוֹסֵ֔ף (yō·w·sêp̄)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3130: Joseph -- 'he increases', a son of Jacob, also the name of several Israelites

remembered
וַיִּזְכֹּ֣ר (way·yiz·kōr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2142: To mark, to remember, to mention, to be male

his dreams
הַחֲלֹמ֔וֹת (ha·ḥă·lō·mō·wṯ)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2472: A dream

about them
לָהֶ֑ם (lā·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

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

“You
אַתֶּ֔ם (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

are spies!
מְרַגְּלִ֣ים (mə·rag·gə·lîm)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 7270: To walk along, to reconnoiter, to be a, tale-bearer, to lead about

You have come
בָּאתֶֽם׃ (bā·ṯem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to see
לִרְא֛וֹת (lir·’ō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7200: To see

if our land
הָאָ֖רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

[is] vulnerable.”
עֶרְוַ֥ת (‘er·waṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 6172: Nakedness


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OT Law: Genesis 42:9 Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 42:8
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