Genesis 42:9

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, 'You are spies! You have come to see the weakness of the land.'

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּזְכֹּ֣ר יוֹסֵ֔ף אֵ֚ת הַחֲלֹמ֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָלַ֖ם לָהֶ֑ם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲלֵהֶם֙ מְרַגְּלִ֣ים אַתֶּ֔ם לִרְא֛וֹת אֶת־עֶרְוַ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ בָּאתֶֽם׃

Transliteration

And wayyizkōr yôsēp ʾēt haḥălōmôt which ḥālam for-them, and wayyōʾmer to-them: mĕraggĕlîm you, to-lirʾôt ʾet-ʿerwat hāʾāreṣ bāʾtem.

Grammar Details

• *wayyizkōr*: waw-consecutive qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he remembered
• *yôsēp*: proper noun, masculine singular - Joseph
• *ʾēt*: direct object marker
• *haḥălōmôt*: definite article + noun, masculine plural - the dreams
• *ḥālam*: qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he dreamed
• *wayyōʾmer*: waw-consecutive qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he said
• *mĕraggĕlîm*: piel participle, masculine plural - spies
• *lirʾôt*: preposition + qal infinitive construct - to see
• *ʿerwat*: noun, feminine singular construct - nakedness of
• *hāʾāreṣ*: definite article + noun, feminine singular - the land
• *bāʾtem*: qal perfect, 2nd masculine plural - you have come

Word Meanings

• *mĕraggĕlîm*: spies/scouts
• *ʿerwat*: nakedness/vulnerability/weakness

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (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.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  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 have come.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  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.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  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.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  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.

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  And Ioseph remembred his dreames which he dreamed of them and sayde vnto them: ye are spies and to se where the lande is weake is youre comynge.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And Ioseph thought vpon ye dreames that he had dreamed of them, and sayde vnto them: Ye are spyes, and are come to se where the lande is open.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And Ioseph remembred the dreames, which he dreamed of them) and he sayde vnto them, Ye are spies, and are come to see the weaknesse of the land.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And Ioseph remembred his dreames whiche he dreamed of them, and sayde vnto them: ye are spyes, and to see where the lande is weake, is your commyng.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  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 (1862/1898)

  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.'

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  Then the memory of his dreams about them came back to Joseph, and he said to them, You have come secretly to see how poor the land is.

• World English Bible (2000)

  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."

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  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!”

Referenced Verses

• Gen 37:5-9 : 5 One time Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 Joseph said to them, "Please listen to this dream I had. 7 "We were binding sheaves in the field when suddenly my sheaf stood up and remained upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine." 8 His brothers said to him, "Do you really think you will reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him even more for his dreams and his words. 9 Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. He said, "Look, I had another dream, and this time the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
• Gen 42:16 : 16 Send one of you to bring your brother; the rest of you will stay in prison. This will test whether your words are true. If not, then by the life of Pharaoh, you are spies.'
• Gen 42:30-31 : 30 They said, 'The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.' 31 'But we said to him, "We are honest men, not spies.
• Gen 42:34 : 34 Bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will release your brother to you, and you may trade in the land."'
• Exod 32:35 : 35 Then the LORD struck the people with a plague, because of what they had done with the calf Aaron had made.
• Num 13:2 : 2 Send men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. You are to send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a leader among them.
• Num 13:16-20 : 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to explore the land. Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua. 17 When Moses sent them to explore the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up through the Negev and then into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like, and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 Is the land they live in good or bad? Are the towns they dwell in unwalled or fortified? 20 And what is the land like—is it fertile or barren? Does it have trees or not? Be courageous, and bring back some of the fruit of the land.” It was the season for the first ripe grapes.
• Josh 2:1 : 1 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from Shittim, saying, "Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho." They went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
• Josh 6:23 : 23 So the young men who had scouted the land went in and brought out Rahab, along with her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and placed them outside the camp of Israel.
• Judg 1:24 : 24 The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, "Please show us how to enter the city, and we will treat you kindly."
• 1 Sam 26:4 : 4 David sent out spies and learned that Saul had definitely come.
• Luke 20:20 : 20 They watched him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere, so that they might trap him in something he said and hand him over to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
• Heb 11:31 : 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies in peace.