What Does Genesis 42:29 Mean?
And they came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that met them, saying,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,THE KEY
Their report turns what came upon them into what stands before their father.
THE MEANING
An experience can still be on its way home after you arrive; what befell you becomes present to another when you bring it into words. The journey enters the room again through the telling.
THE ROOT
הַקֹּרֹת
haqqorot
GROWS FROM
קרה
q-r-h
Happen, come upon, encounter.
“met” in this verse is haqqorot. The Hebrew word gathers the brothers’ experiences as what came upon them. The same root can describe an event or a chance encounter, holding together what English often separates into “befell,” “happened,” and “chance.”
ALSO GROWS
qarah: To happen or befall.
קָרָה
This is the root behind the brothers’ account of what came upon them.
miqreh: An event, occurrence, or chance.
מִקְרֶה
In 1 Samuel 6:9 the same root appears in “a chance that happened to us,” showing how one Hebrew seed can surface in English as both an occurrence and something that befalls.
וַיַּגִּידוּ
vayyaggidu
GROWS FROM
נגד
n-g-d
Make known, declare, bring into view.
The verb translated “told” carries the sense of making something known, setting it before another. Together, the two verbs show the brothers bringing what came upon them into view before Jacob.
ALSO GROWS
higgid: To make known or report.
הִגִּיד
It names the act by which the brothers bring their experiences before their father.
neged: Before, in front of, or opposite.
נֶגֶד
This related form echoes the image of a report set in front of its receiver.
nagid: A leader or one who stands in front.
נָגִיד
This related word carries the sense of standing in view, echoing how the report makes events present to Jacob.
THE PATTERN
What happens on the way travels beyond the moment when those who lived it bring it into words before another.
And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.And they talked with one another about all these things that had come together.For we cannot keep from speaking what we have perceived and heard.THE THREAD
And he said, My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm meets him on the road on which you go, then you will bring my gray hairs down with sorrow to the grave.The same root for “befell” returns when Jacob fears what may befall Benjamin. The brothers tell what has already come upon them; Jacob hears that account alongside the possibility of what may yet come upon his youngest son.
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