Bible Strands
Genesis 40:7
So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joseph addresses Pharaoh’s officials while they are detained together in his master’s house, speaking immediately after observing their visible distress.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּשְׁאַל (va.yish'al) means "and he asked," framing a direct inquiry into their downcast faces that records their visible state before any explanation is offered.
The thread — This motif of questioning a sorrowful countenance recurs in Nehemiah 2:2, 1 Samuel 1:8, and Judges 18:24, where observers note visible grief and demand a direct account of its cause.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to recognize that observable distress warrants immediate, unfiltered inquiry, establishing direct observation as the necessary precursor to interpretation or counsel.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 2:2 so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear
- 1 Samuel 1:8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
- Judges 18:24 He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
- 2 Samuel 13:4 and he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
- Luke 24:17 He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stood still, with sadness on their faces.