# spoke these words to them

"spoke what Joseph told him to say"

# Why does my master speak such words as these?

Here "words" stands for what was said. The brothers refer to the steward as "my master." This is a formal way of speaking to someone with greater authority. It can be stated in the second person. AT: "Why are you saying this, my master?" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person]])

# Far be it from your servants that they would do such a thing.

The brothers refer to themselves as "your servants" and "they." This is a formal way of speaking to someone with greater authority. AT: "We would never do such a thing!" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person]])

# Far be it from your servants

Something that a person would never do is spoken of as if it were an object that person wants to put very far from himself. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/manager]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/word]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lord]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/servant]]