The man, the lord of the land translates the Hebrew literally. It is the brothers’ way of speaking of Joseph as the ruler of the country. Good News Translation says “The governor of Egypt,” Bible en français courant “The man who is the governor of the country,” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “The man who governs in that country.” All of these are good models. Some translators may wish to take account of their own political structure; for example, “The head man of that country,” “The prime minister,” or “The second-in-command there.”

Spoke roughly to us: see verse 7. Us in this verse and the other first person plural pronouns down to the end of verse 32 are all exclusive, whether the brothers are speaking to their father or reporting what they said to Joseph.

Took us to be spies of the land: that is, “said that we were spying against his country” or “treated us like spies.” See also Good News Translation “accused us of spying.” See verse 9 for suggestions for translating spies.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .