What Does Genesis 44:7 Mean?

They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!" The brothers' response to the accusation is immediate and forceful: "Far be it from your servants." This was their standard denial structure in Genesis 42 as well ("we have never been spies"), but the indignation is more personal here. "Why does my lord speak such words as these?": the accusation is received as almost an insult, an affront to their character. They have just come from a feast in the official's home; they return the official's cup? The logical implausibility of the accusation contributes to the emotional force of their denial: why would we steal from someone who just hosted us?

"Far be it from your servants to do such a thing": the phrase "far be it" (Hebrew: chalilah: God forbid, it is profane to us) is the strongest available repudiation, invoking the category of the unthinkable and morally prohibited. This is not a categorical they use lightly; it is the ultimate disclaimer. The same phrase will appear in Judah's speech in verse 17 and in verse 33: the moral vocabulary of the brothers throughout this chapter invokes the strongest available categories of impossibility and wrongness.

The brothers' absolute confidence in their innocence is the basis for the reckless oath they will make in verse 9. They know they did not steal; they are completely certain none of them stole anything. The certainty of their innocence is so complete that they are willing to offer the ultimate guarantee: whoever has the cup shall die; the rest of us become slaves. The complete confidence of the innocent produces an oath that will place them in exactly the jeopardy the test is designed to create.