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880 B
880 B
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)