en_tn/gen/44/16.md

# What can we say to my master? What can we speak? Or how can we justify ourselves?

All 3 questions mean basically the same thing. They use these questions to emphasize that there is nothing they can say to explain what happened. AT: "We have nothing to say, my master. We cannot speak anything of value. We cannot justify ourselves." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])

# What can we say to my master ... my master's slaves

Here "my master" refers to Joseph. This is a formal way of speaking to someone with greater authority. It can be stated in second person. AT: "What can we say to you ... your slaves" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person]])

# God has found out the iniquity of your servants

Here "found out" does not mean God just found out what the brothers did. It means God is now punishing them for what they did. AT: "God is punishing us for our past sins"

# the iniquity of your servants

The brothers refer to themselves as "your servants." This is a formal way of speaking to someone with greater authority. It can be stated in first person. AT: "our iniquity" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person]])

# he also in whose hand the cup was found

Here "hand" stands for the whole person. Also, "was found" can be stated in active form. AT: "the one who had your cup" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])

# Far be it from me that I should do so

Something that a person would never do is spoken of as if it were an object the person wants put far away from him. AT: "It is not like me to do something like that" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# The man in whose hand the cup was found

Here "hand" stands for the whole person. Also, "was found" can be stated in active form. AT: "The man who had my cup" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])