The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and treated us as spies of the land.

'The man, the lord of the land, hath spoken with us sharp things, and maketh us as spies of the land;

The man who is the ruler of the country was rough with us and put us in prison, saying that we had come with a secret evil purpose.

"The lord of the land spoke harshly to us, and he considered us to be scouts of the province.

Loquutus est vir dominus terrae nobiscum dura, et constituit nos tanquam exploratores terrae.

The man, who is the lord of the land,.... Of Egypt; not the king, but the deputy governor of it, whose authority under Pharaoh was very great, and reached to the whole land, and all political affairs, and especially what related to the corn, and the sale of it; he, say they:
spake roughly to us; gave them hard words, and stern looks, and used them in a very rough manner, see Genesis 42:7,
and took us for spies of the country; laid such a charge against them, and treated them as such; or "gave" them (d), committed them to prison as such.
(d) "et dedit", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt; "sive tradidit", Fagius, Vatablus.