And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

His servants came to him, and said to him: Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it: how much rather what he now hath said to thee: Wash, and thou shalt he clean?

And his servants drew near, and spoke to him and said, My father, if the prophet had bidden thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he says to thee, Wash and be clean?

And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

And his servants come nigh, and speak unto him, and say, 'My father, a great thing had the prophet spoken unto thee, dost thou not do it? and surely, when he hath said unto thee, Wash, and be clean.'

And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid you do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much rather then, when he said to you, Wash, and be clean?

Then his servants came to him and said, If the prophet had given you orders to do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much more then, when he says to you, Be washed and become clean?

his servants approached him, and they said to him: "If the prophet had told you, father, to do something great, certainly you ought to have done it. How much more so, now that he has said to you: 'Wash, and you will be clean?' "

My father - A title of the highest respect and affection.
Had bid thee do some great thing - If the prophet had appointed thee to do something very difficult in itself, and very expensive to thee, wouldst thou not have done it? With much greater reason shouldst thou do what will occupy little time, be no expense, and is easy to be performed.

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, (g) My father, [if] the prophet had bid thee [do some] great thing, wouldest thou not have done [it]? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
(g) This declares that servants should reverence and love their masters as children their fathers, and likewise masters toward their servants, must be affectioned as toward their children.

And his servant came near, and spake unto him, and said, my father,.... Or my lord, as the Targum; this being not a familiar and affectionate expression, but a term of honour, reverence, and submission:
if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? something that was hard and difficult to done, or painful to bear, to go through some severe operation, or disagreeable course of physic:
how much rather then when he saith to thee, wash, and be clean? which is so easy to be done; though Abarbinel observes it may be interpreted, the prophet has bid thee do a great thing, and which is wonderful; for though he has said, wash and be clean, consider it a great thing, and which is a wonderful mystery, and therefore do not despise his cure.

His servants then addressed him in a friendly manner, and said, "My father, if the prophet had said to thee a great thing (i.e., a thing difficult to carry out), shouldst thou not have done it? how much more then, since he has said to thee, Wash, and thou wilt be clean?" אבי, my father, is a confidential expression arising from childlike piety, as in 2-Kings 6:21 and 1-Samuel 24:12; and the etymological jugglery which traces אבי from לבי = לוי = לוּ (Ewald, Gr. 358, Anm.), or from אם (Thenius), is quite superfluous (see Delitzsch on Job, vol. ii. p. 265, transl.). - דּבּר...גּדול דּבר is a conditional clause without אם (see Ewald, 357, b.), and the object is placed first for the sake of emphasis (according to Ewald, 309, a.). כּי אף, how much more (see Ewald, 354, c.), sc. shouldst thou do what is required, since he has ordered thee so small and easy a thing.

My father - Or, our father. So they call him, to shew their reverence and affection to him.