the Second Week after Easter
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Bishop's Bible
Genesis 42:11
Bible Study Resources
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We are all one man's sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies."
We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
We all are sons of one man. We are honest men. We, your servants, are not spies."
We are all sons of the same father. We are honest men, not spies."
We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies."
"We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies."
"We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies."
Wee are all one mans sonnes: wee meane truely, and thy seruants are no spies.
We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants are not spies."
We're honest men, and we come from the same family—we're not spies."
We're all the sons of one man, we're upright men; your servants aren't spies."
We are all one man's sons; we are honest: thy servants are not spies.
We are all brothers—we all have the same father. We are honest men. We have come only to buy food."
We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies."
We are all one mans sons; we are pious men; your servants are not spies.
We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men."
“We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.”
We are all of us sons of one man; we are honest; your servants are not spies.
we are all one mans sonnes, we are vnfayned, and thy seruauntes were neuer spyes.
We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
We are all one man's sons, we are true men; we have not come with any secret purpose.
We are all one man's sons; we are upright men, thy servants are no spies.'
We are all one mans sonnes, we are true men: thy seruants are no spies.
we are all sons of one man; we are peaceable, thy servants are not spies.
We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies."
alle we ben the sones of o man, we comen pesible, and thi seruauntis ymaginen not ony yuel.
we [are] all of us sons of one man, we [are] right men; thy servants have not been spies;'
We are all sons of one man; we are true men, your slaves are no spies.
We [are] all one man's sons; we [are] true [men]; thy servants are no spies.
We are all one man's sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies."
We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies."
We are all brothers—members of the same family. We are honest men, sir! We are not spies!"
We are all sons of one man. We do not lie. Your servants are not working against you in secret."
We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants have never been spies."
All of us, are, sons of one man, - honest men, are we: thy servants are not, spies.
We are all the sons of one man: we are come as peaceable men, neither do thy servants go about any evil.
We are all sons of one man, we are honest men, your servants are not spies."
"We are all sons of one man; we are honest men, your servants are not spies."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
We are: etc. We do not belong to different tribes; and it is not likely that one family would make a hostile attempt upon a whole kingdom; nor, if any serious design had been intended, that one man would have sent his sons on so hazardous an expedition.
true men: Genesis 42:19, Genesis 42:33, Genesis 42:34, John 7:18, 2 Corinthians 6:4
Reciprocal: Genesis 42:13 - Thy servants Genesis 42:31 - true Genesis 43:27 - Is your father well Genesis 43:29 - of whom
Cross-References
If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bonde in the house of your pryson: and go ye, carry corne to put away the famine from your housholde.
And the Lorde of the countrey sayde agayne vnto vs, Hereby shall I know that ye meane truely: leaue one of your brethren here with me, and take [foode] to put away the famine fro your householdes, and get you away.
And bring your youngest brother vnto me, that I may knowe that you are no spyes, but meane truely: so wyll I deliuer you your brother, and ye shall occupie in the lande.
He that speaketh of hym selfe, seketh his owne praise: But he that seketh his praise that sent hym, the same is true, & no vnryghteousnes is in hym.
But in all thynges let vs behaue our selues as ye ministers of God, in much pacience, in afflictions, in necessities, in anguisshes,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
We [are] all one man's sons,.... Therefore not likely to be spies; it could hardly be thought that a single family should engage in such an affair; or that one man would, send his sons as spies, and especially all of them, it being a dangerous affair, and they being liable to be taken up and put to death; and as more families than one must be concerned in such an enterprise, it is reasonable to suppose, that if they had been spies they would have been of different families, and also not together, but in different parts of the kingdom, to observe the fittest place to enter in at and execute their design:
we [are] true [men]: that spoke truth when they said they came to buy corn; were honest, upright, and sincere in what they said, nor would they, nor durst they, tell a lie:
thy servants are no spies; this they expressed in the strongest terms, and with the fullest assurance they could, detesting the charge and character of being spies.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Joseph and Ten of His Brethren
1. שׁבר sheber, “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain).
6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ, “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch.
25. כלי kelı̂y, “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq, “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.”
Twenty years, the period of Joseph’s long and anxious waiting, have come to an end. The dreams of his boyhood are now at length to be fulfilled. The famine has reached the chosen family, and they look at one another perplexed and irresolute, not knowing what to do.
Genesis 42:1-5
The aged Jacob is the only man of counsel. “Behold, I have heard there is grain in Mizraim:” go down and buy. The ten brothers are sent, and Benjamin, the youngest, is retained, not merely because of his youth, for he was now twenty-four years of age, but because he was the son of his father’s old age, the only son of Rachel now with him, and the only full brother of the lost Joseph. “Lest mischief befall him,” and so no child of Rachel would be left. “Among those that went.” The dearth was widespread in the land of Kenaan.
Genesis 42:6-17
The ten brothers meet with a rough reception from the lord of the land. “The governor” - the sultan. This, we see, is a title of great antiquity in Egypt or Arabia. Joseph presided over the cornmarket of the kingdom. “Bowed down to him with their faces to the earth.” Well might Joseph think of those never-to-be-forgotten dreams in which the sheaves and stars bowed down to him. “And knew them.” How could he fail to remember the ten full-grown men of his early days, when they came before him with all their peculiarities of feature, attitude, and mother tongue. “And he made himself strange unto them.” All that we know of Joseph’s character heretofore, and throughout this whole affair, goes to prove that his object in all his seemingly harsh treatment was to get at their hearts, to test their affection toward Benjamin, and to bring them to repent of their unkindness to himself.
“They knew not him.” Twenty years make a great change in a youth of seventeen. And besides, with his beard and head shaven, his Egyptian attire, his foreign tongue, and his exalted position, who could have recognized the stripling whom, twenty years ago, they had sold as a slave? “Spies are ye.” This was to put a color of justice on their detention. To see the nakedness of the land, not its unfortified frontier, which is a more recent idea, but its present impoverishment from the famine. “Sons of one man are we.” It was not likely that ten sons of one man would be sent on the hazardous duty of spies. “And behold the youngest is with our father this day.” It is intensely interesting to Joseph to hear that his father and full brother are still living. “And one is not.” Time has assuaged all their bitter feelings, both of exasperation against Joseph and of remorse for their unbrotherly conduct. This little sentence, however, cannot be uttered by them, or heard by Joseph, without emotion. “By the life of Pharaoh.” Joseph speaks in character, and uses an Egyptian asseveration. “Send one of you.” This proposal is enough to strike terror into their hearts. The return of one would be a heavy, perhaps a fatal blow to their father. And how can one brave the perils of the way? They cannot bring themselves to concur in this plan. Sooner will they all go to prison, as accordingly they do. Joseph is not without a strong conviction of incumbent duty in all this. He knows he has been put in the position of lord over his brethren in the foreordination of God, and he feels bound to make this authority a reality for their moral good.
Genesis 42:18-25
After three days, Joseph reverses the numbers, allowing nine to return home, and retaining one. “This do and live.” Joseph, notwithstanding the arbitrary power which his office enabled him to exercise, proves himself to be free from caprice and unnecessary severity. He affords them a fair opportunity of proving their words true, before putting them to death on suspicion of espionage. “The God do I fear.” A singular sentence from the lord paramount of Egypt! It implies that the true God was not yet unknown in Egypt. We have heard the confession of this great truth already from the lips of Pharaoh Genesis 41:38-39. But it intimates to the brothers the astonishing and hopeful fact that the grand vizier serves the same great Being whom they and their fathers have known and worshipped; and gives them a plain hint that they will be dealt with according to the just law of heaven.
“Carry grain for your houses.” The governor then is touched with some feeling for their famishing households. The brothers, though honoring their aged father as the patriarch of their race, had now their separate establishments. Twelve households had to be supplied with bread. The journey to Egypt was not to be undertaken more than once a year if possible, as the distance from Hebron was upwards of two hundred miles. Hence, the ten brothers had with them all their available beasts of burden, with the needful retinue of servants. We need not be surprised that these are not especially enumerated, as it is the manner of Scripture to leave the secondary matters to the intelligence and experience of the reader, unless, as in the case of Abraham’s three hundred and eighteen trained servants, they happen to be of essential moment in the process of events. “Your youngest brother.” Joseph longs to see his full brother alive, whom he left at home a child of four summers. “Verily guilty are we concerning our brother.”
Their affliction is beginning to bear the fruit of repentance. “Because we saw the distress of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear.” How vividly is the scene of Joseph’s sale here brought before us. It now appears that he besought them to spare him, and they would not hear! “This distress.” Retribution has come at last. “His blood is required.” Reuben justly upbraids them with their hardness of heart. Their brother’s blood is required; for murder was intended, and when he was sold his death was pretended. “The interpreter was betwixt them.” The dragoman was employed in holding conversation with them. But Joseph heard the spontaneous expressions of remorse, coming unprompted from their lips. The fountain of affection is deeply stirred. He cannot repress the rising tear. He has to retire for a time to recover his composure. He now takes, not Reuben, who was not to blame, but Simon, the next oldest, and binds him before them: a speaking act. He then gives orders to supply them with corn (grain), deposit their money in their sacks without their knowledge, and furnish them with provision for the way. Joseph feels, perhaps, that he cannot take money from his father. He will pay for the corn out of his own funds. But he cannot openly return the money to his brothers without more explanation than he wishes at present to give.
Genesis 42:26-34
The nine brothers return home and record their wonderful adventure. “In the inn;” the lodge or place where they stopped for the night. This place was not yet perhaps provided with even the shelter of a roof. It was merely the usual place of halting. They would probably occupy six or seven days on the journey. Apparently at the first stage one opened his sack to give provender to his ass. The discovery of the silver in its mouth strikes them with terror. In a strange land and with an uneasy conscience they are easily alarmed. It was not convenient or necessary to open all the bags on the way, and so they make no further discovery.
Genesis 42:35-38
Upon emptying the other sacks all the silver turns up, to their great amazement and consternation. Jacob laments the loss of his son. Reuben offers two of his sons to Jacob as pledges for Benjamin, to be slain if he did not bring him back in safety. The sorrowing parent cannot yet bring himself to consent to Benjamin’s departure on this hazardous journey. “And ye shall bring down.” Jacob either speaks here in the querulous tone of afflicted old age, or he had come to know or suspect that his brothers had some hand in the disappearance of Joseph.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 42:11. We are all one man's sons — We do not belong to different tribes, and it is not likely that one family would make a hostile attempt upon a whole kingdom. This seems to be the very ground that Joseph took, viz., that they were persons belonging to different tribes. Against this particularly they set up their defence, asserting that they all belonged to one family; and it is on the proof of this that Joseph puts them, Genesis 42:15, in obliging them to leave one as a hostage, and insisting on their bringing their remaining brother; so that he took exactly the same precautions to detect them as if he had had no acquaintance with them, and had every reason to be suspicious.
