Genesis 42:20

Easy-to-Read Version

But then you must bring your youngest brother back here to me. Then I will know that you are telling the truth, and you will not have to die." The brothers agreed to this.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won't die." They did so.

King James Version
But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

Lexham English Bible
You must bring your youngest brother to me, and then your words will be confirmed and you will not die." And they did so.

New Century Version
Then bring your youngest brother back here to me. If you do this, I will know you are telling the truth, and you will not die." The brothers agreed to this.

New English Translation
But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then your words will be verified and you will not die." They did as he said.

Amplified Bible
but bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you will not die." And they did so.

New American Standard Bible
and bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and you will not die." And they did so.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But bring your yonger brother vnto me, that your wordes may be tried, and that ye dye not: and they did so.

Legacy Standard Bible
and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be proven true, and you will not die." And they did so.

Contemporary English Version
But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then I'll know that you are telling the truth, and you won't be put to death. Joseph's brothers agreed

Complete Jewish Bible
But bring your youngest brother to me. In this way your statements will be verified, and you won't die." So they did it.

Darby Translation
and bring your youngest brother to me, in order that your words be verified, and that ye may not die. And they did so.

English Standard Version
and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.

George Lamsa Translation
But bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so.

Good News Translation
Then you must bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you have been telling the truth, and I will not put you to death." They agreed to this

Christian Standard Bible®
Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.

Literal Translation
And you bring your youngest brother to me, and let your words be true, and you shall not die. And so they did.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& brynge me youre yongest brother, so wyll I beleue youre wordes, that ye shall not dye. And so they dyd.

American Standard Version
and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

Bible in Basic English
And come back to me with your youngest brother, so that your words may be seen to be true, and you will not be put to death. This is what you are to do.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But bryng your youngest brother vnto me, and so shal your wordes be tryed true, and ye shall not dye: & they dyd so.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.' And they did so.

King James Version (1611)
But bring your yongest brother vnto mee, so shall your wordes be verified, and yee shall not die: and they did so.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And bring your younger brother to me, and your words shall be believed; but, if not, ye shall die. And they did so.

English Revised Version
and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

Berean Standard Bible
Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die." And to this they consented.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
in to youre housis, and brynge ye youre leeste brother to me, that Y may preue youre wordis, and ye die not. Thei diden as he seide,

Young's Literal Translation
and your young brother ye bring unto me, and your words are established, and ye die not;' and they do so.

Update Bible Version
and bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so.

Webster's Bible Translation
But bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

World English Bible
Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won't die." They did so.

New King James Version
And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.

New Living Translation
But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die." To this they agreed.

New Life Bible
Then bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be proven true. And you will live." So they did what he said.

New Revised Standard
and bring your youngest brother to me. Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they agreed to do so.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and your youngest brother, shall ye bring in unto me, that your words may be confirmed, and ye die not. And they did so.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may find your words to be true, and you may not die. They did as he had said.

Revised Standard Version
and bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die." And they did so.

Contextual Overview

⁷ Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted like he didn't know them. He was rude when he spoke to them. He said, "Where do you come from?" The brothers answered, "We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food." ⁸ Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not know who he was. ⁹ Then Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about his brothers. Joseph said to his brothers, "You have not come to buy food! You are spies. You came to learn where we are weak." ¹⁰ But the brothers said to him, "No, sir, we come as your servants. We have come only to buy food. ¹¹ We are all brothers—we all have the same father. We are honest men. We have come only to buy food." ¹² Then Joseph said to them, "No, you have come to spy on us!" ¹³ And the brothers said, "No, sir, we come as servants from Canaan. We are all brothers, sons of the same father. There were twelve brothers in our family. Our youngest brother is still at home with our father, and the other brother died a long time ago." ¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, "No! I can see that I am right. You are spies. ¹⁵ But I will let you prove that you are telling the truth. In the name of Pharaoh, I swear that I will not let you go until your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ One of you must go back to get your youngest brother while the rest of you stay here in prison. Then we can prove whether you are telling the truth or not. If you are not telling the truth, then by Pharaoh, I swear that you are spies!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

bring: Genesis 42:15, Genesis 42:34, Genesis 43:5, Genesis 43:19, Genesis 44:23

And they: Genesis 42:26, Genesis 6:22, John 2:5

Reciprocal: Genesis 42:7 - roughly unto them Genesis 42:33 - General Genesis 44:21 - Bring

Cross-References

Genesis 6:22
Noah did everything God commanded him.

Genesis 42:15
But I will let you prove that you are telling the truth. In the name of Pharaoh, I swear that I will not let you go until your youngest brother comes here.

Genesis 42:26
So the brothers put the grain on their donkeys and left.

Genesis 42:34
Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know if you are honest men or if you were sent from an army to destroy us. If you are telling the truth, I will give your brother back to you. I will give him to you, and you will be free to buy grain in our country.'"

Genesis 43:5
But if you refuse to send Benjamin, we will not go. The man warned us to not come back without him."

Genesis 43:19
So the brothers went to the servant in charge of Joseph's house.

Genesis 44:23
But you said to us, ‘You must bring your youngest brother, or I will not sell you grain again.'

John 2:5
His mother said to the servants, "Do what he tells you."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But bring your youngest brother unto me,.... Upon their return for more corn:

so shall your words be verified; that they were true men, and had no ill design upon the land, but were come only to buy corn:

and ye shall not die; as spies, which they were otherwise threatened with; and as it is customary in all nations to put such to death when found out:

and they did so; they left one of their brethren behind; they carried corn to their houses or families in Canaan, and brought their brother Benjamin with them when they returned to Egypt.

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 k^elı̂y, “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.