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13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers.[a] We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time,[b] and one is no longer alive.”[c]

14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you:[d] You are spies! 15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives,[e] you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 42:13 tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”
  2. Genesis 42:13 tn Heb “today.”
  3. Genesis 42:13 tn Heb “and the one is not.”
  4. Genesis 42:14 tn Heb “to you, saying.”
  5. Genesis 42:15 tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”sn As surely as Pharaoh lives. Joseph uses an oath formula to let the brothers know the certainty of what he said. There is some discussion in the commentaries on swearing by the life of Pharaoh, but since the formulation here reflects the Hebrew practice, it would be hard to connect the ideas exactly to Egyptian practices. Joseph did this to make the point in a way that his Hebrew brothers would understand. See M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92.