Genesis 42:15-20

42:15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, ¹  you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 42:16 One of you must go and get ²  your brother, while ³  the rest of you remain in prison. ⁴  In this way your words may be tested to see if ⁵  you are telling the truth. ⁶  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 42:17 He imprisoned ⁷  them all for three days. 42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say ⁸  and you will live, ⁹  for I fear God. ¹⁰  42:19 If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison ¹¹  while the rest of you go ¹²  and take grain back for your hungry families. ¹³  42:20 But you must bring ¹⁴  your youngest brother to me. Then ¹⁵  your words will be verified ¹⁶  and you will not die.” They did as he said. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 42:33-34

42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain ¹⁸  for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know ¹⁹  that you are honest men and not spies. ²⁰  Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” ²¹ 

¹ tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”

² tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

³ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

⁴ tn Heb “bound.”

⁵ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

⁷ sn The same Hebrew word is used for Joseph’s imprisonment in 40:3, 4, 7. There is some mirroring going on in the narrative. The Hebrew word used here (אָסַף, ’asaf, “to gather”) is not normally used in a context like this (for placing someone in prison), but it forms a wordplay on the name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yosoef) and keeps the comparison working.

⁸ tn Heb “Do this.”

⁹ tn After the preceding imperative, the imperative with vav (ו) can, as here, indicate logical sequence.

¹⁰ sn For I fear God. Joseph brings God into the picture to awaken his brothers’ consciences. The godly person cares about the welfare of people, whether they live or die. So he will send grain back, but keep one of them in Egypt. This action contrasts with their crime of selling their brother into slavery.

¹¹ tn Heb “bound in the house of your prison.”

¹² tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal.

¹³ tn Heb “[for] the hunger of your households.”

¹⁴ tn The imperfect here has an injunctive force.

¹⁵ tn After the injunctive imperfect, this imperfect with vav indicates purpose or result.

¹⁶ tn The Niphal form of the verb has the sense of “to be faithful; to be sure; to be reliable.” Joseph will test his brothers to see if their words are true.

¹⁷ tn Heb “and they did so.”

¹⁸ tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.

²⁰ tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”

²¹ sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.