Genesis 42:6-17

42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. ¹  Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down ²  before him with ³  their faces to the ground. 42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ⁴  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ⁵  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ⁶ 

42:8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 42:9 Then Joseph remembered ⁷  the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!” ⁸ 

42:10 But they exclaimed, ⁹  “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy grain for food! 42:11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies.”

42:12 “No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” ¹⁰  42:13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. ¹¹  We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, ¹²  and one is no longer alive.” ¹³ 

42:14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you: ¹⁴  You are spies! 42:15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, ¹⁵  you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 42:16 One of you must go and get ¹⁶  your brother, while ¹⁷  the rest of you remain in prison. ¹⁸  In this way your words may be tested to see if ¹⁹  you are telling the truth. ²⁰  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 42:17 He imprisoned ²¹  them all for three days.

[42:6]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause either introduces a new episode in the unfolding drama or provides the reader with supplemental information necessary to understanding the story.

[42:6]  ² sn Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Here is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (see Gen 37). But it is not the complete fulfillment, since all his brothers and his parents must come. The point of the dream, of course, was not simply to get the family to bow to Joseph, but that Joseph would be placed in a position of rule and authority to save the family and the world (41:57).

[42:6]  ³ tn The word “faces” is an adverbial accusative, so the preposition has been supplied in the translation.

[42:7]  ⁴ sn But pretended to be a stranger. Joseph intends to test his brothers to see if they have changed and have the integrity to be patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He will do this by putting them in the same situations that they and he were in before. The first test will be to awaken their conscience.

[42:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “said.”

[42:7]  ⁶ tn The verb is denominative, meaning “to buy grain”; the word “food” could simply be the direct object, but may also be an adverbial accusative.

[42:9]  ⁷ sn You are spies. Joseph wanted to see how his brothers would react if they were accused of spying.

[42:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “to see the nakedness of the land you have come.”

[42:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they said to him.” In context this is best understood as an exclamation.

[42:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he said, ‘No, for the nakedness of the land you have come to see.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for clarity.

[42:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”

[42:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “today.”

[42:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the one is not.”

[42:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to you, saying.”

[42:15]  ²² tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”

[42:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

[42:16]  ²⁶ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

[42:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “bound.”

[42:16]  ²⁸ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

[42:17]  ²⁸ 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.