Translations
Modern
Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”
Traditional
Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
Literal
Send one of you and let him bring your brother, and you shall be confined, and your words shall be tested, whether truth is with you. And if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”
Latin
Mittite ex vobis unum, et adducat eum: vos autem eritis in vinculis, donec probentur quæ dixistis utrum vera an falsa sint: alioquin per salutem Pharaonis exploratores estis.
Original
Hebrew
English
Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”
Notes
Joseph did several unusual things to his brothers when they came looking for grain. The last time Joseph had been with them, they were filled with jealousy, hatred, and anger; they attempted to destroy their brother, and they deceived their father. Joseph put them through various tests, similar to the trying situations they had put him through, to see if they had changed.
Theme notes and profiles
Events
People
Pharaoh: Egyptian ruler during Joseph's time
Glossary
Benjamin (Person) Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (New Testament) Famine Genesis, Book of Jacob Patriarchs, Period of the Wheat
Topics
Commerce: Carried on by Egyptians Commerce: Egyptians Dissembling: Joseph Oaths: Custom of Swearing by the Life of the King Prison: General Scriptures Concerning