Genesis 42:15

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.

Genesis 42:20

42:20 But you must bring ²  your youngest brother to me. Then ³  your words will be verified ⁴  and you will not die.” They did as he said. ⁵ 

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¹ 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.

² tn The imperfect here has an injunctive force.

³ tn After the injunctive imperfect, this imperfect with vav indicates purpose or result.

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “and they did so.”