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 get² your brother, while³ the rest of you remain in prison.⁴ In this way your words may be tested to see if⁵ you are telling the truth.⁶ If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 42:17 He imprisoned⁷ them all for three days. 42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say⁸ 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 prison¹¹ while the rest of you go¹² and take grain back for your hungry families.¹³ 42:20 But you must bring¹⁴ your youngest brother to me. Then¹⁵ your words will be verified¹⁶ and you will not die.” They did as he said.¹⁷

¹tn 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.

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

³tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

⁴tn Heb “bound.”

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

⁶tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

⁷sn 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.

⁸tn Heb “Do this.”

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

¹⁰sn 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.

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

¹²tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal.

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

¹⁴tn The imperfect here has an injunctive force.

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

¹⁶tn 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.

¹⁷tn Heb “and they did so.”