Genesis 42:13
New International Version
But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

New Living Translation
“Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.”

English Standard Version
And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”

Berean Standard Bible
But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

King James Bible
And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

New King James Version
And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”

New American Standard Bible
But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.”

NASB 1995
But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.”

NASB 1977
But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”

Legacy Standard Bible
So they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”

Amplified Bible
But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers [in all], the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; please listen: the youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer alive.”

Christian Standard Bible
But they replied, “We, your servants, were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But they replied, “We, your servants, were 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.”

American Standard Version
And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they said to him, “We are twelve brothers; your Servants are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is not.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, in the land of Chanaan; and, behold, the youngest is with our father to-day, but the other one is not.

Contemporary English Version
But they explained, "Sir, we come from a family of twelve brothers. The youngest is still with our father in Canaan, and one of our brothers is dead."

Douay-Rheims Bible
But they said: We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Chanaan: the youngest is with our father, the other is not living.

English Revised Version
And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They answered him, "We were 12 brothers, sons of one man in Canaan. The youngest brother stayed with our father, and the other one is no longer with us."

Good News Translation
They said, "We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with our father."

International Standard Version
"But your majesty," they pleaded, "your servants include twelve brothers, the sons of a common father back in the land of Canaan. Please! Our youngest brother remains with our father, and the other one is no longer alive."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And they said: 'We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.'

Literal Standard Version
and they say, “Your servants [are] twelve brothers; we [are] sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the young one [is] with our father today, and one is not.”

Majority Standard Bible
But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

New American Bible
“We your servants,” they said, “are twelve brothers, sons of a certain man in Canaan; but the youngest one is at present with our father, and the other one is no more.”

NET Bible
They replied, "Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, and one is no longer alive."

New Revised Standard Version
They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan; the youngest, however, is now with our father, and one is no more.”

New Heart English Bible
But they said, "We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and look, the youngest is now with our father, and one is no more."

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

World English Bible
They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is today with our father, and one is no more.”

Young's Literal Translation
and they say, 'Thy servants are twelve brethren; we are sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and lo, the young one is with our father to-day, and the one is not.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Joseph's Brothers Sent to Egypt
12“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” 13But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.” 14Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!…

Cross References
Genesis 37:30
returned to his brothers, and said, "The boy is gone! What am I going to do?"

Genesis 42:12
"No," he told them. "You have come to see if our land is vulnerable."

Genesis 42:14
Then Joseph declared, "Just as I said, you are spies!

Genesis 42:32
We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.'

Genesis 42:38
But Jacob replied, "My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow."

Genesis 43:7
They replied, "The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother here'?"

Genesis 43:29
When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother's son, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?" Then he declared, "May God be gracious to you, my son."


Treasury of Scripture

And they said, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

Thy servants.

Genesis 42:11,32
We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies…

Genesis 29:32-35
And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me…

Genesis 30:6-24
And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan…

one is not.

Genesis 42:36,38
And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me…

Genesis 37:30
And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

Genesis 44:20,28
And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him…

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Genesis 42
1. Jacob sends his ten sons to buy grain in Egypt.
16. They are imprisoned by Joseph as spies.
18. They are set at liberty, on condition to bring Benjamin.
21. They have remorse for Joseph.
24. Simeon is kept for a pledge.
25. They return with grain, and their money.
29. Their relation to Jacob.
36. Jacob refuses to send Benjamin.














Verse 13. - And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest - literally, the little one (cf. Genesis 9:24) - is this day with our father, and one - literally, the one, i.e. the other one, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος (LXX.) - is not - i.e. is dead (cf. Genesis 5:24; Genesis 37:30) - in which statement have been seen a sufficient proof that Joseph's brethren had not yet truly repented of their cruelty towards him (Keil); an evidence that time had assuaged all their bitter feelings, both of exasperation against Joseph and of remorse for their unbrotherly conduct (Murphy); a suppression of the truth (Words. worth), if not a direct falsehood (Lawson), since they wished it to be understood that their younger brother was dead, while of that they had no evidence beyond their own cunningly-invented lie (Genesis 37:20) and their own probable surmisings. But in point of fact the inference was natural and reasonable that Joseph was no more, since twenty years had elapsed without any tidings of his welfare, and there was no absolute necessity requiring them to explain to the Egyptian governor all the particulars of their early life. Yet the circumstance that their assertion regarding himself was incorrect may have tended to awaken his suspicions concerning Benjamin.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
But they answered,
וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Your servants
עֲבָדֶ֨יךָ (‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

are twelve
שְׁנֵ֣ים (šə·nêm)
Number - md
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)

brothers,
אַחִ֧ים ׀ (’a·ḥîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 251: A brother, )

the sons
בְּנֵ֥י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of one
אֶחָ֖ד (’e·ḥāḏ)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

man
אִישׁ־ (’îš-)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

in the land
בְּאֶ֣רֶץ (bə·’e·reṣ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of Canaan.
כְּנָ֑עַן (kə·nā·‘an)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3667: Canaan -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their land West of the Jordan

The youngest
הַקָּטֹ֤ן (haq·qā·ṭōn)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 6996: Small, young, unimportant

is now
הַיּ֔וֹם (hay·yō·wm)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

with
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Preposition
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

our father,
אָבִ֙ינוּ֙ (’ā·ḇî·nū)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common plural
Strong's 1: Father

and one
וְהָאֶחָ֖ד (wə·hā·’e·ḥāḏ)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

is no more.”
אֵינֶֽנּוּ׃ (’ê·nen·nū)
Adverb | third person masculine singular
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle


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OT Law: Genesis 42:13 They said We your servants are twelve (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 42:12
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