God’s Word Translation
Genesis 42:11
11We’re all sons of one man. We’re honest men, not spies.”
Genesis 42:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
- New International Version (NIV)We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies."
- New King James Version (NKJV)We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.”
Context of Genesis 42:11
9Then he remembered the dreams he once had about them. “You’re spies!” he said to them, “And you’ve come to find out where our country is unprotected.” 10“No, sir!” they answered him. “We’ve come to buy food. We’re all sons of one man. We’re honest men, not spies.” 12He said to them, “No! You’ve come to find out where our country is unprotected.” 13They 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.”
Read all of Genesis 42Genesis 42:11 word by word
כֻּלָּ֕נוּ בְּנֵ֥י אִישׁ־אֶחָ֖ד נָ֑חְנוּ כֵּנִ֣ים אֲנַ֔חְנוּ לֹא־הָי֥וּ עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ מְרַגְּלִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 42:11
- Genesis 42:19If you are honest men, you will let one of your brothers stay here in prison. The rest of you will go and take grain back to your starving families.
- John 7:18Those who speak their own thoughts are looking for their own glory. But the man who wants to bring glory to the one who sent him is a true teacher and doesn’t have dishonest motives.
- 2 Corinthians 6:4Instead, our lives demonstrate that we are God’s servants. We have endured many things: suffering, distress, anxiety,
Commentaries on Genesis 42:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11We are all one man's sons - We do not belong to different tribes, and it is not likely that one family would make a hostile attempt upon a whole kingdom. This seems to be the very ground that Joseph took, viz., that they were persons belonging to different tribes. Against this particularly they set up their defense, asserting that they all belonged to one family; and it is on the proof of this that Joseph puts them, Genesis 42:15, in obliging them to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-38Verses 1-38 - Joseph and Ten of His Brethren 1. שׁבר sheber “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain). 6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch. 25. כלי kelı̂y “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.” Twenty years, the period of Joseph‘s long…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-20Verses 7-20 Joseph was hard upon his brethren, not from a spirit of revenge, but to bring them to repentance. Not seeing his brother Benjamin, he suspected that they had made away with him, and he gave them occasion to speak of their father and brother. God, in his providence, sometimes seems harsh with those he loves, and speaks roughly to those for whom yet he has great mercy in store. Joseph settled at last, that one of them should be left, and the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11Joseph knew that they had not always been the honest men they claimed to be.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 9-149-14. Ye are spies--This is a suspicion entertained regarding strangers in all Eastern countries down to the present day. Joseph, however, who was well aware that his brethren were not spies, has been charged with cruel dissimulation, with a deliberate violation of what he knew to be the truth, in imputing to them such a character. But it must be remembered that he was sustaining the part of a ruler; and, in fact, acting on the very principle sanctioned…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 42:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 42
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries