Genesis 42:11
in Genesis 42We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
KJV
We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
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This verse in Genesis 42
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThey answered and said, "We do not even know the Egyptian language so that, by speaking Egyptian, we might escape notice and deceive the Egyptians. That we dwell in the land of Canaan you can learn from our offering.
This site's exposition
Your servants have come to buy food
on Genesis 42:10-13
Under pressure they hand over the family register, twelve brothers, and one brother is no more. John Gill notes their first answer sounded as if there were no other sons, so the fuller count reads like a story adjusted under test. The brother they call no more is listening.
This site's exposition
We are all sons of one man
The brothers offer the line as proof, since one father would hardly risk ten sons on a spying trip. It also tells Joseph that his father is alive. Honest men is the word they use for themselves five times in this chapter.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
We are all one man's sons,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
We 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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֻּלָּ֕נוּ | kulanu | all of us | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [are] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אִישׁ־ | ʾish- | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶחָ֖ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| נָ֑חְנוּ | nachenu | we | H5168 → | |
| כֵּנִ֣ים | kenim | [are] honest | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אֲנַ֔חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָי֥וּ | hayu | they are | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ | ʾavadeikha | servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| מְרַגְּלִֽים׃ | meragelim | spies | H7270 → | 25 times |
כֻּלָּ֕נוּall of us
kulanuH3605 →5413 times
בְּנֵ֥י[are] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
אִישׁ־a man
ʾish-H376 →1663 times
אֶחָ֖דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
נָ֑חְנוּwe
nachenuH5168 →
כֵּנִ֣ים[are] honest
kenimH3651 →771 times
אֲנַ֔חְנוּwe
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָי֥וּthey are
hayuH1961 →3559 times
עֲבָדֶ֖יךָservants your
ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
מְרַגְּלִֽים׃spies
meragelimH7270 →25 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Corinthians 6:4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8
We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
- 2 Corinthians 11:27
in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
- 1 Corinthians 4:11–12
To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
- 2 Corinthians 12:10
Through
John 7:18He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood.
it leads to
- John 5:41
I do not accept glory from men,
- John 13:31–32
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
- 1 Corinthians 10:31–33
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
- Philippians 2:3–5
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- John 5:41
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 36:4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
