Genesis 42:31
But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies.
BSB
ASV
And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
KJV
And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
And we said unto him, we are true men,.... Honest, upright men, not given to treacherous and treasonable practices, either in the country where they lived, or any other; they came to Egypt with no ill design upon the country, only to buy corn for the relief of their families in necessity: we are no spies; or never were (e): they had never been guilty of such practices, and never charged with anything of that kind; they denied the charge, and detested the character. (e) לא היינו "non fuimus", Montanus; "nunquam fuimus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk4
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Genesis 42:11We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
leads to
If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households.
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
He 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.
Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of…