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.”
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV 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.”
- NASB 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.”
- NLT “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.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Pressed further, the brothers reveal they are twelve, with the youngest at home and one "no more." Their casual phrase masks the brother they sold.
Overview
In defending themselves, the brothers unwittingly hand Joseph the key facts about Benjamin and about Joseph himself, whom they describe as "no more." The euphemism shows their guilt still unspoken after more than twenty years. God uses their disclosure to set in motion the testing that will lead to confession and reconciliation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Gen 37:30returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”
- Gen 44:20And we answered, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
- Gen 42:32We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’
- Gen 43:7They 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’?”
- Exod 1:2–5Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
- Jer 31:15This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
- 1 Chr 2:1–8These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
- Lam 5:7Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
- Gen 30:6–24Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.
- Gen 44:28When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.
- Gen 42:36Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
- Gen 35:16–26Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.
- Gen 42:38But 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.”
- Gen 29:32–35And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Gen 45:26“Joseph is still alive,” they said, “and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them.
- Gen 46:8–27Now these are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
- Gen 42:11We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
- Matt 2:18“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
- Num 10:1–36Then the LORD said to Moses,
- Matt 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
- Num 26:1–65After the plague had ended, the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,
- Num 34:1–29Then the LORD said to Moses,
- Num 1:1–54On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said:
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 42:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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