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.”
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.
- BSB 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.”
- 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 37:30He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?”
- Gen 44:20We said to 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 loves him.’
- Gen 42:32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.’
- Gen 43:7They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’”
- Exod 1:2–5Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
- Jer 31:15Yahweh says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
- 1 Chr 2:1–8These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
- Lam 5:7Our fathers sinned, and are no more; We have borne their iniquities.
- Gen 30:6–24Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore called she his name Dan.
- Gen 44:28and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces”; and I haven’t seen him since.
- Gen 42:36Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”
- Gen 35:16–26They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.
- Gen 42:38He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
- Gen 29:32–35Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me.”
- Gen 45:26They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them.
- Gen 46:8–27These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
- Gen 42:11We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
- Matt 2:18“A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.”
- Num 10:1–36Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
- Matt 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
- Num 26:1–65After the plague, Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,
- Num 34:1–29Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
- Num 1:1–54Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
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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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