Genesis 42:8-11

"And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye have come. And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies."

The dramatic fulfillment of Joseph's dream that his brothers would bow down to him had just occurred; no wonder Joseph remembered. It may be wondered why Joseph charged his brothers with being spies. Some have charged Joseph with insincerity in this and have attempted to explain it in various ways. Some have thought that Joseph was intent on bringing his brothers to repentance. And some Jewish writers have made this an act of righteousness on Joseph's part. Friedman even stated that "he made himself a stranger unto them in order to spare them the shame of defeat."[6]

Perhaps a better explanation lies in the supposition that the case of his brothers had been brought before Joseph personally by subordinates in the bureaucracy and that they had originated the charge of spying. If so, this would account for two things: (1) Joseph's handling the case in person, and (2) the firm, even harsh manner in which he dealt with it. Anything on Joseph's part that could have been interpreted by lesser officials as disloyalty to Pharaoh would have been pounced upon and used by them against Joseph, for it may not be supposed for a moment that everyone in Egypt appreciated having "this foreigner" rule over them. Thus, Joseph discharged his duty under the circumstances to the fullest, openly backing up the false charges in a manner that left him above and beyond all possible criticism.

"We are all one man's sons ..." The argument is that no father would risk sending ten sons on a single spy mission. The argument was valid.

"We are true men ..." Joseph's opinion of that remark might have been, "Yes, I know what kind of true men you are. You sold a brother, and lied to your father about what became of him." Despite everything, however, Joseph was glad to see his brothers and was already of a mind to forgive them totally.

"To spy out the nakedness of the land ..." This has no reference to the lack of food supplies, for there was plenty of food. The word "nakedness" is here used "metaphorically for things that are meant to be hidden from potential enemies."[7] What is implied is that they had come to discover the state of Egypt's military preparedness to repel an attack.