Genesis 42:13 - Exposition

And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest —literally, the little one (cf. Genesis 9:24 )— is this day with our father, and one —literally, the one, i.e. the other one, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος ( LXX .)— is not — i.e. is dead (cf. Genesis 5:24 ; Genesis 37:30 )—in which statement have been seen a sufficient proof that Joseph's brethren had not yet truly repented of their cruelty towards him (Keil); an evidence that time had assuaged all their bitter feelings, both of exasperation against Joseph and of remorse for their unbrotherly conduct (Murphy); a suppression of the truth (Words. worth), if not a direct falsehood (Lawson), since they wished it to be understood that their younger brother was dead, while of that they had no evidence beyond their own cunningly-invented lie ( Genesis 37:20 ) and their own probable surmisings. But in point of fact the inference was natural and reasonable that Joseph was no more, since twenty years had elapsed without any tidings of his welfare, and there was no absolute necessity requiring them to explain to the Egyptian governor all the particulars of their early life. Yet the circumstance that their assertion regarding himself was incorrect may have tended to awaken his suspicions concerning Benjamin.