Genesis 42:15

Read in context

Genesis 42:13–17 · Berean Standard Bible

13 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.”

14 Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!

15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

17 So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Study Genesis 42:15

Read the commentary on Genesis 42

Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Genesis 42:7

And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

Genesis 42:12

“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

Genesis 42:16

Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

Genesis 42:30

“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

Deuteronomy 6:13

Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.

1 Samuel 1:26

“Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.

1 Samuel 17:55

As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.”

1 Samuel 20:3

But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”

Jeremiah 5:2

Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”

Jeremiah 5:7

“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes.

Matthew 5:33

Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’

Matthew 5:34

But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;

Matthew 5:35

or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Matthew 5:36

Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Matthew 5:37

Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

Matthew 23:16

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

Matthew 23:17

You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?

Matthew 23:18

And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’

Matthew 23:19

You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?

Matthew 23:20

So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

Matthew 23:21

And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it.

Matthew 23:22

And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it.

James 5:12

Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Simply let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall under judgment.

Genesis 42:20

Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.

Genesis 42:34

But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”

Genesis 43:3

But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’

Genesis 44:20

And 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.’

Genesis 44:21

Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’

Genesis 44:22

So we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

Genesis 44:23

But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your younger brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’

Genesis 44:24

Now when we returned to your servant my father, we relayed your words to him.

Genesis 44:25

Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us some food.’

Genesis 44:26

But we answered, ‘We cannot go down there unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother is not with us, we cannot see the man.’

Genesis 44:27

And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

Genesis 44:28

When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.

Genesis 44:29

Now if you also take this one from me and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’

Genesis 44:30

So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy’s life,

Genesis 44:31

sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.

Genesis 44:32

Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’

Genesis 44:33

Now please let your servant stay here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. Let him return with his brothers.

Genesis 44:34

For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”