Verse

Genesis 42:32

ESV We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’
NIV We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’
NASB We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’
CSB We were twelve brothers, sons of the same father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.
NLT We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One brother is no longer with us, and the youngest is at home with our father in the land of Canaan.’
KJV We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
NKJV We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.’

What does Genesis 42:32 mean?

Jacob's sons are telling him what happened when they attempted to buy grain in Egypt (Genesis 42:1–5). The lord of the land accused them of being spies (Genesis 42:6–12). They don't realize that the man they bow before is the brother the sold into slavery twenty years earlier (Genesis 37:28). When that man—Joseph—demands they leave one man behind and bring their youngest brother to prove their innocence (Genesis 42:18–19, 24), the men realize this is divine punishment for their earlier crime (Genesis 42:21–22).

Attempting to reassure Joseph, whom they only know as an Egyptian vizier, the brothers told him they were all sons of their father. They added the detail that they had two more brothers (Genesis 42:13), one they presumed dead, meaning Joseph, and another who remained with their father: Benjamin, the youngest. They would have known, now, that revealing Benjamin's existence (Genesis 43:6) opened them up to what they must tell their father next (Genesis 42:33).
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