Genesis 42:16

Summary

Joseph, addressing his brothers, orders that one of them be sent to fetch their brother while the rest remain confined, so that their words can be tested for truth. He adds an oath formula invoking Pharaoh's life, stating that if this proves false, they are spies.

Key words

• shilChu ("send", H7971) — qal imperative plural, a direct command opening the speech.
• heASeru ("be imprisoned", H0631) — niphal imperative plural; the niphal stem marks the brothers as recipients of the action (they are to be confined), not agents.
• yibbaChanu ("they may be tested", H0974) — niphal imperfect with vav, continuing the purpose clause begun by yiqqach; again passive, the "words" (divrei) are the grammatical subject being tested.
• haEmet ("[is] truth", H0571) — noun preceded by the interrogative particle ha (H9008), forming a yes/no question: "is truth with you?"
• chei ("[by] the life of", H2416) — construct form of the adjective, used idiomatically before Par'oh ("Pharaoh", H6547) to form an oath expression.

What the text says

The verse is built from a chain of coordinated clauses linked by ve- ("and/so"), alternating imperative and imperfect-with-vav forms that express command followed by resulting purpose: shilchu ("send") → veyiqqach ("so he may fetch") → ve'attem he'aseru ("and you, be imprisoned") → veyibbachanu ("so they may be tested"). This syntactic pattern shows a sequence: an action (sending) leads to a consequence (fetching), and a second action (imprisonment) leads to another consequence (testing). The niphal forms he'aseru and yibbachanu both put the brothers and their "words" (divrei, H1697, construct plural "words of") in the passive role — they are confined, and their words are the ones examined, rather than the brothers being agents of these actions.

The clause ha'emet 'ittekhem is a direct question formed with the interrogative ha attached to 'emet ("truth", H0571), literally "is there truth with you?" — a nominal question without a finite verb, typical of Biblical Hebrew nonverbal clauses. The final oath uses chei Par'oh ("life of Pharaoh"), a construct phrase functioning as a formulaic invocation, followed by ki (H3588, "for/that") introducing the accusation merraggelim 'attem ("spies [are] you"), where merraggelim is a piel participle, "the ones who spy," used substantively as a predicate.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the imprisonment clause as ἀπάχθητε ("be led away/led captive") rather than the more static "be bound/imprisoned" implied by he'aseru. The Vulgate's eritis in vinculis ("you will be in chains") corresponds closely to the Hebrew niphal sense of confinement. The LXX also phrases the truth-testing clause as ἕως τοῦ φανερὰ γενέσθαι τὰ ῥήματα ὑμῶν ("until your words become clear"), reformulating the Hebrew's passive "your words may be tested" (yibbachanu divreikhem) into a temporal clause with a different verb, "become manifest," rather than "be tested" (bachan, H0974).