Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
Send one of you to bring back your brother, and the rest of you will stay in prison. This will test whether you're telling the truth. If you're not, I swear by Pharaoh's life that you are definitely spies.
Joseph is testing his brothers by demanding they prove their story about having another brother at home, threatening to keep them imprisoned if they can't.
📚 Historical Context
This takes place during a severe famine when Joseph's brothers traveled from Canaan to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph, now a powerful Egyptian official, recognized his brothers who had sold him into slavery years earlier, but they didn't recognize him. He was testing them to see if they had changed and to learn about his father Jacob and youngest brother Benjamin.
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