Genesis 42:11

11 We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men."

Genesis 42:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 42:11

We [are] all one man's sons
Therefore not likely to be spies; it could hardly be thought that a single family should engage in such an affair; or that one man would, send his sons as spies, and especially all of them, it being a dangerous affair, and they being liable to be taken up and put to death; and as more families than one must be concerned in such an enterprise, it is reasonable to suppose, that if they had been spies they would have been of different families, and also not together, but in different parts of the kingdom, to observe the fittest place to enter in at and execute their design: we [are] true [men]:
that spoke truth when they said they came to buy corn; were honest, upright, and sincere in what they said, nor would they, nor durst they, tell a lie: thy servants are no spies;
this they expressed in the strongest terms, and with the fullest assurance they could, detesting the charge and character of being spies.

Genesis 42:11 In-Context

9 He remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said, "You are spies; you have come to find out where our country is weak."

10 "No, sir," they answered. "We have come as your slaves, to buy food.

11 We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men."

12 Joseph said to them, "No! You have come to find out where our country is weak."

13 They said, "We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with our father."