Genesis 42:33

33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby I shall know that ye are men of the truth; leave one of your brethren here with me and take food for the famine of your households and go

Genesis 42:33 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 42:33

And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, hereby
shall I know that you [are] true [men]
This will be a proof and demonstration of it: leave one of your brethren [here] with me;
as an hostage; they do not say "bound in the prison", ( Genesis 42:19 ) , as Joseph did, because they would not grieve their father, at least would not tell him of it at once, lest it should too much affect him: and take [food for] the famine of your household, and be gone;
that is, corn for the relief of their families, being distressed with a famine.

Genesis 42:33 In-Context

31 And we said unto him, We are men of the truth; we have never been spies.

32 We are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby I shall know that ye are men of the truth; leave one of your brethren here with me and take food for the famine of your households and go

34 and bring your youngest brother unto me; then I shall know that ye are not spies, but that ye are men of the truth; thus I will deliver you your brother, and ye shall trade in the land.

35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.