What Does Genesis 42:13 Mean in the King James?
And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The same “one” names the father shared by all twelve and keeps the missing brother inside the family count that says he is gone.
THE MEANING
A family can name one of its own as absent without erasing his place within it. Here, the brother they call “not” stands before them, exposing the distance between what they know and what is true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If someone is outside my sight, they are gone from the whole story.
THE ROOT
אֶחָד
ʾeḥāḏ
GROWS FROM
אחד
One; a single person or thing.
Hebrew repeats אֶחָד (ʾeḥāḏ, “one”): first for the father shared by the twelve, then for the brother called absent. The same word keeps him within the family’s count even as the sentence declares him gone.
ALSO GROWS
ʾîš ʾeḥāḏ: One man
איש אחד
The brothers name the common father who holds them within one family.
hāʾeḥāḏ: The one
הָאֶחָד
This is the brother they call absent: still one of the twelve, though missing from their account of who is present.
THE PATTERN
A report of absence can reflect what someone sees while leaving the fuller truth unspoken.
And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,THE THREAD
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.Genesis 2:24 uses אֶחָד (ʾeḥāḏ, “one”) for a joined life; here, the same word names both a shared father and a single brother. The word holds together the whole family and the one member they call absent.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us