We said to my lord: this must often be rephrased to say, for example, “We answered you who are our lord” or “We replied to you, sir.”

We have a father, an old man: in 42.13 the brothers identified themselves as “the sons of one man in the land of Canaan.” In many languages it is natural to begin this answer with “Yes, we have a father….”

A young brother, the child of his old age: in 42.13 the brothers’ reply is “The youngest is this day with our father and one is no more.” Child of his old age may be rendered, for example, “a child born when he was old” or “he became the father to this child when he was an old man.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .