We are all sons of one man: the brothers appeal to Joseph’s sense of family morality to try and persuade him of their true mission to Egypt. We may render this sentence, for example, “We are all sons of the same father.”

We are honest men: the sense of honest meaning “upright,” “decent,” “honorable” is intended to contrast with spies who are deceptive and dishonorable. In some languages honest men are said to be “men with straight talk,” “persons with clean hearts,” or “people who talk with one tongue.”

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 .