Send one of you: this command is made to the ten brothers, who must decide which one they will send back to bring Benjamin. It may be necessary in translation to say, for example, “Choose one of you to go…,” “Let one of you go and bring your younger brother here,” or “One of you must go back and….”

While you [plural] … in prison: that is, “while the rest of you stay here in prison” or “while the rest of you are kept here.”

That your words may be tested … truth in you: that is, “so that what you say can be tested” or “so that I will know if you [plural] are telling the truth.”

Or else: that is, “if you are not being truthful” or “if you are lying.”

By the life of Pharaoh: this expression opened the threat and now closes it as an appeal to the highest authority as witness to the brothers being spies if they do not pass the test. Here it is used not so much as an oath as a powerful affirmation equivalent to English “so help me God!” We may translate, for example, “As sure as the king is alive, you [plural] are spies.”

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 .