Contradictions and Paradoxes in Genesis 42:13

Check out Contradictions Catalog of Genesis 42:13 for the comprehensive list of verses that contradicts Genesis 42:13. Some key contradictions and paradoxes are described below.

According to Moses, the brothers are talking about their family. They say they have twelve brothers all from the same dad, but one brother is gone and the youngest is with their dad back home.

Genesis 42:13: 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.

Contradiction with Genesis 46:27

This verse states that all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten (70), not just 12 brethren.

Genesis 46:27: And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, [were] two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, [were] threescore and ten.

Contradiction with Genesis 37:5

Here, Joseph dreams about his brothers bowing to him, suggesting knowledge of his brothers’ future actions, whereas Genesis 42:13 claims they are honest men, unaware of Joseph’s fate.

Genesis 37:5: And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

Contradiction with Genesis 44:28

Jacob mentions only one son (Joseph) is missing, contradicting the brothers claiming they are 12 with one yet the youngest is with their father, and one is no more in Genesis 42:13.

Genesis 44:28: And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:

Contradiction with Genesis 43:8

Judah tells his father to let him take Benjamin to Egypt to buy food, showing urgency due to famine and need, conflicting with the claim of them not being spies but merely wanting to buy food.

Genesis 43:8: And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, [and] also our little ones.

Contradiction with Acts 7:14

This verse states Joseph called only 75 souls into Egypt, contradicting Genesis 42:13’s implication of smaller immediate family arrivals, which were limited to those present minus one in captivity.

Acts 7:14: Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to [him], and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
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