We Are All the Sons of One Man

We (naḥnu) are all sons of one man, we are honest men, your servants have never been spies.                                                     Genesis 42:11

          Ba’al haTurim connects our verse’s use of the word “naḥnu” (as opposed to the much more common form “anaḥnu”) with the word’s use in two other verses:

“We (naḥnu, the sons of Gad and of Reuven) will cross as the vanguard” [Numbers 32:32], and “We (naḥnu) have transgressed and have rebelled.” [Lamentations 3:42].

          My father suggested that the brothers’ use of the word “naḥnu” implies their confession of having sinned in the matter of Joseph, as per the verse in Lamentations, with the verse from Numbers conveying the underlying message that as the sons of one man, they were obligated to save Joseph, even if it necessitated their fighting as a vanguard.

          Additionally, the message is that ultimately all the Israelites are the sons of one man, and therefore must be united. This common ancestry creates a mutual responsibility, so that if even one Israelite sins, it is as if “we (all) have transgressed,” and when any Israelite is in straits, “we (all) must cross as the vanguard” to save our fellow Jew.