And we said unto him, we [are] true [men],.... Honest, upright men, not given to treacherous and treasonable practices, either in the country where they lived, or any other; they came to Egypt with no ill design upon the country, only to buy corn for the relief of their families in necessity:
we are no spies; or never were e: they had never been guilty of such practices, and never charged with anything of that kind; they denied the charge, and detested the character.
e לא היינו "non fuimus", Montanus; "nunquam fuimus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.