Besides that...

Besides that, in the former description they said: “…even though we be truthful” [^1] where the Arabic word /lau/ is a sign of doubt, weakness, and anxiety, while here, in this verse, they say: “…verily we are indeed truthful” that, with the application of ‘ verily ’ and ‘ indeed ’, they claimed that they were really truthful.

Then, in order to make clear their father from any suspicion and to make him sure that the fact had been exactly that very thing they explained, they said: “And ask at the town in which we were and the caravan with which we travelled hither...” This statement means that there were naturally some people from Kan‘an among them whom Jacob knew and he could ask the true affair from them so that, however, he would become certain that they were telling nothing but the truth.

It says: “…and verily we are indeed truthful.” They were very confident in their position, they were sure that if the father were to investigate he would find that they were indeed telling the truth. From the verse, we can also deduce that the news that Benjamin had stolen the king’s cup spread around the town and among the caravan.

On this occasion, contrary to other times, their father found them deeply disturbed and depressed and that Benjamin and the oldest brother were not with them, thus he realized that something unpleasant had taken place. In order to remove their father’s suspicions and increase his confidence in them, this time they told the truth of the matter as it had appeared to them, calling him to inquire from the people of Egypt and the caravan to verify their story.

Ya‘qub was not impressed, he became angry, and staring at them, he told them that it was their souls that had made something appealing to them that had led to this disaster.