Genesis 42:9

Ye are spies— This might be rendered, are ye spies? or, are ye not spies? are ye not come to spy out the nakedness of the land? by which means, the direct affirmation is removed. The nakedness of the land signifies, the weak, unfortified places of the country. Le Clerc observes, that what made Joseph's feigned suspicion the more plausible was, that they entered AEgypt by those parts where alone it is liable to be invaded; as Herodotus observes, lib. 3: cap. 4. and 5. where he gives an account of Cambyses' descent upon AEgypt.