Genesis 24:40

24:40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, ¹  will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.

Genesis 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ²  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ³  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ⁴  in sorrow to the grave.” ⁵ 

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¹ tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the Lord or it may have a more positive moral connotation (“serve faithfully”).

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

⁴ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.

⁵ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.