Genesis 42:38

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

Genesis 44:20

44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’


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

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

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.

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

tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”