Genesis 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ¹  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ²  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ³  in sorrow to the grave.” ⁴ 

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. ⁵  The boy’s ⁶  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ⁷  and his father loves him.’

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¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

⁵ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”