Discovery BoxGenesis 42:38 
Context42:38 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 48:7
Context48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow 5 – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). 6
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 “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”
