Discovery BoxGenesis 42:4 
Context42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, 1 for he said, 2 “What if some accident 3 happens 4 to him?”
Genesis 42:38
Context42:38 But Jacob 5 replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. 6 If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair 7 in sorrow to the grave.” 8
1 tn Heb “But Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers.” The disjunctive clause highlights the contrast between Benjamin and the other ten.
2 tn The Hebrew verb אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) could also be translated “thought” (i.e., “he said to himself”) here, giving Jacob’s reasoning rather than spoken words.
3 tn The Hebrew noun אָסוֹן (’ason) is a rare word meaning “accident, harm.” Apart from its use in these passages it occurs in Exodus 21:22-23 of an accident to a pregnant woman. The term is a rather general one, but Jacob was no doubt thinking of his loss of Joseph.
4 tn Heb “encounters.”
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.
7 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.
8 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.
