Genesis 42:38

And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וַיֹּ֕אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
son	בְּנִ֖י be.Ni	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
down	יֵרֵ֥ד ye.Red	H3381	to descend (literally · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
brother	אָחִ֨יו 'a.Chiv	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
dead	מֵ֜ת met	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
left	נִשְׁאָ֗ר nish.'Ar	H7604	properly · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
mischief	אָסוֹן֙ 'a.sOn	H611	hurt · noun, common masculine singular absolute
befall	וּקְרָאָ֤הוּ u.ke.ra.'A.hu	H7122	to encounter · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
way	בַּדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ ba.De.rekh	H1870	a road (as trodden) · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
down	וְהוֹרַדְתֶּ֧ם ve.ho.rad.Tem	H3381	to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
hairs	שֵׂיבָתִ֛י sei.va.Ti	H7872	old age · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
sorrow	בְּיָג֖וֹן be.ya.Gon	H3015	affliction · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
grave	שְׁאֽוֹלָה she.'o.lah	H7585	Hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean re… · noun, common both genders singular absolute + directional suffix

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grav…
Genesis 37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Genesis 42:4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
Genesis 42:13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our f…
Genesis 35:16-18 And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Genesis 30:22-24 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Genesis 44:20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is l…
Genesis 44:27-34 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:29–end

Here is, 1. The report which Jacob's sons made to their father of the great distress they had been in in Egypt; how they had been suspected, and threatened, and obliged to leave Simeon a prisoner there, till they should bring Benjamin with them thither. Who would have thought of this when they left home? When we go abroad we should consider how many sad accidents, that we little think of, may befall us before we return home. We know not what a day may bring forth; we ought therefore to be always ready for the worst. 2. The deep impression this made upon the good man. The very bundles of money which Joseph returned, in kindness to his father, frightened him (Gen 42:35); for he concluded it wa…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:37

Reuben spake, . . . Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee--This was a thoughtless and unwarrantable condition--one that he never seriously expected his father would accept. It was designed only to give assurance of the greatest care being taken of Benjamin. But unforeseen circumstances might arise to render it impossible for all of them to preserve that young lad (Jam 4:13), and Jacob was much pained by the prospect. Little did he know that God was dealing with him severely, but in kindness (Heb 12:7-8), and that all those things he thought against Him were working together for his good. Next: Genesis Chapter 43

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:38

He is left alone - That is, Benjamin is the only remaining son of Rachel; for he supposed Joseph, who was the other son, to be dead. Shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow - Here he keeps up the idea of the oppressive burden mentioned Gen 42:36, to which every occurrence was adding an additional weight, so that he felt it impossible to support it any longer. The following observations of Dr. Dodd on this verse are very appropriate and judicious: "Nothing can be more tender and picturesque than the words of the venerable patriarch. Full of affection for his beloved Rachel, he cannot think of parting with Benjamin, the only remaining pledge of that love, now Joseph, as he supposes, is n…

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The Church Fathers

STILL ON HELL. — And you will bring down my old age with sadness to hell. Would he go down to hell precisely because he came down with sadness? Or, even if the sadness is absent, does this perhaps mean as if by indicating that by dying he would descend into hell? About hell there is a big problem, and that is why we must study all the passages in which this word is mentioned. [
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 141 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

After they had loaded their supplies, the [brothers] went up and related to their father the evils that they had endured on this trip and how they had become objects of ridicule in Egypt, having been falsely accused of spying in Egypt, and that they would not have escaped this suffering had it not been for Benjamin. While some of them were recounting these things to their father, the others were emptying their sacks, and behold, each one found his money in the opening of his sack.Jacob was full of grief because of all that had happened to them, but even more because of Simeon who was imprisoned. Although the brothers implored him daily to send Benjamin with them, Jacob would not assent because of his fear due to [what had happened to] Joseph. Then, when their grain had run out and all the children of his household were languishing from hunger, all his sons drew near and said to Jacob, "Spare Simeon for the sake of his children and be without your youngest son for a few days, lest Simeon's wife be widowed of Simeon."
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 37:1-2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Hades — That which is out of sight, a Greek word used to denote the state or place of the dead. All the dead alike go into this place. To be buried, to go down to the grave, to descend into hades, are…
Hell — Derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the invisible place. In Scripture there are three words so rendered: (1.) Sheol, occurring in the Old Testament sixty-five times. This…
Joseph — Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add…
Hell · “Sheol” is translated “grave” in A. V. in — “Sheol” is translated “grave” in A. V. in
Parents · .Jacob — .Jacob

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 42:38

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:37

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 42:38

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:37

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 42:38

John Calvin on Genesis 42:38–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 42:37–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 42:38

Rashi on Genesis 42:38