Genesis 44:20-22

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. ¹  The boy’s ²  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ³  and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see ⁴  him.’ ⁵  44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ⁶  will die.’ ⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

² tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

⁴ tn The cohortative after the imperative indicates purpose here.

⁵ tn Heb “that I may set my eyes upon him.”

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.