Genesis 38:11

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ¹  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ²  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Genesis 43:8

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. ³  Then we will live ⁴  and not die – we and you and our little ones.

Genesis 44:16

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ⁵  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ⁶  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ⁷  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

Genesis 44:18

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ⁸  Please do not get angry with your servant, ⁹  for you are just like Pharaoh. ¹⁰ 

[38:11]  ¹ tn Heb “said.”

[38:11]  ² tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”

[43:8]  ³ tn Heb “and we will rise up and we will go.” The first verb is adverbial and gives the expression the sense of “we will go immediately.”

[43:8]  ⁴ tn After the preceding cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form (either imperfect or cohortative) with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or result.

[44:16]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ⁶ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ⁷ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[44:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ⁹ sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.