Genesis 42:36

42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ¹  Simeon is gone. ²  And now you want to take ³  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

Genesis 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ⁴  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ⁵  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ⁶  in sorrow to the grave.” ⁷ 

Genesis 43:14

43:14 May the sovereign God ⁸  grant you mercy before the man so that he may release ⁹  your other brother ¹⁰  and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.” ¹¹ 

Psalms 88:3-4

88:3 For my life ¹²  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ¹³ 

88:4 They treat me like ¹⁴  those who descend into the grave. ¹⁵ 

I am like a helpless man, ¹⁶ 

[42:36]  ¹ tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ² tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ³ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.

[42:38]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  ⁵ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

[42:38]  ⁶ 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.

[42:38]  ⁷ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[43:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[43:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “release to you.” After the jussive this perfect verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) probably indicates logical consequence, as well as temporal sequence.

[43:14]  ¹⁰ sn Several Jewish commentators suggest that the expression your other brother refers to Joseph. This would mean that Jacob prophesied unwittingly. However, it is much more likely that Simeon is the referent of the phrase “your other brother” (see Gen 42:24).

[43:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “if I am bereaved I am bereaved.” With this fatalistic sounding statement Jacob resolves himself to the possibility of losing both Benjamin and Simeon.

[88:3]  ¹² tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[88:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”