Genesis 42:4

42:4 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

42:38 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 

[42:4]  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.

[42:4]  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.

[42:4]  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.

[42:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “encounters.”

[42:38]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  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.

[42:38]  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.

[42:38]  ⁸ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.