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 

Genesis 43:14

43:14 May the sovereign God ⁹  grant you mercy before the man so that he may release ¹⁰  your other brother ¹¹  and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.” ¹² 

Genesis 44:27-31

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ¹³  44:28 The first disappeared ¹⁴  and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take ¹⁵  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹⁶  in tragedy ¹⁷  to the grave.’ ¹⁸ 

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ¹⁹  44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ²⁰  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave.

Psalms 80:17

80:17 May you give support to the one you have chosen, ²¹ 

to the one whom you raised up for yourself! ²² 

[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.

[43:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[43:14]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[44:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”

[44:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “went forth from me.”

[44:29]  ¹⁵ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

[44:29]  ¹⁶ 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. See Gen 42:38.

[44:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

[44:29]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[44:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his life is bound up in his life.”

[44:31]  ²⁰ tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

[80:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “may your hand be upon the man of your right hand.” The referent of the otherwise unattested phrase “man of your right hand,” is unclear. It may refer to the nation collectively as a man. (See the note on the word “yourself” in v. 17b.)

[80:17]  ²² tn Heb “upon the son of man you strengthened for yourself.” In its only other use in the Book of Psalms, the phrase “son of man” refers to the human race in general (see Ps 8:4). Here the phrase may refer to the nation collectively as a man. Note the use of the statement “you strengthened for yourself” both here and in v. 15, where the “son” (i.e., the branch of the vine) refers to Israel.