Genesis 43:9

43:9 I myself pledge security ¹  for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. ² 

Genesis 44:32-34

44:32 Indeed, ³  your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers. 44:34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see ⁴  my father’s pain.” ⁵ 

Genesis 46:9

46:9 The sons of Reuben:

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

Micah 6:7

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ⁶ 

[43:9]  ¹ tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.

[43:9]  ² sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.

[44:32]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[44:34]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has “lest I see,” which expresses a negative purpose – “I cannot go up lest I see.”

[44:34]  ⁵ tn Heb “the calamity which would find my father.”

[6:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”