Genesis 44:18

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ¹  Please do not get angry with your servant, ²  for you are just like Pharaoh. ³ 

Genesis 44:34

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 

[44:18]  ¹ tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ² tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ³ 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.

[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.”