Genesis 44:20-30

44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ¹  The boy’s ²  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ³  and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see ⁴  him.’ ⁵  44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ⁶  will die.’ ⁷  44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. ⁸  If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, ⁹  for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ¹⁰  44:28 The first disappeared ¹¹  and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take ¹²  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹³  in tragedy ¹⁴  to the grave.’ ¹⁵ 

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. ¹⁶ 

[44:20]  ¹ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ² tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ³ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

[44:21]  ⁴ tn The cohortative after the imperative indicates purpose here.

[44:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “that I may set my eyes upon him.”

[44:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:22]  ⁷ tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.

[44:26]  ⁸ tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “go down.”

[44:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”

[44:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “went forth from me.”

[44:29]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[44:30]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his life is bound up in his life.”