Genesis 44:31

44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave.

Genesis 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ²  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ³  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ⁴  in sorrow to the grave.” ⁵ 

[44:31]  ¹ tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

[42:38]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.