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Genesis 42:37-38
New English Translation
Genesis 42:37-38
New English Translation
37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may[a] put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care[b] and I will bring him back to you.” 38 But Jacob[c] replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left.[d] If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair[e] in sorrow to the grave.”[f]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 42:37 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.
- Genesis 42:37 tn Heb “my hand.”
- Genesis 42:38 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 42:38 sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.
- Genesis 42:38 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.
- Genesis 42:38 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.
New English Translation (NET)
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