Genesis 43:1-10 Commentary: Famine That Forced a Decision

¹Now the famine was still severe in the land.

²So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

³But Judah replied, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’

⁴If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.

⁵But if you will not send him, we will not go; for the man told us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶“Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”

⁷They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

⁸And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.

⁹I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.

¹⁰If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”

¹The famine was severe in the land.

²When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.”

³Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’

⁴If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food;

⁵but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?”

⁷They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones.

⁹I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever;

¹⁰for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.”

¹And the famine was sore in the land.

²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

³And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

⁵But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁶And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

⁷And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

⁹I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

¹⁰For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

¹And the famine was sore in the land.

²And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

³And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

⁵but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁶And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

⁷And they said, The man asked straitly concerning ourselves, and concerning our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we in any wise know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

⁹I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

¹⁰for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time.

¹And the famine is severe in the land;

²and it cometh to pass, when they have finished eating the corn which they brought from Egypt, that their father saith unto them, `Turn back, buy for us a little food.'

³And Judah speaketh unto him, saying, `The man protesting protested to us, saying, Ye do not see my face without your brother being with you;

⁴if thou art sending our brother with us, we go down, and buy for thee food,

⁵and if thou art not sending--we do not go down, for the man said unto us, Ye do not see my face without your brother being with you.'

⁶And Israel saith, `Why did ye evil to me, by declaring to the man that ye had yet a brother?'

⁷and they say, `The man asked diligently concerning us, and concerning our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? and we declare to him according to the tenor of these things; do we certainly know that he will say, Bring down your brother?'

⁸And Judah saith unto Israel his father, `Send the youth with me, and we arise, and go, and live, and do not die, both we, and thou, and our infants.

⁹I--I am surety for him, from my hand thou dost require him; if I have not brought him in unto thee, and set him before thee--then I have sinned against thee all the days;

¹⁰for if we had not lingered, surely now we had returned these two times.'

¹And the famine was grievous in the land.

²And it came to pass, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Go again, buy us a little food.

³And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man did positively testify to us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.

⁴If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;

⁵but if thou do not send [him], we will not go down, for the man said to us, Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.

⁶And Israel said, Why did ye deal [so] ill with me [as] to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

⁷And they said, The man asked very closely after us, and after our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live, and not die, both we and thou and our little ones.

⁹I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thy face, then shall I be guilty toward thee for ever.

¹⁰For had we not lingered, we should now certainly have returned already twice.

¹In the mean time the famine was heavy upon all the land.

²And when they had eaten up all the corn, which they had brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons: Go again, and buy us a little food.

³Juda answered: The man declared unto us with the attestation of an oath, saying: You shall not see my face, unless you bring your youngest brother with you.

⁴If therefore thou wilt send him with us, we will set out together, and will buy necessaries for thee.

⁵But if thou wilt not, we will not go: for the man, as we have often said, declared unto us, saying: You shall not see my face without your youngest brother.

⁶Israel said to them: You have done this for my misery, in that you told him you had also another brother.

⁷But they answered: The man asked us in order concerning our kindred: if our father lived: if we had a brother: and we answered him regularly, according to what he demanded: could we know that he would say: Bring hither your brother with you?

⁸And Juda said to his father: Send the boy with me, that we may set forward, and may live: lest both we and our children perish.

⁹I take the boy upon me, require him at my hand: unless I bring him again, and restore him to thee, I will be guilty of sin against thee for ever.

¹⁰If delay had not been made, we had been here again the second time.