Genesis 42:4
2 “Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
5 So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
- KJV
- But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
- WEB
- But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.”
- ASV
- But Benjamin, Joseph`s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest Peradventure harm befall him.
- DARBY
- But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest mischief may befall him.
- BLB
- And Jacob did not send Benjamin, brother of Joseph, with his brothers, for he said, “Lest harm befall him.”
- ÅB
- Men Benjamin, Josefs bror, sendte Jakob ikke avsted med hans brødre; for han sa: Det kunne møte ham en ulykke.
- OTB
- Men Jakob sendte ikke Benjamin, Josefs bror, med de andre, for han fryktet at det kunne hende ham noe ondt.
- B1930
- Men Benjamin, Josefs bror, sendte Jakob ikke avsted med hans brødre; for han sa: Det kunde møte ham en ulykke.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Genesis 42:38
But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Read in contextGenesis 43:29
When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
Read in contextGenesis 3:22
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”
Read in contextGenesis 11:4
“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”
Read in contextGenesis 35:16–19
Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.
Read in contextGenesis 44:27–34
And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.
Read in contextGenesis 33:1–2
Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.
Read in contextGenesis 43:14
May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
Read in context