Genesis 42:3-5 New English Translation
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers,[a] for he said,[b] “What if some accident[c] happens[d] to him?” 5 So Israel’s sons came to buy grain among the other travelers,[e] for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.
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- Genesis 42:4 tn Heb “But Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers.” The disjunctive clause highlights the contrast between Benjamin and the other ten.
- Genesis 42:4 tn The Hebrew verb אָמַר (ʾamar, “to say”) could also be translated “thought” (i.e., “he said to himself”) here, giving Jacob’s reasoning rather than spoken words.
- Genesis 42:4 tn The Hebrew noun אָסוֹן (ʾason) is a rare word meaning “accident, harm.” Apart from its use in these passages it occurs in Exodus 21:22-23 of an accident to a pregnant woman. The term is a rather general one, but Jacob was no doubt thinking of his loss of Joseph.
- Genesis 42:4 tn Heb “encounters.”
- Genesis 42:5 tn Heb “in the midst of the coming ones.”
New English Translation (NET)
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