Genesis 42:36

Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan · Genesis 42:25–38
Read Genesis 42

Translations

Modern
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
Traditional
And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
Literal
And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you will take. All these things are against me!”
Latin
…dixit pater Jacob: Absque liberis me esse fecistis: Joseph non est super, Simeon tenetur in vinculis, et Benjamin auferetis: in me hæc omnia mala reciderunt.

Original

Hebrew
English
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”

Notes

  • Jacob was already grieving the loss of two sons and feared losing Benjamin if he went to Egypt.

  • You have deprived me of my sons: He did not know how true his words were. But these words probably troubled his sons' guilty consciences.

Joseph did several unusual things to his brothers when they came looking for grain. The last time Joseph had been with them, they were filled with jealousy, hatred, and anger; they attempted to destroy their brother, and they deceived their father. Joseph put them through various tests, similar to the trying situations they had put him through, to see if they had changed.

Theme notes and profiles

Egypt Jacob Joseph Symbolic Numbers

Events

People

Benjamin: Youngest son of Jacob and Rachel Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes Joseph: Son of Jacob, ruler in Egypt Simeon: Son of Jacob and Leah, one of the twelve tribes

Glossary

Benjamin (Person) Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (New Testament) Famine Genesis, Book of Jacob Patriarchs, Period of the Wheat

Topics

Jacob: His Grief Over the Detention of Simeon and the Demand for Benjamin to be Taken Into Egypt Simeon: Son of Jacob: Goes Down Into Egypt to Buy Corn ; is Imprisoned by Joseph, and is Detained