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Genesis 42

Genesis 42:37

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

Translations

Modern
Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”
Traditional
And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
Literal
And Reuben said to his father, saying, “My two sons you will put to death, if I do not bring him back to you! Put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.”
Latin
Cui respondit Ruben: Duos filios meos interfice, si non reduxero illum tibi: trade illum in manu mea, et ego eum tibi restituam.

Original

Hebrew
English
Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

Notes

Genesis 42:37

Reuben tried to take charge. He might have thought he could regain his father's favor (see 35:22). First, he hoped to rescue Joseph from death (37:21–22, 29–30), and now by keeping Benjamin safe.

Genesis 42:1–44:34

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

Reuben: Firstborn son of Jacob and Leah

Glossary

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