the Second Week after Easter
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Myles Coverdale Bible
Genesis 44:34
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- CondensedParallel Translations
For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me? Lest I see the evil that will come on my father."
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.
For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I do not want to see the misery which will find my father."
I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn't stand to see my father that sad."
For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn't bear to see my father's pain."
"How can I go up to my father if the young man is not with me—for fear that I would see the tragedy that would overtake my [elderly] father [if Benjamin does not return]?"
"For how shall I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear that I may see the evil that would overtake my father."
For howe can I go vp to my father, if the childe be not with me, vnlesse I woulde see the euil that shall come on my father?
For how shall I go up to my father if the boy is not with me, lest I see the evil that would overtake my father?"
How can I face my father if Benjamin isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father in such sorrow.
For how can I go up to my father if the boy isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father so overwhelmed by anguish."
for how should I go up to my father if the lad were not with me?—lest I see the evil that would come on my father.
I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I am very afraid of what would happen to my father."
For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father."
For how can I go up to my father, if the lad is not with me? Lest I see the misfortune which will come on my father.
How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I cannot bear to see this disaster come upon my father."
For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.”
For how can I go to my father, and the youth not be with me, lest I look on the evil which will find my father?
For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad be not with me? lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.
For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?
For howe can I go vp to my father, if the ladde be not with me? vnlesse I woulde see the wretchednesse that shall come on my father.
For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad be not with me? lest I look upon the evil that shall come on my father.'
For how shall I goe vp to my father, and the lad be not with mee, lest peraduenture I see the euill that shall come on my father?
For how shall I go up to my father, the lad not being with us? lest I behold the evils which will befall my father.
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.
For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him."
for Y may not go ayen to my fadir, if the child is absent, lest Y stonde a witnesse of the wretchidnesse that schal oppresse my fadir.
for how do I go up unto my father, and the youth not with me? lest I look on the evil which doth find my father.'
For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad is not with me? Or else, I will see the evil that shall come on my father.
For how shall I return to my father, and the lad [be] not with me? lest perhaps I see the evil that shall come on my father.
For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me? Lest I see the evil that will come on my father."
For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?"
For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn't bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!"
For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I am afraid to see the sorrow that my father would suffer."
For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father."
For how can I go up unto my father, should the lad, not be with me? lest I look on the calamity, that shall find out my father,
For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I be a witness of the calamity that will oppress my father.
For how can I go back to my father if the lad is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would come upon my father."
"For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me—for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?"
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
lest: 1 Samuel 2:33, 1 Samuel 2:34, 2 Chronicles 34:28, Esther 8:6, Jeremiah 52:10, Jeremiah 52:11
come on: Heb. find, Exodus 18:8, Job 31:29, Psalms 116:3, Psalms 119:143, *marg.
Reciprocal: Genesis 21:16 - Let Genesis 44:30 - When I 1 Samuel 25:24 - Upon 2 Kings 25:7 - they slew Ecclesiastes 3:7 - and a time to speak Jeremiah 39:6 - before Lamentations 3:51 - eye
Cross-References
He sayde: let it so be, as ye haue spoken. Loke by whom it shall be founde, let him be my seruaunt, but ye shalbe harmlesse.
And they made haist, and toke downe euery man his sack to the grounde, and euery man opened his sack:
Therfore let thy seruaunt byde here in steade of ye lad, to be my lordes bonde man, and let the lad go vp with his brethren.
For how can I go vp vnto my father, yf the lad be not with me? Then shulde I se the mysery that shulde happen vnto my father.
Then Moses tolde his father in lawe all that the LORDE had done vnto Pharao and the Egipcians for Israels sake, and all the trauayle that had happened them by ye waye, and how the LORDE had delyuered them.
Beholde, I wil gather the vnto thy fathers, and thou shalt be layed in thy graue with peace, so yt thine eyes shal not se all the euell that I wyl brynge ouer this place, and the indwellers therof. And they broughte the kynge worde agayne.
For how can I se the euell that shal happe vnto my people? and how can I loke vpon the destruction of my kynred?
Haue I euer reioysed at the hurte of myne enemy? Or, was I euer glad, yt eny harme happened vnto him? Oh no,
The snares of death copased me rounde aboute, the paynes of hell gat holde vpon me,
Trouble and heuynesse haue take holde vpo me, yet is my delite in thy commaundementes.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad [be] not with me?.... Signifying that he must abide in Egypt, and chose to do it, and could not go up to the land of Canaan any more or see his father's face without Benjamin along with him, to whom he was a surety for him:
lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father; see him die, or live a life of sorrow worse than death: this he could not bear, and chose rather to be a slave in Egypt, than to be the spectator of such an affecting scene. By this speech of Judah, Joseph plainly saw the great affection which his brethren, especially Judah, had for his father and his brother Benjamin, as well as the sense they had of their evil in selling him, which lay uppermost on their minds, and for which they thought themselves brought into all this trouble; wherefore he could no longer conceal himself from them, but makes himself known unto them, which is the principal subject of the following chapter.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- The Ten Brothers Were Tested
Joseph has had the satisfaction of seeing his brother Benjamin safe and well. He has heard his brothers acknowledging their guilt concerning himself. He resolves to put their attachment to Benjamin, and the genuineness of their change of disposition, to a test that will at the same time expose Benjamin to no hazard.
Genesis 44:1-5
And my cup. - Besides returning each manâs money as before, a silver cup of Josephâs is put in Benjaminâs bag, after which, when daylight comes, they are dismissed. They are scarcely out of the town when Josephâs steward is ordered to overtake them, and charge them with stealing the cup. âAnd whereby indeed he divineth.â Divining by cups, we learn from this, was a common custom in Egypt (Herodotus ii. 83). It is here mentioned to enhance the value of the cup. Whether Joseph really practised any sort of divination cannot be determined from this passage.
Genesis 44:6-12
The cup is found in Benjaminâs bag. âSpake unto them these words.â The words of Joseph, supplying of course the mention of the cup which is expressed in the text only by the pronoun this. âWe brought back to thee.â Silver that we might have retained, and to which you made no claim when we tendered it, we brought back. How or why should we therefore, steal silver? âNow also according to your words let it be.â He adopts their terms with a mitigation. He with whom the cup is found shall become a slave for life, and the rest be acquitted. The steward searches from the oldest to the youngest. The cup is found where it was put.
Genesis 44:13-17
âThey rent their garments;â the natural token of a sorrow that knows no remedy. âAnd Judah went.â He had pledged himself for the safety of Benjamin to his father. And he was yet there; awaiting no doubt the result which he anticipated. âThey fell before him on the earth.â It is no longer a bending of the head or bowing of the body, but the posture of deepest humiliation. How deeply that early dream penetrated into the stern reality! âWot ye not that such a man as I doth certainly divine?â Joseph keeps up the show of resentment for a little longer, and brings out from Judah the most pathetic plea of its kind that ever was uttered. âThe God,â the great and only God, âhath found out the iniquity of thy servants;â in our dark and treacherous dealing with our brother. âBehold, we are servants to my lord.â He resigns himself and all to perpetual bondage, as the doom of a just God upon their still-remembered crime. âHe shall be my servant; and ye, go up in peace to your father.â Now is the test applied with the nicest adjustment. Now is the moment of agony and suspense to Joseph. Will my brothers prove true? says he within himself. Will Judah prove adequate to the occasion? say we. His pleading with his father augured well.
Verse 18-34
âAnd Judah came near unto him.â He is going to surrender himself as a slave for life, that Benjamin may go home with his brothers, who are permitted to depart. âLet thy servant now speak a word in the ears of my lord.â There is nothing here but respectful calmness of demeanor. âAnd let not thine anger burn against thy servant.â He intuitively feels that the grand vizier is a man of like feelings with himself. He will surmount the distinction of rank, and stand with him on the ground of a common humanity. âFor so art thou as Pharaoh.â Thou hast power to grant or withhold my request. This forms, the exordium of the speech. Then follows the plea. This consists in a simple statement of the facts, which Judah expects to have its native effect upon a rightly-constituted heart. We will not touch this statement, except to explain two or three expressions. A young lad - a comparative youth. âLet me set mine eyes upon himâ - regard him with favor and kindness. âHe shall leave his father and he shall die.â If he were to leave his father, his father would die. Such is the natural interpretation of these words, as the paternal affection is generally stronger than the filial. âAnd now let thy servant now abide instead of the lad a servant to my lord.â Such is the humble and earnest petition of Judah. He calmly and firmly sacrifices home, family, and birthright, rather than see an aged father die of a broken heart.
