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Read the Bible

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Genesis 44:34

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,

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Children;   Judah;   Readings, Select;   Unselfishness;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Judah, son of jacob;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Judah;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Joseph;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - How;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Joseph;   Judah;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
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."
King James Version
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.
Lexham English Bible
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."
New Century Version
I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I couldn't stand to see my father that sad."
New English Translation
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."
Amplified Bible
"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]?"
New American Standard Bible
"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."
Geneva Bible (1587)
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?
Legacy Standard Bible
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?"
Contemporary English Version
How can I face my father if Benjamin isn't with me? I couldn't bear to see my father in such sorrow.
Complete Jewish Bible
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."
Darby Translation
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.
Easy-to-Read Version
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."
English Standard Version
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."
George Lamsa Translation
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.
Good News Translation
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."
Christian Standard Bible®
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.”
Literal Translation
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?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
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.
American Standard Version
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.
Bible in Basic English
For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
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.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.'
King James Version (1611)
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?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
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.
English Revised Version
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.
Berean Standard Bible
For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
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.
Young's Literal Translation
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.'
Update Bible Version
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.
Webster's Bible Translation
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.
World English Bible
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."
New King James Version
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?"
New Living Translation
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!"
New Life Bible
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."
New Revised Standard
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."
Douay-Rheims Bible
For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I be a witness of the calamity that will oppress my father.
Revised Standard Version
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."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"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

18 Then Judah drew near unto him, and said - Pardon my lord! Pray let thy servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and do not let thine anger be kindled against thy servant, - for, thus, art, thou as Pharaoh! 19 It was, my lord, who asked his servants, saying, - Have ye a father, or a brother? 20 So we said unto my lord, We have an aged father, and the child of his old age a youth, - his brother, being dead, he alone, is left of his mother and, his father, loveth him. 21 So then thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, - that I may set mine eyes upon him. 22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father, - as surely as he leaveth his father, so surely will he, die. 23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother do come down with you, ye shall not again behold my face. 24 So it came to pass when we had gone up unto thy servant, my father, that we told him the words of my lord. 25 Then said our father, - Go again buy us a little food, 26 And we said, We cannot go down, - If our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down, for we cannot see the face of the man if, our youngest brother, is not with us. 27 Then said thy servant my father, unto us, - Ye yourselves, know, that, two, did my wife bear to me,

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

Genesis 44:10
And he said, Yea, now, according to your words, so, let it be, - he with whom it is found, shall be my servant, Ye, however, shall be clear.
Genesis 44:11
So they hastened and took down each man his sack to the ground, - and opened each man his sack.
Genesis 44:33
Now, therefore, I pray thee let thy servant remain instead of the lad, as servant to my lord, - but as for the lad, let him go up with his brethren.
Genesis 44:34
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,
Exodus 18:8
Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law, all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians, for Israel's sake, - all the hardship which had befallen them by the way, and how Yahweh had delivered them.
2 Chronicles 34:28
Behold me! gathering thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered unto thy sepulchres in peace, and thine eyes shall not look upon all the calamity which, I, am bringing in upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they returned, unto the king, the message.
Esther 8:6
For how can I endure to see the ruin that shall overtake my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
Job 31:29
If rejoiced in the misfortune of him that hated me, or exulted when calamity found him; -
Psalms 116:3
The meshes of death encompassed me, and the distresses of hades, came upon me, Peril and sorrow, I found;
Psalms 119:143
Straitness and distress, have befallen me, Thy commandments, are my dear delights.

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 man’s money as before, a silver cup of Joseph’s is put in Benjamin’s bag, after which, when daylight comes, they are dismissed. They are scarcely out of the town when Joseph’s steward is ordered to overtake them, and charge them with stealing the cup. “And whereby indeed he divineth.” 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 Benjamin’s bag. “Spake unto them these words.” The words of Joseph, supplying of course the mention of the cup which is expressed in the text only by the pronoun this. “We brought back to thee.” 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? “Now also according to your words let it be.” 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

“They rent their garments;” the natural token of a sorrow that knows no remedy. “And Judah went.” 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. “They fell before him on the earth.” 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! “Wot ye not that such a man as I doth certainly divine?” 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. “The God,” the great and only God, “hath found out the iniquity of thy servants;” in our dark and treacherous dealing with our brother. “Behold, we are servants to my lord.” He resigns himself and all to perpetual bondage, as the doom of a just God upon their still-remembered crime. “He shall be my servant; and ye, go up in peace to your father.” 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

“And Judah came near unto him.” He is going to surrender himself as a slave for life, that Benjamin may go home with his brothers, who are permitted to depart. “Let thy servant now speak a word in the ears of my lord.” There is nothing here but respectful calmness of demeanor. “And let not thine anger burn against thy servant.” 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. “For so art thou as Pharaoh.” 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. “Let me set mine eyes upon him” - regard him with favor and kindness. “He shall leave his father and he shall die.” 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. “And now let thy servant now abide instead of the lad a servant to my lord.” 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.


 
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