Genesis 42:4

Genesis 42:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
• New International Version (NIV)But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some calamity befall him.”

Context of Genesis 42:4

2Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.” 3So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.” 5The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

Genesis 42:4 word by word

וְאֶת־בִּנְיָמִין֙ אֲחִ֣י יוֹסֵ֔ף לֹא־שָׁלַ֥ח יַעֲקֹ֖ב אֶת־אֶחָ֑יו כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר פֶּן־יִקְרָאֶ֖נּוּ אָסֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• But Benjaminבִּנְיָמִיןbinyâmîyn · BenjaminH1144
• Joseph’sיוֹסֵףyôsêph · JosephH3130
• brotherאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
• Jacobיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
• sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• for he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Lest peradventureפֶּן־pên · lestH6435
• mischiefאָסוֹן'âsôn · harmH611
• befall himקָרָאqârâ' · to encounter: chancedH7122

Cross-references for Genesis 42:4

• Genesis 35:16They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.
• Genesis 42:38But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”
• Genesis 3:22The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”
• Genesis 11:4And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”
• Genesis 33:1Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women.
• Genesis 43:14May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”
• Genesis 44:20and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

Commentaries on Genesis 42:4

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-38Verses 1-38 - Joseph and Ten of His Brethren 1. שׁבר sheber “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain). 6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch. 25. כלי kelı̂y “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.” Twenty years, the period of Joseph‘s long…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Jacob may have believed that Benjamin would not be safe with his brothers.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-381. Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt--learned from common rumor. It is evident from Jacob's language that his own and his sons' families had suffered greatly from the scarcity; and through the increasing severity of the scourge, those men, who had formerly shown both activity and spirit, were sinking into despondency. God would not interpose miraculously when natural means of preservation were within reach.Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 42:4

• Commerce
• Parents

In the dictionaries

• Benjamin
• Jacob
• Benjamin, Benjaminite
• Jacob, Israel
• Bereave
• Espy
• Famine
• Fear
• Joseph
• Lade

Commentaries on Genesis 42

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings