God’s Word Translation
Genesis 43:8
8Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy along with me. Let’s get going so that we won’t starve to death.
Genesis 43:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.
- New International Version (NIV)Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
Context of Genesis 43:8
6Israel asked, “Why have you made trouble for me by telling the man you had another brother?” 7They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How could we possibly know he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy along with me. Let’s get going so that we won’t starve to death. 9I guarantee that he will come back. You can hold me responsible for him. If I don’t bring him back to you and place him here in front of you, you can blame me the rest of my life. 10If we hadn’t waited so long, we could have made this trip twice by now.”
Read all of Genesis 43Genesis 43:8 word by word
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוּדָ֜ה אֶל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל אָבִ֗יו שִׁלְחָ֥ה הַנַּ֛עַר אִתִּ֖י וְנָק֣וּמָה וְנֵלֵ֑כָה וְנִֽחְיֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א נָמ֔וּת גַּם־אֲנַ֥חְנוּ גַם־אַתָּ֖ה גַּם־טַפֵּֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- his fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
- Sendשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- the ladנַ֫עַרna‛ar · youthH5288
- with me, and we will ariseקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
- and goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
- that we may liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
- and not dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
- also our little onesטַףţaph · childH2945
Cross-references for Genesis 43:8
- Genesis 42:38Jacob replied, “My son will not go with you. His brother is dead, and he’s the only one left. If any harm comes to him on the trip you’re taking, the grief would drive this gray-haired old man to his grave!”
- Genesis 44:26We answered, ‘We can’t go back. We can only go back if our youngest brother is with us. The man won’t see us unless our youngest brother is with us.’
- Exodus 20:12“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live for a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
- Genesis 42:2I’ve heard there’s grain for sale in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us so that we won’t starve to death.”
- Deuteronomy 33:6“May the tribe of Reuben live and not die out, though their people are few in number.”
- 2 Kings 7:4If we go into the city, the famine is also there, and we’ll still die. But if we stay here, we’ll die. So let’s go to the Aramean camp. If they give us something to keep us alive, we’ll live. But if they kill us, we’ll die anyway.”
- Psalms 118:17I will not die, but I will live and tell what the Lord has done.
- Genesis 45:19“Give them this order: ‘Take wagons with you from Egypt for your children and your wives. Bring your father, and come back.
- Genesis 50:8Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household also went with him. (Only their children, their flocks, and their cattle were left in Goshen.)
- Numbers 14:31You said your children would be taken as prisoners of war. Instead, I will bring them into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it.
- Ezra 8:21Then I announced a fast there at the Ahava River so that we might humble ourselves in the presence of our God to ask him for a safe journey for ourselves, for our little ones, and for all our goods.
Commentaries on Genesis 43:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Send the lad with me - As the original is not ילד yeled, from which we have derived our word lad, but נער naar, it would have been better had our translators rendered it by some other term, such as the youth, or the young man, and thus the distinction in the Hebrew would have been better kept up. Benjamin was at this time at least twenty-four years of age, some think thirty, and had a family of his own. See Genesis 46:21. That we may live, and not die…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-34Verses 1-34 - Joseph and His Eleven Brethren 11. דבשׁ debash “honey,” from the bee, or sirup from the juice of the grape. בטנים bôṭen “pistachio nuts.” שׁקד shâqêd “almond tree;” related: “awake.” The tree is also called לוּז lûz Some refer the former to the fruit, the latter to the tree. The eleven brothers are now to bow down before Joseph. Genesis 43:1-10 The famine was severe. The pressure began to be felt more and more. The twelve households had…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-10Judah solved the problem by taking responsibility for Benjamin’s safety. In this way, he succeeded where Reuben had failed. This change was important because Judah had earlier suggested selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites (37:26–27) instead of killing him. Now he would secure Benjamin’s safety with his own life (see 44:18–34).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-142. their father said, ... Go again, buy us a little food--It was no easy matter to bring Jacob to agree to the only conditions on which his sons could return to Egypt (Ge 42:15). The necessity of immediately procuring fresh supplies for the maintenance of themselves and their families overcame every other consideration and extorted his consent to Benjamin joining in a journey, which his sons entered on with mingled feelings of hope and anxiety--of hope…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 43:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 43
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries