Genesis 42:33

Gen 42:33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye [are] true [men]; leave one of your brethren [here] with me, and take [food for] the famine of your households, and be gone:

Ver. 33. See Gen 42:9; Gen 42:11; Gen 42:13; Gen 42:19, &c

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(33) Leave one of your brethren.—While acknowledging that the lord of Egypt had spoken “hard things” with them, they do not mention that Simeon was left in bonds, nor even the harsher part of the treatment which they had met with, lest Jacob should be afraid to send Benjamin on their next visit.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. corn for the famine of your houses] The expression “take the famine of your houses” is so strange, that probably the word for “corn” is to be supplied, as in the parallel passage in Gen_42:19. It is supplied in the versions, LXX, Syr. Pesh. and Targ. Onk.: LXX τὸν δὲ ἀγορασμὸν τῆς σιτοδοσίας τοῦ οἴκου ὑμῶν = “the purchase of food for your house”; Lat. cibaria domibus vestris necessaria.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Reuben spoke unto his father,.... Being the eldest son, it most property lay upon him to make answer to his father in the name of his brethren, and to offer a word of comfort to him:

saying, slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee; meaning not Simeon, who was in Egypt, but Benjamin, whom it was proposed to take thither, and whom Jacob was very loath to part with; and to persuade him to it Reuben offers to him, and gives him leave to slay his two sons, or rather two of his sons (g), since he had four, Gen 46:9; if he did not bring Benjamin again to him: this was a strange proposal, for what were two sons of his to his own son, so exceedingly beloved by him? besides, to lose his own son, and to have two of his grandchildren slain, would have been an increase of his sorrow and grief, instead of being an alleviation of it; but Reuben's meaning was, not that his children should be slain, but this he says, to show that he would be as careful and solicitous for the return of Benjamin as if the life of two sons of his lay at stake, and was so confident of it that he could risk the life of them upon it, who were as dear to him as one Benjamin was to his father:

deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again; he undertook to be responsible for him.

(g) "duos filiorum meorum", Piscator; so Ainsworth.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

the lord of the land

"The lord of Egypt"

take grain for the famine in your houses

Here "houses" stands for "family." AT: "take grain to help your family during the famine" (See: Metonymy)

go your way

"go home" or "leave"

you will trade in the land

"I will allow you to buy and sell in this land"

translationWords

lord

grain

famine

house

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ואת רעבון, the words are once more inverted and mean ואת שבר רעבון, “the food for the starving, etc.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.