Genesis 43:8

Gen 43:8 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.

Ver. 8. Send the lad.] A large lad, that was thirty years old, and had ten children. But he is so called, because the youngest son of them, and the father’s darling.

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.

Gen 43:8. Judah said unto his father — He, on account of his age, prudence, and penitent carriage for his youthful follies, was much beloved and regarded by his father, and, on this occasion, was likely to have the greatest influence in persuading him. Send the lad with me — So he terms him, because he was the youngest of all, though he was now thirty years old, and a father of divers children.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

43:8-10 Judah broke the deadlock by taking responsibility for Benjamin’s well-being, thus succeeding where Reuben failed. His action was fitting, since it had been his idea to sell 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).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. Send 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 Ge 46:21.

That we may live, and not die] An argument drawn from self-preservation, what some have termed the first law of nature. By your keeping Benjamin we are prevented from going to Egypt; if we go not to Egypt we shall get no corn; if we get no corn we shall all perish by famine; and Benjamin himself, who otherwise might live, must, with thee and the whole family, infallibly die.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(8) The lad.—Benjamin was now between twenty and thirty years of age. The term “lad” in Judah’s mouth is one of affection, but even in itself it suits very well to a youth of this age. Rebekah (in Gen_24:16) is called in the Hebrew a lad (see Note there), and so is Shechem in Gen_34:19. The assertion, therefore, that Benjamin is here represented as a mere boy, is disproved by the use of the word in the Hebrew.

Our little ones.—Heb., our “tafs” that is, our households. (See Note on Gen_34:29.)

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

I will be surety for him,.... Engage for his safe return:

of my hand shall thou require him; I will be answerable for him:

if I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee: do not return him from Egypt, and bring him to Canaan, into his father's house and presence safe, and sound:

then let me bear the blame for ever; of persuading his father to let him go with him; all this he said, to show what care he would take of him, and what confidence he had that no evil would befall him, that he would be returned with them in safety; which he might ground upon the assurance that Joseph had given, that they should not die if they brought their brother with them, Gen 42:20; and perhaps Judah, as Schmidt thinks, might be under a special instinct of divine Providence, which directed him to say these things: and it may be added, that Jacob also might be under a divine impulse, which influenced him to regard what Judah said, or otherwise his suretyship was but a poor security, and of little avail.

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

The boy; now 24 years old, (Calmet) and the father of a family, chap. xlvi. 21. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Judah, for his age and prudence, and penitent carriage for his youthful follies, was most beloved and regarded by his father.

The lad; so he calls him, because he was the youngest of all, though he was now thirty years old, and a father of divers children. See Gen 30:22; 35:18; 41:46; 46:21.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. Judah said — The eloquent plea of Judah seems to have had more weight with Jacob than the expressed wishes of all his other sons.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 8-10. And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me (Benjamin, though styled a lad, must have been at this time upwards of twenty years of age), and we will arise and go; that we may (literally, and we shall) live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him (the verb conveys the idea of changing places with another); of my hand shalt thou require him: (vide Gen_9:5) if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, the words are even more emphatic than those of Reuben (Gen_42:37) then let me bear the blame for ever literally, and I shall be a sinner (i.e. liable to punishment as a sinner) against the& all the gays; (sc. of my life). The thought is elliptical. Judah means that if he does not return with Benjamin he shall both have failed in his promise and be guilty of a dire transgression against his father (cf. 1Ki_1:21) For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time literally, these two times. The nobility of character which shines out so conspicuously in Judah"s language is afterwards signally illustrated in his pathetic pleading before Joseph, and goes far to countenance the suggestion that a change must have taken place in his inner life since the incidents recorded of him in Ge 37, and Ge 38.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He then repeated the only condition on which they would go to Egypt again, referring to the death by famine which threatened them, their father, and their children, and promising that he would himself be surety for the youth (הנּער, Benjamin was twenty-three years old), and saying, that if he did not restore him, he would bear the blame (חטא to be guilty of a sin and stone for it, as in Kg1 1:21) his whole life long. He then concluded with the deciding words, "for if we had not delayed, surely we should already have returned a second time."

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

We will rise and go that we may live and not die, both we, you, and also our children

The phrases "we may live" and "not die" mean the same thing. Judah is emphasizing that they have to buy food in Egypt in order to survive. AT: "We will go now to Egypt and get grain so our whole family will live" (See: Parallelism)

We will rise

Here "We" refers to the brothers who will travel to Egypt. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")

we may live

Here "we" refers to the brothers, Israel, and the whole family. (See: Inclusive "We")

both we

Here "we" refers to the brothers. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")

we, you

Here "you" is singular and refers to Israel. (See: Forms of You)

also our children

Here "our" refers to the brothers. This refers to the small children who were most likely to die during a famine. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")

I will be a guarantee for him

The abstract noun "guarantee" can be stated as the verb "promise." AT: "I will promise to bring him back" (See: Abstract Nouns)

You will hold me responsible

How Jacob will hold Judah responsible can be stated clearly. AT: "You will make me answer to you about what happens to Benjamin" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

let me bear the blame

This speaks about "blame" as if it were an object that a person has to carry. AT: "you may blame me" (See: Metaphor)

For if we had not delayed

Judah is describing something that could have happened in the past but did not. Judah is scolding his father for waiting so long to send his sons to Egypt to get more food. (See: Hypothetical Situations)

we would have come back here a second time

"we would have returned twice"

translationWords

Judah

Jacob

eternity

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

ונחיה THAT WE MAY LIVE — (literally, and we shall live). The spirit of prophecy was enkindled within him. He said: owing to this journey your spirit will live again, which indeed happened, as it is said, (Genesis 45:27) “And the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived”.

ולא נמות AND THAT WE MAY NOT DIE of hunger. As for Benjamin it is doubtful whether he will be seized or whether he will not be seized, but as for us, we shall certainly all die of hunger if we do not go. It is better that you should let go what is doubtful and snatch at what is certain (Genesis Rabbah 91:6).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

גם אנחנו גן אתה גם טפנו, each one in addition to the one already mentioned. What Yehudah meant was it was better that one Binyamin should come along with them although his safe return was subject to some doubt, than they should all die, something which would be a certainty.

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.