Genesis 44:27

Rachel bare to Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And thy servant my father said unto us,.... When thus pressed to let Benjamin go with them:

ye know that my wife bare me two sons; Rachel, by whom he had Joseph and Benjamin, and whom he calls his wife, she being his only lawful wife; Leah was imposed upon him, Gen 29:20; and the other two were concubines, Gen 30:4.

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

He calleth her

my wife, by way of eminency, as Gen 46:19, because she only was his wife by design and choice, whereas Leah was put upon him by fraud, and might have been refused by him, if he had so pleased; and the other two were given to him by Rachel and Leah.

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

"That my wife bore to me two (sons):" Jacob regards Rachel alone as his actual wife (cf. Gen 46:19).

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.)

General Information:

Judah continues his story to Joseph

said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons. One of them went out from me and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces, and I have not seen him since." Now if you also take this one from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hair with sorrow to Sheol.'

This has a two level and three level quotation. They can be stated as indirect quotations. AT: "said to us that we know that his wife, Rachel, bore him only two sons, and that one of them went out and an animal tore him to pieces, and he has not seen him since. Then he said that if we take his other son and something bad happens to him, then we would cause him to die of sorrow." (See: Quotes Within Quotes and Direct and Indirect Quotations)

said to us

Here "us" does not include Joseph. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")

You know

Here "You" is plural and refers to the brothers. (See: Forms of You)

he is torn in pieces

This can be stated in active form. AT: "a wild animal has torn him to pieces" (See: Active or Passive)

harm comes to him

Something bad happening to a person is spoken of as if "harm" were something that travels and comes to a person. (See: Metaphor)

you will bring down my gray hair with sorrow to Sheol

To "bring down ... to Sheol" is way of saying they will cause him to die and go to Sheol. He uses the word "down" because it was commonly believed Sheol is somewhere underground. AT: "then you will cause me, an old man, to die of sorrow" (See: Idiom)

my gray hair

This stands for Jacob and emphasizes his old age. AT: "me, an old man" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

servant

Hades

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

YE KNOW THAT MY WIFE BORE ME TWO SONS. If we say [that Jacob’s intention was to point out] that Benjamin is the only one left to his mother, why is this a reason [for his saying that if some harm will befall him] it will bring down his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave? After all, he has many sons and grandchildren, and Benjamin’s mother has already died, and she would no longer weep over him in Jacob’s presence. The meaning of the verse, however, is that Jacob took only Rachel as a wife on his own initiative. This is the sense of the words, my wife bore me: “for from a woman that was my wife of my own will there have been only two sons born to me, and I have bestowed my love upon them as if they were my only ones, the rest being to me as if they were children of concubines. And with his brother Joseph dead, this one alone is my only son whom I have loved.” It is for this reason that Scripture mentions Rachel before Leah: Like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel; And he called Rachel and Leah to the field. Rachel took precedence in his mind. The commentators have said that the reason why Scripture in this Seder says, The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife, is that she is called his wife in truth, without any deception. In my opinion, however, this is because Rachel is mentioned there among the handmaids, as I have already so mentioned., is independently justified.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.