Genesis 44:30

Gen 44:30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad [be] not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;

Ver. 30. Seeing that his life is bound up.] God loved his Son Jesus infinitely more than Jacob did Benjamin; he exalts his love far above that of any earthly parent; which is but a spark of his flame, a drop of his ocean. And yet be freely parted with him, to certain and shameful death, for our sakes. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," &c. This is a Sic without a Sicut; there is nothing in nature whereby to resemble it.

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_44:30

His life is bound up in the lads life

The life of the lad

These words were spoken by Judah as descriptive of the tenderness and affection which Jacob felt towards Benjamin, the youngest son of that patriarchal family; but they are words just as appropriate to hundreds of parents in this house--since his life is bound up in the lads life.

The fowl in the barnyard, clumsy-footed and heavy-winged, flies fiercely at you if you come too near the little group, and God intended every father and mother to be the protection and the help of the child. Jesus comes into every dwelling, and says to the father or mother: You have been looking after this childs body and mind; the time has come when you ought to be looking after its immortal soul. I read of a vessel that foundered. The boats were launched; many of the passengers were struggling in the water. A mother with one band beat the wave, and with the other hand lifted up her little child towards the lifeboat, crying: Save my child! save my child! The impassioned outcry of that mother is the prayer of hundreds of Christian people who sit listening this morning while I speak.

I. I propose to show SOME OF THE CAUSES OF PARENTAL ANXIETY.

1. I find the first cause of parental anxiety in the inefficiency and imperfection of parents themselves. We have a slight hope, all of us, that our children may escape our faults. We hide our imperfections and think they will steer clear of them. Alas, there is a poor prospect of that. There is more probability that they will choose our vices than choose our virtues.

2. Again, parental anxiety often arises from an early exhibition of sinfulness in the child. It is especially sad if the parent sees his own faults copied by the child. It is very hard work to pull up a nettle that we ourselves planted. We remember that the greatest frauds that ever shook the banking-houses of the country started from a boys deception a good many years ago; and the gleaming blade of the murderer is only another blade of the knife with which the boy struck at his comrade. The cedar of Lebanon that wrestles with the blast, started from seed lodged in the side of the mountain, and the most tremendous dishonesties of the world once toddled out from a cradle. All these things make parents anxious.

3. Anxiety on the part of parents, also, arises from a consciousness that there are so many temptations thrown all around our young people. It may be almost impossible to take a castle by siege--straightforward siege--but suppose in the night there is a traitor within, and he goes down and draws the bolt, and swings open the great door, and then the castle falls immediately. That is the trouble with the hearts of the young; they have foes without and foes within.

II. I shall devote the rest of my remarks to ALLEVIATION OF PARENTAL ANXIETY. Let me say to you as parents, that a great deal of that anxiety will be lifted if you will begin early with your children. Tom Paine said: The first five years of my life I became an infidel. A vessel goes out to sea; it has been five days out; a storm comes on it; it springs a leak; the helm will not work; everything is out of order. What is the matter? The ship is not seaworthy, and never was. It is a poor time to find it out now. Under the fury of the storm, the vessel goes down, with two hundred and fifty passengers, to a watery grave. The time to make the ship seaworthy was in the dry-dock, before it started. Alas for us, if we wait until our children get out into the world before we try to bring upon them the influence of Christs religion. I tell you, the dry-dock of the Christian home is the place where we are to fit them for usefulness and for heaven. In this world, under the storm of vice and temptation, it will be too late. In the domestic circle you decide whether your child shall be truthful or false--whether it shall be generous or penurious. You cannot begin too early. You stand on the bank of a river floating by. You cannot stop that river, but you travel days and days towards the source of it, and you find, after awhile, where it comes down, dropping from the rock, and with your knife you make a course in this or that direction for the dropping to take, and you decide the course of the river. You stand and see your childrens character rolling on with great impetuosity and passion, and you cannot affect them. Go up towards the source where the character first starts, and decide that it shall take the right direction, and it will follow the path you give it. But I want you to remember, O father, O mother, that it is what you do that is going to affect your children, and not what you say. You tell your children to become Christians while you are not, and they will not. Above all, pray. I do not mean mere formal prayer, that amounts to nothing. Often go before God and say: Here are my dear children. Oh save them. Put their feet on the road to heaven. Thou knowest how imperfectly I am training them; make up what I lack. Lord Jesus Christ, better than anything Thou canst give, give them Jesus. God will hear such a prayer. He said He would: I will be a God to thee and thy seed after thee. (Dr. Talmage.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, his soul is bound to his soul.

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

30. his life … the lad’s life] Better, as R.V. marg., his soul is knit with the lad’s soul. See 1Sa_18:1, “the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” It is the affections, not the lives, of two loving persons which are intertwined.

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.

Now therefore, when I come to thy servant my father,.... That is, should he return to him in the land of Canaan with the rest of his brethren:

and the lad be not with us; his brother Benjamin, so called here, and in the following verses, though thirty years of age and upwards, see Gen 43:8,

seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; he is as closely united to him in affection, and is as dear to him as his own soul; quite wrapped up in him, and cannot live without him; should he die, he must die too; see Sa1 18:1; so it follows:

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

The death of the child, which upon this occasion he will firmly believe, will unavoidably procure his death also.

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

"His soul is bound to his soul:" equivalent to, "he clings to him with all his soul."

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.)

Now

This does not mean "at this moment," but is used to draw attention to the important point that follows.

therefore, when I come ... sorrow to Sheol

Judah is describing to Joseph a realistic but hypothetical case of what he will expect will happen to Jacob when he returns without Benjamin. (See: Hypothetical Situations)

when I come to your servant

Here "come" can be translated as "go" or "return."

the lad is not with us

"the boy is not with us"

since his life is bound up in the boy's life

The father saying he would die if his son died is spoken of as if their two lives were physically bound together. AT: "since he said he would die if the boy did not come back" (See: Metaphor)

it will come about

Judah is speaking about a hypothetical case in the future as if it would certainly happen. (See: Hypothetical Situations)

Your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father 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: "And we will have caused our old father to die of sorrow" (See: Idiom)

Your servants

Judah refers to himself and his brothers as "your servants." This is a formal way of speaking to someone with greater authority. AT: "And we, your servants" or "And we" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

the gray hair of your servant our father

Here "gray hair" stands for Jacob and emphasizes his old age. AT: "our old father" (See: Synecdoche)

For your servant became a guarantee for the boy to my father

The abstract noun "guarantee" can be stated with the verb "promised." AT: "For I promised my father concerning the boy" (See: Abstract Nouns)

For your servant

Judah refers to himself as "your servant." AT: "For I, your servant" or "For I" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

then I will bear the guilt to my father

Being considered guilty is spoken of as if "guilt" were something that a person carries. AT: "then my father may blame me" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

servant

bind

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.

ונפשו קשורה בנפשו; due to the intense love he has for this son. If he will not return with us, my father will die and both we and you will be guilty of having brought about his death. If you claim that he has sinned against you, consider against this the fact that you had claimed you merely wanted to see him, i.e. to convince yourself of his existence, not of his being a righteous individual. We fulfilled this request by bringing him with us. We are faced with the dilemma that he says he has not taken the goblet, whereas you claim he has sinned against you seeing the goblet has been found in his bag, which may be circumstantial evidence hard to refute, but it is still his word against yours. If you were now to forgive his presumed guilt this would constitute the תשומת עין, “setting your eye on him,” which is what you requested in the first place. If you were to ask why I of all my brothers have chosen to be the spokesman,

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.