Kejadian 44:20-29
Konteks44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. 1 The boy’s 2 brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, 3 and his father loves him.’
44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see 4 him.’ 5 44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father 6 will die.’ 7 44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. 8 If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, 9 for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’
44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. 10 44:28 The first disappeared 11 and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take 12 this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair 13 in tragedy 14 to the grave.’ 15
[44:20] 1 tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.
[44:20] 2 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[44:20] 3 tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”
[44:21] 4 tn The cohortative after the imperative indicates purpose here.
[44:21] 5 tn Heb “that I may set my eyes upon him.”
[44:22] 6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[44:22] 7 tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.
[44:26] 8 tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[44:27] 10 tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”
[44:28] 11 tn Heb “went forth from me.”
[44:29] 12 tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”
[44:29] 13 sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.
[44:29] 14 tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).
[44:29] 15 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.