I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
Parallel translations
- WEB I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,
- KJV I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:
- NKJV I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
- NASB I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then you can let me take the blame forever.
- NLT I personally guarantee his safety. You may hold me responsible if I don’t bring him back to you. Then let me bear the blame forever.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Judah pledges himself as personal surety for Benjamin, bearing the blame forever if he fails. His self-sacrificing guarantee finally moves Jacob.
Overview
Unlike Reuben's offer of his sons, Judah stakes his own person and standing, accepting permanent guilt should Benjamin be lost. This costly pledge marks his moral growth and earns Jacob's trust. Judah's willingness to bear blame for another points forward to Christ, the Lion of Judah, who bears the guilt of his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Gen 42:37Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”
- Phlm 1:18–19But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.
- Heb 7:22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
- Gen 44:32–33Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’
- Ezek 33:6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’
- Ezek 3:20Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.
- Ps 119:122Ensure Your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.
- Job 17:3Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
- Ezek 3:18If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.
- Ezek 33:8If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.
- 1 Kgs 1:21Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as criminals.”
- Gen 31:39I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night.
- Gen 9:5And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
- Luke 11:50As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 43:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.