For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me? — lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”
- KJV For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.
- NKJV For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?”
- NASB For how shall I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear that I may see the evil that would overtake my father.”
- NLT For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!”
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 cannot bear to face his father without Benjamin and witness the grief it would cause. Love for his father completes his selfless appeal.
Overview
Judah ends by saying he could not endure returning to see the ruin his father's grief would bring. His concern is wholly for Jacob and Benjamin, not himself. This selfless love so moves Joseph that he can no longer maintain his disguise, and reconciliation breaks forth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Esth 8:6For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”
- 1 Sam 2:33–34And every one of you that I do not cut off from My altar, your eyes will fail and your heart will grieve. All your descendants will die by the sword of men.
- Ps 116:3The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
- Exod 18:8Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.
- Ps 119:143Trouble and distress have found me, but Your commandments are my delight.
- 2 Chr 34:28‘Now I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.
- Job 31:29If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
- Jer 52:10–11There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 44:34 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.