Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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28 and the one went out from me, and I said, surely he is torn in
pieces; and I saw him not since:
29 and if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall
bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
The great argument he insisted upon was the insupportable grief it would be to his aged father if Benjamin should be left behind in servitude: His father loveth him, Ge 44:20. This they had pleaded against Joseph's insisting on his coming down (Ge 44:22): "If he should leave his father, his father would die; much more if now he be left behind, never more to return to him." This the old man, of whom they spoke, had pleaded against his going down: If mischief befall him, you shall bring down my gray hairs, that crown of glory, with sorrow to the grave, Ge 44:29. This therefore Judah presses with a great deal of earnestness: "His life is bound up in the lad's life (Ge 44:30); when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will faint away, and die immediately (Ge 44:31), or will abandon himself to such a degree of sorrow as will, in a few days, make an end of him." And, lastly, Judah pleads that, for his part, he could not bear to see this: Let me not see the evil that shall come on my father, Ge 44:34.
Note, It is the duty of children to be very tender of their parents' comfort, and to be afraid of everything that may be an occasion of grief to them. Thus the love that descended first must again ascend, and something must be done towards a recompense for their care.
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;
31 it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that
he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, if
I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.
33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a
bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.