Genesis 42:38

American Standard Version (1901)

And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לֹֽא־יֵרֵ֥ד בְּנִ֖י עִמָּכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־אָחִ֨יו מֵ֜ת וְה֧וּא לְבַדּ֣וֹ נִשְׁאָ֗ר וּקְרָאָ֤הוּ אָסוֹן֙ בַּדֶּ֙רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תֵּֽלְכוּ־בָ֔הּ וְהוֹרַדְתֶּ֧ם אֶת־שֵׂיבָתִ֛י בְּיָג֖וֹן שְׁאֽוֹלָה׃

Transliteration

And wə-yōʾmer not yēreḏ my son with you; for his brother is mēṯ and he alone nišʾār, and qərāʾāhû ʾāsôn in the děrěḵ which you will tēlḵû in it, and you will wəhôraḏtěm ʾěṯ my śêḇāṯî in yāḡôn to šəʾôlāh.

Grammar Details

• *wə-yōʾmer*: waw consecutive + imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he said
• *yēreḏ*: qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - he will go down
• *mēṯ*: qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he died/is dead
• *nišʾār*: niphal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he is left/remained
• *qərāʾāhû*: qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular + 3rd masculine singular suffix - it will meet/befall him
• *ʾāsôn*: noun, masculine singular - harm/calamity/disaster
• *děrěḵ*: noun, feminine singular - way/road/journey
• *tēlḵû*: qal imperfect, 2nd masculine plural - you will go/walk
• *wəhôraḏtěm*: waw consecutive + hiphil perfect, 2nd masculine plural - and you will bring down
• *ʾěṯ*: direct object marker
• *śêḇāṯî*: noun, feminine singular + 1st common singular suffix - my gray hair/old age
• *yāḡôn*: noun, masculine singular - sorrow/grief
• *šəʾôlāh*: noun, feminine singular + directional hey - to Sheol/the grave

Word Meanings

• *lōʾ-yēreḏ*: he shall not go down/will not go/must not go
• *mēṯ*: is dead/has died/passed away
• *ləḇaddô*: by himself/alone/only him
• *nišʾār*: is left/has remained/is the only one left
• *qərāʾāhû ʾāsôn*: harm will befall him/disaster will strike him/calamity will happen to him
• *wəhôraḏtěm*: you will bring down/send down/cause to descend
• *śêḇāṯî*: my gray hair/my old age/me in my old age
• *bəyāḡôn*: in sorrow/with grief/mourning
• *šəʾôlāh*: to Sheol/to the grave/to the realm of the dead

Referenced Verses

• Gen 37:35 : 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him.
• Gen 42:4 : 4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure harm befall him.
• Gen 37:33 : 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.
• Gen 42:13 : 13 And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
• Gen 35:16-18 : 16 And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some distance to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. 17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; for now thou shalt have another son. 18 And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.
• Gen 30:22-24 : 22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived, and bare a son: and said, God hath taken away my reproach: 24 and she called his name Joseph, saying, Jehovah add to me another son.
• Gen 44:20 : 20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loveth him.
• Gen 44:27-34 : 27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since: 29 and if ye take this one also from me, and harm befall him, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. 30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; 31 it will come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not [with us], that he will die: and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father for ever. 33 Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. 34 For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad be not with me? lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.
• 1 Kgs 2:6 : 6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.
• Ps 71:18 : 18 Yea, even when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, Until I have declared thy strength unto [the next] generation, Thy might to every one that is to come.
• Ps 90:10 : 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; For it is soon gone, and we fly away.
• Eccl 1:14 : 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
• Eccl 2:26 : 26 For to the man that pleaseth him [God] giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
• Isa 38:10 : 10 I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
• Isa 46:4 : 4 and even to old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry [you] ; I have made, and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver.