Genesis 44:34

 Genesis 44:34

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.

a. NASB 1995: “For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me—for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?” [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. 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?”  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: For how can i go up to my father if the youth is not with me, lest I see the evil that will befall my father!” [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

d. ESV: For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

e. Amplified Bible:  “How can I go up to my father if the young man is not with me—for fear that I would see the tragedy that would overtake my [elderly] father [if Benjamin does not return]?” [AMPLIFIED BIBLE 2015 AMP Amplified Bible Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. 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.

a. For [Strong: kîy, kee; a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:—and, (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), but, certainly, doubtless, else, even, except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, (al-) though, till, truly, until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

b. how [Strong: 349 ʼêyk, ake; also אֵיכָה ʼêykâh ; and אֵיכָכָה ʼêykâkâh ; prolonged from H335; how? or how!; also where:—how, what.]

c. [shall I] go up [Strong: 5927 ʻâlâh, aw-law'; a primitive root; to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative:—arise (up), (cause to) ascend up, at once, break (the day) (up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, shew, climb (up), (cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up); grow (over) increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, (make) up, × mention, mount up, offer, make to pay, perfect, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), (begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work.]

d. unto [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

e. [my] father [Strong: 1 ʼâb, awb; a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application:—chief, (fore-) father(-less), × patrimony, principal.]

f. [and the] lad [Strong: 5288 naʻar, nah'-ar; from H5287; (concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescence; by implication, a servant; also (by interch. of sex), a girl (of similar latitude in age):—babe, boy, child, damsel (from the margin), lad, servant, young (man).]

g. [be] not [Strong: 369 ʼayin, ah'-yin; as if from a primitive root meaning to be nothing or not exist; a nonentity; generally used as a negative particle:—else, except, fail, (father-) less, be gone, in(-curable), neither, never, no (where), none, nor, (any, thing), not, nothing, to nought, past, un(-searchable), well-nigh, without.]

h. with [me] [Strong: 854 ʼêth, ayth; probably from H579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:—against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

i. [lest] peradventure [Strong: 6435 pên, pane; from H6437; properly, removal; used only (in the construction) adverb as conjunction, lest:—(lest) (peradventure), that...not.]

j. [I] see [Strong: 7200 râʼâh, raw-aw'; a primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative):—advise self, appear, approve, behold, × certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, × indeed, × joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, × be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), × sight of others, (e-) spy, stare, × surely, × think, view, visions.]

k. [the] evil [Strong: 7451 raʻ, rah; from H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), + exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Including feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.)]

l. that [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

m. [shall] come on [Strong: 4672 mâtsâʼ, maw-tsaw'; a primitive root; properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present:— be able, befall, being, catch, × certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), × have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-) on, meet (with), × occasion serve, (be) present, ready, speed, suffice, take hold on.]

n. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

o. [my] father [Strong: 1 ʼâb, awb; a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application:—chief, (fore-) father(-less), × patrimony, principal.]

1). Why did Joseph deal with his brothers the way he did? Some Jewish writers maintain that before Joseph would reveal himself to his brothers he needed to know if they still hated him. If he showed himself here he would never know if they still hated him. Some of the brothers hated him enough to kill him.

a). Genesis 37:4-11 [Classic Amplified] But when his brothers saw that their father loved [Joseph] more than all of his brothers, they hated him and could not say, Peace [in friendly greeting] to him or speak peaceably to him.

37:5 Now Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him still more.

37:6 And he said to them, Listen now and hear, I pray you, this dream that I have dreamed:

37:7 We [brothers] were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about my sheaf and bowed down!

37:8 His brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or are you going to have us as your subjects and dominate us? And they hated him all the more for his dreams and for what he said.

37:9 But Joseph dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers [also]. He said, See here, I have dreamed again, and behold, [this time not only] eleven stars [but also] the sun and the moon bowed down and did reverence to me!

37:10 And he told it to his father [as well as] his brethren. But his father rebuked him and said to him, What is the meaning of this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down ourselves to the earth and do homage to you?

37:11 Joseph’s brothers envied him and were jealous of him, but his father observed the saying and pondered over it.

b). Genesis 37:18 And when they saw him far off, even before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.

2). It is during this last plea by Judah to Joseph that Joseph realizes that his brothers do not hate him but regret with great sorrow for what they did to Joseph. Judah was willing to give his life for Benjamin in order to spare their father.