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Genesis 42:37

in Genesis 42

Then 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.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

KJV

And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

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This verse in Genesis 42

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee - What a strange proposal made by a son to his father, concerning his grandchildren! But they show the honesty and affection of Reuben’s heart; he felt deeply for his father’s distress, and was determined to risk and hazard every thing in order to relieve and comfort him.

This site's exposition

You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back

on Genesis 42:37-38

Reuben offers his father the lives of two grandsons, and Jacob gives him no answer. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the offer as a clumsy way of promising the greatest care he could. Jacob answers that Benjamin alone is left to him. Jacob closes on his own death, his gray hair going down to Sheol in sorrow.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), not so much as putting in, If the Lord will, nor expecting the common disasters of travellers; but he foolishly bids Jacob slay his two sons (which, it is likely, he was very proud of) if he brought him not back; as if the death of two grandsons could satisfy Jacob for the death of a son. No, Jacob's present thoughts are, My son shall not go down with you.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And Reuben spoke unto his father,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee--This was a thoughtless and unwarrantable condition--one that he never seriously expected his father would accept. It was designed only to give assurance of the greatest care being taken of Benjamin.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • רְאוּבֵן֙Reuben

    reuvenH7205 →72 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אָבִ֣יוfather his

    ʾavivH1 →1212 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שְׁנֵ֤יtwo of

    sheneiH8147 →768 times

  • בָנַי֙sons my

    vanaiH1121 →4930 times

  • תָּמִ֔יתyou will kill

    tamitH4191 →839 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • אֲבִיאֶ֖נּוּI will bring him

    ʾavienuH935 →2568 times

  • אֵלֶ֑יךָto you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

  • תְּנָ֤הput !

    tenahH5414 →2011 times

  • אֹתוֹ֙<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • יָדִ֔יhand my

    yadiH3027 →1618 times

  • וַאֲנִ֖יand I

    vaaniH589 →874 times

  • אֲשִׁיבֶ֥נּוּI will bring back him

    ʾashivenuH7725 →1056 times

  • אֵלֶֽיךָ׃to you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 43:9I 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.5 worksMicah 6:7Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?3 worksGenesis 46:9The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.3 worksGenesis 19:8Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”3 worksGenesis 44:32–34Indeed, 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.’2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Micah 6:7

    Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 16:3

      Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the…

    • Psalms 51:16

      For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.

    • 1 Samuel 15:22

      But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of…

    • Psalms 50:9

      I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens,

    • Hosea 6:6

      For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

  • Through

    Genesis 43:9

    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.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 7:22

      Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

    • Genesis 44:32–33

      Indeed, 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.’

    • Philemon 1:18–19

      But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 42 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 42 →