Genesis 44:31
in Genesis 44sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 44
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow
on Genesis 44:29-31
The gray hair going down to Sheol is said twice here, once in Jacob's words and once in Judah's own reckoning. Judah has watched for twenty years what the first loss did to the old man. His father's life, he tells the lord, is wrapped up in the boy's life.
This site's exposition
he will die
Judah makes the brothers answerable for the death he foresees, naming your servants as the ones who bring it about. At Dothan they brought grief on the same father and hid their part. This time they own the outcome before it happens.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And for which he would search thoroughly - So it may be rendered. God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants - Referring to the injury they had formerly done to Joseph, for which they thought God was now reckoning with them. Even in those afflictions wherein we apprehend ourselves wronged by men, yet we must own that God is righteous, and finds out our iniquity.
It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Joseph's behavior must not be viewed from any single point, or in separate parts, but as a whole--a well-thought, deep-laid, closely connected plan; and though some features of it do certainly exhibit an appearance of harshness, yet the pervading principle of his conduct was real, genuine, brotherly kindness.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֗ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כִּרְאוֹת֛וֹ | kiroto | when sees he | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| הַנַּ֖עַר | hanaar | [is] the young man | H5288 → | 239 times |
| וָמֵ֑ת | vamet | and he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְהוֹרִ֨ידוּ | vehoridu | and they will bring down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| עֲבָדֶ֜יךָ | ʾavadeikha | servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שֵׂיבַ֨ת | seivat | [the] gray hair of | H7872 → | 19 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֥ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אָבִ֛ינוּ | ʾavinu | father our | H1 → | 1212 times |
| בְּיָג֖וֹן | beyagon | in sorrow | H3015 → | |
| שְׁאֹֽלָה׃ | sheolah | Sheol towards | H7585 → | 66 times |
וְהָיָ֗הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כִּרְאוֹת֛וֹwhen sees he
kirotoH7200 →1300 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
הַנַּ֖עַר[is] the young man
hanaarH5288 →239 times
וָמֵ֑תand he will die
vametH4191 →839 times
וְהוֹרִ֨ידוּand they will bring down
vehoriduH3381 →381 times
עֲבָדֶ֜יךָservants your
ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שֵׂיבַ֨ת[the] gray hair of
seivatH7872 →19 times
עַבְדְּךָ֥servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
אָבִ֛ינוּfather our
ʾavinuH1 →1212 times
בְּיָג֖וֹןin sorrow
beyagonH3015 →
שְׁאֹֽלָה׃Sheol towards
sheolahH7585 →66 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Thessalonians 4:13Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
it leads to
- Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:15
By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
- 2 Peter 3:4
“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:18–19
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
- Daniel 12:2
Through
Genesis 44:29Now if you also take this one from me and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’
it leads to
- Genesis 42:38
But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 43:14
May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
- Genesis 42:38
Through
Genesis 37:35All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 12:17
The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.
- 2 Samuel 12:17
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.