Genesis 44:33
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Now please let your servant stay here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy. Let him return with his brothers.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Judah closed his appeal with the entreaty, "Now let thy servant (me) remain instead of the lad as slave to my lord, but let the lad go up with his brethren; for how could I go to my father without the lad being with me! (I cannot,) that I may not see the calamity which will befall my father!"
Open source ↗Joseph, having entertained his brethren, dismissed them; but here we have them brought back in a greater fright than any they had been in yet. Observe, I. What method he took both to humble them further and also to try their affection to his brother Benjamin, by which he would be able to judge of the sincerity of their repentance for what they had done against himself, of which he was desirous to be satisfied before he manifested his reconciliation to them. This he contrived to do by bringing Benjamin into distress (v. 1-17). II. The good success of the experiment; he found them all heartily concerned, and Judah particularly, both for the safety of Benjamin and for the comfort of their aged father (Gen 44:18, etc.).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,