Bereshis 42:36

36 And Ya’akov Avihem said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children; Yosef is not, and Shimon is not, and ye will take Binyamin away; all these things are against me.

Bereshis 42:36 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 42:36

And Jacob their father said unto them, me have ye bereaved
[of my children]
Which looks as if Jacob suspected that they had either sold or slain Joseph, and had done one or the other by Simeon: Joseph [is] not, and Simeon [is] not:
neither of them were with him, and both were given up by him as dead, or, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,

``of Joseph ye have said an evil beast hath devoured him; and Simeon, ye say, the king of the country hath bound him;''

as for Joseph he knew not but he was dead, he feared he was; and as for Simeon, he being in the hands of so rough a man as they had represented the lord of the land to be, and especially as his release depended upon sending Benjamin, which he was determined at present not to do; he was reckoned by him as a lost or dead man: and ye will take Benjamin [away];
they were desirous of it, and what their design was he could not tell; he seems to have a strong suspicion that it was not good: all these things are against me;
against his will, his peace, and comfort, and happiness, though they were all working and would work as they did for his good, and for the good of his family, for the preservation of it during the seven years of famine; or are "upon me" {f}, as heavy burdens, too heavy for him to bear, ready to sink him down to the earth.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (yle) "super me", Montanus, Schmidt; "[vel.] in me", V. L. Vatablus.

Bereshis 42:36 In-Context

34 And bring achichem hakaton unto me; then shall I know that ye are not meragelim, but that ye are truthful ones: so will I restore you achichem, and ye shall freely trade in the land.

35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, hinei, every man’s pouch of kesef was in his sack; and when both they and Avihem saw the pouches of kesef, they were afraid.

36 And Ya’akov Avihem said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children; Yosef is not, and Shimon is not, and ye will take Binyamin away; all these things are against me.

37 And Reuven spoke unto Aviv, saying, Slay my two banim, if I bring him not to thee; entrust him into my yad, and I will bring him to thee again.

38 And he said, Beni (my son) shall not go down with you; for achiv is dead, and he is left alone; if ason (harm, evil) befall him on the derech in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hair in yagon (sorrow) to Sheol.