Genesis 44:20

20 and we answered my lord, 'We have an elderly father and a young brother, the child of his old age. The boy's[a] brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'

Genesis 44:20 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 44:20

And we said unto my lord, we have a father
Yet living in the land of Canaan: an old man;
being one hundred and thirty years of age, ( Genesis 47:9 ) ; and a child of his old age;
who was born when he was near an hundred years of age: and a little one;
not in stature, but in age, being the youngest son, and much younger than they: so they represented him, on that account, and because he was tenderly brought up with his father, and not inured to business and hardship, and so unfit to travel: and his brother is dead;
meaning Joseph: so they thought him to be, having not heard of him for twenty two years or more, and they had so often said he was dead, or suggested as much, that they at length believed he was: and he alone is left of his mother;
the only child left of his mother Rachel: and his father loveth him;
being his youngest son, and the only child of his beloved Rachel, and therefore most dear unto him.

Genesis 44:20 In-Context

18 But Judah approached him and said, "Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.
19 My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?'
20 and we answered my lord, 'We have an elderly father and a young brother, the child of his old age. The boy's brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.'
21 Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him to me so that I can see him.'
22 But we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.'

Footnotes 1

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