Genesis 42:36

36 Their father Jacob said to them, "You're going to make me lose all my children! Joseph is no longer with us, Simeon is no longer with us, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything's against me!"

Genesis 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.

Genesis 42:36 In-Context

34 But bring me your youngest brother. Then I'll know that you're not spies but honest men. I'll give your brother back to you, and you'll be able to move about freely in this country.'"

35 As they were emptying their sacks, each man found his bag of money in his sack. When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were frightened.

36 Their father Jacob said to them, "You're going to make me lose all my children! Joseph is no longer with us, Simeon is no longer with us, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything's against me!"

37 So Reuben said to his father, "You may put my two sons to death if I don't bring him back to you. Let me take care of him, and I'll bring him back to you."

38 Jacob replied, "My son will not go with you. His brother is dead, and he's the only one left. If any harm comes to him on the trip you're taking, the grief would drive this gray-haired old man to his grave!"