Genesis 42:36

36 And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me--Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you would take! All of this [is] 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 And bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you [are] not spies but you [are] honest. And I will give your brother [back] to you, and you will trade in the land.'"

35 And it happened [that when] they emptied their sacks, behold, each one's pouch of money [was] in his sack. And when they and their father saw the pouches of their money, they were greatly distressed.

36 And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me--Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin you would take! All of this [is] against me!

37 Then Reuben said to his father, "You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hand and I myself will return him to you."

38 But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone remains. [If] harm meets him on the journey that you would take, you would bring down my gray head in sorrow to Sheol."