Genesis 43:4

4 {If you will send} our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you,

Genesis 43:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 43:4

If thou wilt send our brother with us
Give orders for his going with us, and put him under our care: we will go down and buy thee food;
signifying, on the above condition, that they were ready and willing to take a journey into Egypt, and buy provisions for him and his family, otherwise not.

Genesis 43:4 In-Context

2 And it happened [that] as they finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt their father said to them, "Return and buy a little food for us."

3 Then Judah said to him, "The man solemnly admonished us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother [is] with you.'

4 {If you will send} our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you,

5 but {if you will not send} [him], we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother [is] with you.'"

6 Then Israel said, "Why did you bring trouble to me by telling the man you still had a brother?"

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "if there is a sending"