Genesis 43:4

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

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 when they had eaten the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little food."
3 But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned 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 you food;
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 Israel said, "Why did you treat me so ill as to tell the man that you had another brother?"
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.