Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 42:4
But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
4. mischief ] See Gen 42:38. Jacob dares not part with Benjamin, for whom, both as his youngest child and as the surviving son of Rachel, he has special affection. On this trait the whole narrative turns, cf. Gen 42:38, Gen 44:20; Gen 44:30-31.
5 (? J). And the sons of Israel, &c.] “Sons of Israel,” cf. Gen 45:21, Gen 46:5. The verse reads like the commencement of a new section; while the words “for the famine, &c.” are not necessary after Gen 42:1-4. The change from the name of “Jacob” ( Gen 42:1-4) to that of “Israel” is another indication that this verse is drawn from a different source of narrative from Gen 42:1-4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Because he was very young, and now his best beloved son.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren,…. Benjamin is called Joseph’s brother, because he was so both by father and mother’s side, as the rest were not; him Jacob kept with him, being the youngest and his darling, the only son he had with him of his beloved wife Rachel; and was very probably the more beloved by him since he had been bereft of Joseph; and it was not only to keep him company that he retained him at home, but for the reason following:
for he said, lest peradventure mischief befall him; as had to Joseph his brother, as he imagined; either that the journey would be too much for him, being young, or lest he should be seized with sickness on the road, or rather with death, as Aben Ezra interprets it according to the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4. Benjamin Jacob sent not His partiality for Joseph has now become transferred to Benjamin . And Jacob seems to have entertained a suspicion that his elder sons had had something to do with Joseph’s strange disappearance . Comp . Gen 42:36.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Still a pilgrimage state, Heb 11:9-15 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 42:4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
Ver. 4. But Benjamin Jacob sent not. ] Because best beloved; as last born, and likeliest to live longest; and the least, and least able to shift for himself; and all that was left of his dearest Rachel; his only darling that had been always at hand, and in the father’s eye.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Benjamin: Gen 35:16-19
Lest: Gen 42:38, Gen 3:22, Gen 11:4, Gen 33:1, Gen 33:2, Gen 43:14, Gen 43:29, Gen 44:20-22, Gen 44:27-34
Reciprocal: Gen 35:18 – Benjamin