Bible Strands
Genesis 42:2
“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob addresses his sons immediately after learning that grain is available in Egypt. He instructs them to travel south to purchase provisions for the household.
The words — The Hebrew רְדוּ (re.du) means "go down," marking the physical descent to Egypt. The noun שֶׁ֖בֶר (She.ver) translates literally to "grain," specifying the exact resource required for survival.
The thread — The identical survival formula "so that we may live and not die" reappears in Genesis 43:8 when Judah negotiates Jacob’s terms. The directive to travel to Egypt for food recurs in Genesis 43:4, where the brothers condition their return on Jacob sending their brother.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that survival depends on acting on available information rather than waiting for certainty. It frames obedience to practical provision as the direct alternative to starvation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.
Cross-references
- Genesis 43:8 And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.
- Genesis 43:2 So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”
- Genesis 43:4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.
- Genesis 45:9 Now return quickly to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay.
- Psalms 118:17 I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
- Isaiah 38:1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”
- Matthew 4:4 But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”