Bible Strands
Genesis 44:22
So we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Judah and the brothers address Joseph in Egypt, responding to his demand that they bring their youngest brother down to him. They deliver this warning immediately after the silver cup is discovered in Benjamin’s sack.
The words — יוּכַל (yu.Khal) translates literally as “he will be able,” joined with לַ/עֲזֹב (la./'a.Zo), “to leave,” producing the statement that the young man cannot depart from his father.
The thread — The declaration directly recalls Jacob’s prior refusal in Genesis 42:38 and anticipates Judah’s later warning in Genesis 44:30 about his father’s life being bound to the boy.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to weigh the concrete reality of familial responsibility and the irreversible consequences of abandoning a dependent parent.
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 we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
Cross-references
- Genesis 42:38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
- Genesis 44:30 So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy’s life,