33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
33 "Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.
33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.
33 "So let me stay here as your slave, not this boy. Let the boy go back with his brothers.
33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
33 "So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 44:33
Commentary on Genesis 44:18-34
(Read Genesis 44:18-34)
Had Joseph been, as Judah supposed him, an utter stranger to the family, he could not but be wrought upon by his powerful reasonings. But neither Jacob nor Benjamin need an intercessor with Joseph; for he himself loved them. Judah's faithful cleaving to Benjamin, now, in his distress, was recompensed long afterwards by the tribe of Benjamin keeping with the tribe of Judah, when the other tribes deserted it. The apostle, when discoursing of the mediation of Christ, observes, that our Lord sprang out of Judah, Hebrews 7:14; and he not only made intercession for the transgressors, but he became a Surety for them, testifying therein tender concern, both for his Father and for his brethren. Jesus, the great antitype of Joseph, humbles and proves his people, even after they have had some tastes of his loving-kindness. He brings their sins to their remembrance, that they may exercise and show repentance, and feel how much they owe to his mercy.