וְלֹא רְאִיתִיו, עַד-הֵנָּה.
כט וּלְקַחְתֶּם גַּם-אֶת-זֶה מֵעִם פָּנַי, וְקָרָהוּ אָסוֹן--וְהוֹרַדְתֶּם אֶת-שֵׂיבָתִי בְּרָעָה, שְׁאֹלָה.
ל וְעַתָּה, כְּבֹאִי אֶל-עַבְדְּךָ אָבִי, וְהַנַּעַר, אֵינֶנּוּ אִתָּנוּ; וְנַפְשׁוֹ, קְשׁוּרָה בְנַפְשׁוֹ.
לא וְהָיָה, כִּרְאוֹתוֹ כִּי-אֵין הַנַּעַר--וָמֵת; וְהוֹרִידוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ אֶת-שֵׂיבַת עַבְדְּךָ אָבִינוּ, בְּיָגוֹן--שְׁאֹלָה
[Judah to Pharaoh:] [My father Jacob said] 'Surely he [Joseph] is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since; and if you take this one [Benjamin] also from me, and harm befall him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.' Now therefore when I [Judah] come to your servant my father [Jacob], and the lad [Benjamin] is not with us; seeing that his soul[Jacob's] is bound up with the lad's [Benjamin's] soul; it will come to pass, when he [Jacob] sees that the lad [Benjamin] is not with us, that he [Jacob] will die; and your servants [Judah and his brothers] will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. What does it mean 'his soul is bound up with the lad's soul?'
2. How are we bound to each other and what responsibilities do we have to each other?
3. In what ways to we each 'sorrow to the grave' when others feel pain?
Time Period: Biblical (early ancestors to 165 BCE)