Genesis 42:38
And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
The brothers had told of their family that the youngest was still at home with their father and that one brother was gone, and Benjamin had not gone with them to Egypt. The father's refusal came in distress as the sons faced going back to Egypt after discovering their money restored in their sacks. He would not let Benjamin go down with them because he believed Joseph was dead and Benjamin, deeply loved, was left alone as Rachel's only remaining son to him. At that same moment he also counted Simeon as lost.
He feared that mischief might befall Benjamin by the way, and that the grief of such a loss would bring his gray hairs and old age down with sorrow to the grave in death. The dreaded loss meant his present distress over Joseph's supposed death compounded by being stripped of all his remaining sons, a greater sorrow he expected would kill him, whether it came through harm on the journey or through enslavement in Egypt. Reuben's pledge that his own two sons might be slain if he failed to bring Benjamin back was rash speech and gave the father's mind no relief.
The sons understood that grief and therefore would not agree to a plan in which one should go back for Benjamin while the rest stayed in prison. The journey would take time while their families were suffering for lack of food, none was willing to leave his brothers in prison or to face his father with such a demand, and bringing Benjamin risked his enslavement and their father's death, so they all chose to remain and suffer together rather than bring that sorrow upon him. In application, the fear of bringing gray hairs in sorrow to the grave illustrates the grief of parents whose indulgent feeding of their children has helped foster passions that afterward cause them sorrow. It also expresses the deep grief children's conduct can bring to parents grieving at the thought of losing a son, including sorrow over disregard for parental authority.