Genesis 43:2
And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.
The corn his sons had brought out of Egypt had been eaten up. In other telling the grain brought from Egypt was nearly gone. This was while the drought and famine were still continuing. Jacob told his sons to go again to Egypt to buy a little food.
Want and hunger pressed upon him, with his household needing to be fed, and compelled him to send them. The hunger of the family, with the children crying and calling for bread and food, added to the pressure on him. He lingered and was reluctant to send his sons back without Benjamin, but hunger finally overcame his reluctance and fear of losing Benjamin and compelled him to act. He clung to Benjamin with all the strength of a mother's love because he still keenly felt the loss of Joseph.