And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
In the verse Judah is repeating to Joseph what his father Jacob said about Joseph, to explain why Jacob feared losing Benjamin and was reluctant to let Benjamin go to Egypt. Jacob believed that Joseph, after going out from him, disappeared and was killed, surely torn in pieces, torn apart by a wild animal. He had not seen Joseph since he went away, seeing him no more since. The words express Jacob's deep and great grief over Joseph as lost.
Benjamin is all that is left of the mother Jacob loved, the last son of his beloved wife. Jacob's life is bound up in the lad's life, so losing Benjamin would leave him bereft with unbearable grief and cause his death. The brothers' report that one brother was gone reflects the family's continued belief that he was lost. Because Judah had pledged himself as surety for Benjamin to bear the blame forever if he did not bring him back, he nobly offers to remain as a bondman instead of his brother so Benjamin can go up with his brethren to his father.
In the verse Judah is repeating to Joseph what his father Jacob said about Joseph, to explain why Jacob feared losing Benjamin and was reluctant to let Benjamin go to Egypt. Jacob believed that Joseph, after going out from him, disappeared and was killed, surely torn in pieces, torn apart by a wild animal. He had not seen Joseph since he went away, seeing him no more since. The words express Jacob's deep and great grief over Joseph as lost.
Benjamin is all that is left of the mother Jacob loved, the last son of his beloved wife. Jacob's life is bound up in the lad's life, so losing Benjamin would leave him bereft with unbearable grief and cause his death. The brothers' report that one brother was gone reflects the family's continued belief that he was lost. Because Judah had pledged himself as surety for Benjamin to bear the blame forever if he did not bring him back, he nobly offers to remain as a bondman instead of his brother so Benjamin can go up with his brethren to his father.