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.
But Jacob said, 'My son will not go down to Egypt with you. His brother is dead, and he is the only one left from his mother. If something terrible happens to him on the journey, you will send me to my grave heartbroken in my old age.'
Jacob refuses to let Benjamin go to Egypt because he's already lost Joseph and can't bear the thought of losing Rachel's only remaining son.
📚 Historical Context
In the book of Genesis, Jacob is an elderly patriarch dealing with a severe famine in the land of Canaan, which forces his family to seek food in Egypt. His sons have returned from Egypt with grain but are told they must bring their youngest brother Benjamin on their next trip, as the Egyptian governor (who is secretly Joseph, their long-lost brother) is testing their honesty. Jacob refuses to let Benjamin go, fearing he might lose him as he already believes he lost Joseph years earlier to a tragic fate.
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