If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

GENESIS 43:4KJV
Know the Bible

Genesis 43:4 (KJV)

What does Genesis 43:4 mean?

Genesis 43:4 shows Judah telling his father Jacob that if Jacob allows their youngest brother Benjamin to go with them to Egypt, then the brothers will go down and buy food for the family. Judah is making it clear that their journey depends on Benjamin coming along.

In this scene, Judah is speaking to his father Jacob during a time of famine. The brothers had already been to Egypt once to buy food, but the Egyptian official (Joseph, though they do not know it yet) demanded that they bring Benjamin if they return. Judah is explaining the condition set by the Egyptian ruler and emphasizing that their ability to get food relies on Jacob’s willingness to send Benjamin.

The Hebrew behind Genesis 43:4

  • שָׁלַח (shalach, “send”): This word often means to send someone out with a purpose. Here, it highlights that Benjamin’s presence is not optional; he must be sent deliberately by Jacob for the plan to work.
  • יָרַד (yarad, “go down”): This verb is used because Egypt is geographically lower than Canaan, so traveling there is described as “going down.” It also hints at the seriousness and distance of the journey.
  • שָׁבַר (shavar, “buy”): This word specifically refers to buying grain or food during a famine, not just any kind of purchase. It shows the urgency and necessity of their mission.

Why Genesis 43:4 matters

  • Genesis 43:4 clarifies that the brothers’ return to Egypt is conditional on Benjamin’s presence, not just a matter of willingness or timing.
  • The verse sets up the tension in the story, as Jacob must decide whether to risk sending his beloved youngest son.
  • This moment connects to the larger narrative, where trust, family loyalty, and survival are all at stake, and it prepares the way for the dramatic reunion with Joseph.

Where else these words appear

“buy” Hebrew H7666 · used in 20 verses

  • Genesis 41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
  • Genesis 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
  • Genesis 47:14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

“food” Hebrew H400 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 14:11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
  • Exodus 16:16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
  • Job 38:41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

“wilt” Hebrew H3426 · used in 129 verses

  • Genesis 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
  • 1 Samuel 23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
  • Psalms 135:17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.