Knowing The Word in Genesis 44:30-34, Judah the Substitute
30 “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life, 31 as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. [He predicts the death of Jacob if Benjamin is not returned.] 32 For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. [Judah offers to be a substitute.] 34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.” [Judah feels so much for his father, that he offers to sacrifice himself. It appears that the sons of the “hated wife” have come to terms with their father’s attachment to Rachael and her children. This, then, will be enough to bring to an end the hostilities and offer the family of Jacob a fresh start. Where do you see in this scene a biblical theology of election, sacrifice, and redemption?]
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