What does Genesis 43:14 mean?
Ten of Jacob's sons, including his beloved Benjamin, are assembled and ready to begin the trip back to Egypt to buy food for their family (Genesis 43:1–2). They likely also hope to see their brother Simeon released from prison (Genesis 42:24) to return with them. Only by bringing Benjamin can they hope to obtain food and avoid starvation (Genesis 42:19–20; 43:3–5). Jacob only agreed to this with great reluctance and after much delay (Genesis 43:10–13).Before they go, Jacob offers a brief prayer for them. It is surprisingly rare to hear the prayers of the patriarchs in Genesis. Jacob is shown to pray in his most fearful and troubled moments, such as when he was about to be reunited with his brother Esau (Genesis 32:9–12). It is a measure of exactly how fearful Jacob is that he prays aloud to God in this moment.
He begins by addressing "God Almighty," from the Hebrew 'ēl Sad'day or El Shaddai. This is a reference to God as the absolute, supreme Power of the universe. Jacob prays God would grant his sons mercy before this Egyptian ruler who gave them so much trouble before. He prays that the man would send back both Benjamin and Simeon, the "other brother."
Jacob concludes with a kind of prayer of resignation. If the worst happens, he seems to say, then it happens. If I lose my children, I lose them. This could be read as wallowing in self-pity and a loss of hope. Or it could be read as accepting that God's will might be for his children to be lost. In either case, Jacob is clearly sending off his sons with a heavy heart and all his hope in God to control the outcome. He doesn't realize that his lost son, Joseph (Genesis 42:8) is behind all of this.
