20 We said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.'
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And we said unto my lord, we have a father,.... Yet living in the land of Canaan:
an old man; being one hundred and thirty years of age, Genesis 47:9,
and a child of his old age; who was born when he was near an hundred years of age: and
a little one; not in stature, but in age, being the youngest son, and much younger than they: so they represented him, on that account, and because he was tenderly brought up with his father, and not inured to business and hardship, and so unfit to travel:
and his brother is dead; meaning Joseph: so they thought him to be, having not heard of him for twenty two years or more, and they had so often said he was dead, or suggested as much, that they at length believed he was:
and he alone is left of his mother; the only child left of his mother Rachel:
and his father loveth him; being his youngest son, and the only child of his beloved Rachel, and therefore most dear unto him.
*More commentary available at chapter level.