Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;

30Therefore if I shall go to thy servant our father, and the boy be wanting, (whereas his life dependeth upon the life of him,)

And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us, seeing that his life is bound up with his life,

'And now, at my coming in unto thy servant my father, and the youth not with us (and his soul is bound up in his soul),

If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one,

Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his soul is bound up with the lad's soul;

Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the boy's life;

Therefore, if I would have gone to your servant, our father, with the boy not present, (though his life depends upon the life of him)

Nune ergo quum venero ad servum tuum patrem meum, et puer non fuerit nobiscum, (et anima ejus ligata est cum anima ipsius):

Now therefore, when I come to thy servant my father,.... That is, should he return to him in the land of Canaan with the rest of his brethren:
and the lad be not with us; his brother Benjamin, so called here, and in the following verses, though thirty years of age and upwards, see Genesis 43:8,
seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; he is as closely united to him in affection, and is as dear to him as his own soul; quite wrapped up in him, and cannot live without him; should he die, he must die too; see 1-Samuel 18:1; so it follows:

"His soul is bound to his soul:" equivalent to, "he clings to him with all his soul."