Verses 35-38
"And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when they and their father saw their bundle of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children; Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him unto thee again. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol."
"And ye will take Benjamin away ..." Jacob here anticipated the continuing famine and the eventuality that Benjamin would have to go on the next trip to Egypt. Reuben's rash promise about slaying his two sons as a surety made no impression at all upon Jacob. "Boiling over as water ..." was the ultimate verdict upon Reuben's whole life, as pronounced by Jacob in the final blessing of the twelve sons (Genesis 49:4). Therefore, for the present time at least, Jacob was determined not to comply with the demands that Benjamin go into Egypt.
Difficult as it might appear, the dramatic and emotional impact of this chapter is not diminished by what follows, but it is enhanced and deepened until it reaches the soul-stirring climax in Genesis 44, in which that mighty emotional storm swallowed up them all and Joseph was revealed to his brothers.
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