be the ancestor of twelve tribes.[223] He was quite resolved
in his mind, therefore, not to let Benjamin go away with his
brethren under any condition whatsoever, and he vouchsafed
Reuben no reply when he said, "Slay my two sons, if I bring
him not to thee." He considered it beneath his dignity to
give an answer to such balderdash.[224] "My first-born son,"
he said to himself, "is a fool. What will it profit me, if I
slay his two sons? Does he not know that his sons are
equally mine?"[225] Judah advised his brethren to desist from
urging their father then; he would consent, he thought, to
whatever expedients were found necessary, as soon as their
bread gave out, and a second journey to Egypt became
imperative.[226]