can kill his two grandsons (Reuben’s sons) in a kind of substitution of pain and loss (v. 37). Perhaps he believes that Jacob would not take their lives in the case of such failure, or perhaps he is certain that he can protect Benjamin so there is little threat to his sons. Yet substitution of horror for horror, loss for loss, breaches the family trust and heralds the possible end of the divine promises. Rather than increasing, Jacob’s offspring seems to be diminishing.