“For I am in fear of him, that (פֶּן ne) he come and smite me, mother with children.” בָּנִים עַל אֵם is a proverbial expression for unsparing cruelty, taken from the bird which covers its young to protect them (Deu 22:6, cf. Hos 10:14). עַל super, una cum, as in Exo 35:22.