“Two nations 15 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. 23 Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down 24 before him with 25 their faces to the ground.
1 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
2 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
3 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
4 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
5 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
6 tn Heb “went out to go.”
7 tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.
8 tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
sn The meaning of “cut off” has been discussed at great length. An entire tractate in the Mishnah is devoted to this subject (tractate Keritot). Being ostracized from the community is involved at the least, but it is not certain whether this refers to the death penalty.
9 tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
10 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.
11 tn Heb “because of five.”
12 tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.
13 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
14 tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”
15 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
16 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
18 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”
20 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
21 tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”
23 tn The disjunctive clause either introduces a new episode in the unfolding drama or provides the reader with supplemental information necessary to understanding the story.
24 sn Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Here is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (see Gen 37). But it is not the complete fulfillment, since all his brothers and his parents must come. The point of the dream, of course, was not simply to get the family to bow to Joseph, but that Joseph would be placed in a position of rule and authority to save the family and the world (41:57).
25 tn The word “faces” is an adverbial accusative, so the preposition has been supplied in the translation.
26 tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”
27 tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”