19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, 8 and the older daughter 9 came and had sexual relations with her father. 10 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 11
37:9 Then he had another dream, 19 and told it to his brothers. “Look,” 20 he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah 21 the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, 22 but Hirah 23 could not find her.
39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 24 An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, 25 purchased him from 26 the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
1 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
2 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
3 tn Heb “went out to go.”
4 tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).
5 tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.
6 tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.
8 tn Heb “drink wine.”
9 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
10 tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.
11 tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”
12 tn Heb “drink wine.”
13 tn Heb “lied down with him.”
14 tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”
15 tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.
16 tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.
17 tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”
18 tn Heb “land of their settlements.”
19 tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”
20 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.
21 tn Heb “sent by the hand of his friend.” Here the name of the friend (“Hirah”) has been included in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Heb “to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand.”
23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Judah’s friend Hirah the Adullamite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.
25 sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.
26 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
27 tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”
28 tn Heb “a man his dream in one night.”
29 tn Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”
30 tn Heb “when they went inside them.”
31 tn Heb “it was not known.”
32 tn Heb “and they spoke to him all the words of Joseph which he had spoke to them.”