24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me 9 to this land? Must I then 10 take your son back to the land from which you came?”
47:1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of
Canaan. They are now 25 in the land of Goshen.”
47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each 28 of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. 29 So the land became Pharaoh’s.
47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, 30 which is in effect 31 to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you 32 and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give 33 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
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 The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.
5 tn Or “as an eternal.”
6 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
7 tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
8 tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”
sn It is hard to imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind, but this brief section in the narrative enables the reader to think about the human response to the judgment. Abraham had family in that area. He had rescued those people from the invasion. That was why he interceded. Yet he surely knew how wicked they were. That was why he got the number down to ten when he negotiated with God to save the city. But now he must have wondered, “What was the point?”
9 tn Heb “to go after me.”
10 tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.
11 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
12 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.
14 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
15 sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the
16 sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the
17 tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.
sn Leave this land immediately. The decision to leave was a wise one in view of the changed attitude in Laban and his sons. But more than that, it was the will of God. Jacob needed to respond to God’s call – the circumstances simply made it easier.
18 tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”
19 tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
20 tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.
21 tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.
22 tn After the imperatives in vv. 17-18a, the cohortative with vav indicates result.
23 tn After the cohortative the imperative with vav states the ultimate goal.
24 tn Heb “fat.”
25 tn Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.
26 tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.
27 tn Heb “house.”
28 tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
29 tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30 tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.
31 tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
32 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”
33 tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.