“Yes, 10 my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. 13 Please do not get angry with your servant, 14 for you are just like Pharaoh. 15
1 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.
2 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
3 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.
4 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?”
5 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
6 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
7 sn Asked the
8 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “see.”
11 tn Heb “this to me.”
12 tn Heb “served you,” but in this accusatory context the meaning is more “worked like a slave.”
13 tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”
14 tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”
15 sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.