13:10 Lot looked up and saw 2 the whole region 3 of the Jordan. He noticed 4 that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated 5 Sodom and Gomorrah) 6 like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, 7 all the way to Zoar.
47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our 15 lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land. 47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become 16 Pharaoh’s slaves. 17 Give us seed that we may live 18 and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” 19
1 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.
2 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.
3 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”
4 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).
6 tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.
7 sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the
8 tn Or “the land of my birth.”
9 tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”
10 tn Or “his messenger.”
11 tn Heb “before you and you will take.”
12 tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the
13 tn Heb “men of skill.”
14 tn Heb “make them rulers.”
sn Put them in charge of my livestock. Pharaoh is, in effect, offering Joseph’s brothers jobs as royal keepers of livestock, a position mentioned often in Egyptian inscriptions, because the Pharaohs owned huge herds of cattle.
15 tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.
16 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.
17 sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.
18 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.
19 tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.