16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 1 servant is under your authority, 2 do to her whatever you think best.” 3 Then Sarai treated Hagar 4 harshly, 5 so she ran away from Sarai. 6
17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 7 and circumcised them 8 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.
18:30 Then Abraham 9 said, “May the Lord not be angry 10 so that I may speak! 11 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
31:36 Jacob became angry 24 and argued with Laban. “What did I do wrong?” he demanded of Laban. 25 “What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit? 26
42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may 43 put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care 44 and I will bring him back to you.”
44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. 47 Please do not get angry with your servant, 48 for you are just like Pharaoh. 49
1 tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”
2 tn Heb “in your hand.”
3 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
4 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”
6 tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”
8 tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “let it not be hot to the
11 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
12 tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”
13 tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”
14 tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”
15 tn Heb “touched.”
16 tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”
17 tn Heb “and we sent you away.”
18 tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).
19 tn Or “for.”
20 tn Heb “before me.”
21 tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”
22 tn Heb “at my foot.”
23 tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”
24 tn Heb “it was hot to Jacob.” This idiom refers to anger.
25 tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘What is my sin?’” The proper name “Jacob” has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation and the order of the introductory clause and direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
26 tn Heb “What is my sin that you have hotly pursued after me.” The Hebrew verb translated “pursue hotly” is used elsewhere of soldiers chasing defeated enemies (1 Sam 17:53).
27 tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Heb “to whom are you?”
29 tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”
30 sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.
31 tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.
32 tn The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
33 tn Heb “Ruling, will you rule over us, or reigning, will you reign over us?” The statement has a poetic style, with the two questions being in synonymous parallelism. Both verbs in this statement are preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Joseph’s brothers said, “You don’t really think you will rule over us, do you? You don’t really think you will have dominion over us, do you?”
34 tn This construction is identical to the one in Gen 37:5.
35 sn The response of Joseph’s brothers is understandable, given what has already been going on in the family. But here there is a hint of uneasiness – they hated him because of his dream and because of his words. The dream bothered them, as well as his telling them. And their words in the rhetorical question are ironic, for this is exactly what would happen. The dream was God’s way of revealing it.
36 tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.
37 tn Heb “are.” Another option is to translate, “There will be seven years of famine.”
38 tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”
39 tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
40 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.
41 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.
42 tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.
43 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.
44 tn Heb “my hand.”
45 tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.
46 sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.
47 tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”
48 tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”
49 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.
50 tn Or “for.”
51 tn Heb “hurry and go up.”
52 tn The words “to say” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
53 tn Heb “the God.”