19:3 But he urged 4 them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate.
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” 6
Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. 21
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
3 tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.
4 tn The Hebrew verb פָּצַר (patsar, “to press, to insist”) ironically foreshadows the hostile actions of the men of the city (see v. 9, where the verb also appears). The repetition of the word serves to contrast Lot to his world.
5 tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”
6 tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”
7 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
9 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.
10 tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.
13 tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”
14 tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.
15 tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”
16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 sn The Hebrew verb translated left indicates he relinquished the care of it to Joseph. This is stronger than what was said earlier. Apparently Potiphar had come to trust Joseph so much that he knew it was in better care with Joseph than with anyone else.
18 tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
19 tn Heb “did not know.”
20 sn The expression except the food he ate probably refers to Potiphar’s private affairs and should not be limited literally to what he ate.
21 tn Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.