19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night 1 and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” 2 “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” 3
19:9 “Out of our way!” 4 they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, 5 and now he dares to judge us! 6 We’ll do more harm 7 to you than to them!” They kept 8 pressing in on Lot until they were close enough 9 to break down the door.
43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of 17 the money that was returned in our sacks last time. 18 He wants to capture us, 19 make us slaves, and take 20 our donkeys!”
47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our 26 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.
1 tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.
2 tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”
3 sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.
4 tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”
5 tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”
6 tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”
7 tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.
8 tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”
9 tn Heb “and they drew near.”
10 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
11 tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”
12 tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”
13 tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”
14 tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”
15 tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”
sn Only the wage we agreed on. Jacob would have to be considered completely honest here, for he would have no control over the kind of animals born; and there could be no disagreement over which animals were his wages.
16 tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”
17 tn Heb “over the matter of.”
18 tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.
19 tn Heb “to roll himself upon us and to cause himself to fall upon us.” The infinitives here indicate the purpose (as viewed by the brothers) for their being brought to Joseph’s house.
20 tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
21 tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”
22 sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.
23 tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.
24 tn Heb “to sojourn.”
25 tn Heb “for there.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
26 tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.