43:29 When Joseph looked up 19 and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 20
46:15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all. 21
48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked –
the God who has been my shepherd 22
all my life long to this day,
49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, 23
until he comes to whom it belongs; 24
the nations will obey him. 25
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.
3 sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.
4 sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.
5 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
6 tn Heb “whom Milcah bore to him.” The referent (Nahor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.
8 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
9 tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”
10 tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.
11 tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.
12 tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “to whom are you?”
14 tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”
15 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
17 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”
19 tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.
21 tn Heb “all the lives of his sons and his daughters, thirty-three.”
22 tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.
23 tn Or perhaps “from his descendants,” taking the expression “from between his feet” as a euphemism referring to the genitals. In this case the phrase refers by metonymy to those who come forth from his genitals, i.e., his descendants.
24 tn The Hebrew form שִׁילֹה (shiloh) is a major interpretive problem. There are at least four major options (with many variations and less likely alternatives): (1) Some prefer to leave the text as it is, reading “Shiloh” and understanding it as the place where the ark rested for a while in the time of the Judges. (2) By repointing the text others arrive at the translation “until the [or “his”] ruler comes,” a reference to a Davidic ruler or the Messiah. (3) Another possibility that does not require emendation of the consonantal text, but only repointing, is “until tribute is brought to him” (so NEB, JPS, NRSV), which has the advantage of providing good parallelism with the following line, “the nations will obey him.” (4) The interpretation followed in the present translation, “to whom it [belongs]” (so RSV, NIV, REB), is based on the ancient versions. Again, this would refer to the Davidic dynasty or, ultimately, to the Messiah.
25 tn “and to him [will be] the obedience of the nations.” For discussion of this verse see J. Blenkinsopp, “The Oracle of Judah and the Messianic Entry,” JBL 80 (1961): 55-64; and E. M. Good, “The ‘Blessing’ on Judah,” JBL 82 (1963): 427-32.