39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 3 An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, 4 purchased him from 5 the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
1 tn The words “he bought it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 19 is one long sentence.
2 tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown. (However, cf. REB, which renders the term as “sheep”).
3 tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.
4 sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.
5 tn Heb “from the hand of.”