Genesis 34:19

34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked ¹  because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah ²  badly. (Now he was more important ³  than anyone in his father’s household.) ⁴ 

Genesis 39:23

39:23 The warden did not concern himself ⁵  with anything that was in Joseph’s ⁶  care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

Genesis 44:15

44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ⁷  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “doing the thing.”

² tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).

⁴ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).

⁵ tn Heb “was not looking at anything.”

⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”

⁸ tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.