47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away 5 because of the famine.
49:24 But his bow will remain steady,
and his hands 6 will be skillful;
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of 7 the Shepherd, the Rock 8 of Israel,
49:25 because of the God of your father,
who will help you, 9
because of the sovereign God, 10
who will bless you 11
with blessings from the sky above,
blessings from the deep that lies below,
and blessings of the breasts and womb. 12
1 tn Heb “land of their settlements.”
2 tn Heb “Ruling, will you rule over us, or reigning, will you reign over us?” The statement has a poetic style, with the two questions being in synonymous parallelism. Both verbs in this statement are preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Joseph’s brothers said, “You don’t really think you will rule over us, do you? You don’t really think you will have dominion over us, do you?”
3 tn This construction is identical to the one in Gen 37:5.
4 sn The response of Joseph’s brothers is understandable, given what has already been going on in the family. But here there is a hint of uneasiness – they hated him because of his dream and because of his words. The dream bothered them, as well as his telling them. And their words in the rhetorical question are ironic, for this is exactly what would happen. The dream was God’s way of revealing it.
5 tn The verb לַהַה (lahah, = לָאָה, la’ah) means “to faint, to languish”; it figuratively describes the land as wasting away, drooping, being worn out.
6 tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”
7 tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”
8 tn Or “Stone.”
9 tn Heb “and he will help you.”
10 tn Heb “Shaddai.” See the note on the title “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1. The preposition אֵת (’et) in the Hebrew text should probably be emended to אֵל (’el, “God”).
11 tn Heb “and he will bless you.”
12 sn Jacob envisions God imparting both agricultural (blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below) and human fertility (blessings of the breasts and womb) to Joseph and his family.