39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 5 An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, 6 purchased him from 7 the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
40:16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable, 12 he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread 13 on my head.
42:25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill 20 their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. 21
43:29 When Joseph looked up 22 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.” 23
47:1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of
Canaan. They are now 37 in the land of Goshen.”
47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory 38 in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, 39 just as Pharaoh had commanded.
47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each 42 of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. 43 So the land became Pharaoh’s.
47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, 44 which is in effect 45 to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
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 50
all my life long to this day,
48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. 51 So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers 52 of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.
50:10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad 53 on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. 54 There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father.
50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you 55 and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give 56 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
1 tn Heb “they traveled from this place.”
2 tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.
3 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Indeed I will go down to my son mourning to Sheol.’” Sheol was viewed as the place where departed spirits went after death.
4 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 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.
6 sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.
7 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
8 tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.
9 sn The story of Joseph is filled with cycles and repetition: He has two dreams (chap. 37), he interprets two dreams in prison (chap. 40) and the two dreams of Pharaoh (chap. 41), his brothers make two trips to see him (chaps. 42-43), and here, for the second time (see 37:24), he is imprisoned for no good reason, with only his coat being used as evidence. For further discussion see H. Jacobsen, “A Legal Note on Potiphar’s Wife,” HTR 69 (1976): 177.
10 tn Heb “was not looking at anything.”
11 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “that [the] interpretation [was] good.” The words “the first dream” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Or “three wicker baskets.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun חֹרִי (khori, “white bread, cake”) is uncertain; some have suggested the meaning “wicker” instead. Comparison with texts from Ebla suggests the meaning “pastries made with white flour” (M. Dahood, “Eblaite h¬a-rí and Genesis 40,16 h£o„rî,” BN 13 [1980]: 14-16).
14 tn The Hebrew word שֵׁשׁ (shesh) is an Egyptian loanword that describes the fine linen robes that Egyptian royalty wore. The clothing signified Joseph’s rank.
15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “all the food.”
17 tn Heb “of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and placed food in the cities.”
18 tn Heb “began to arrive.”
19 tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.
20 tn Heb “and they filled.” The clause appears to be elliptical; one expects “Joseph gave orders to fill…and they filled.” See GKC 386 §120.f.
21 tn Heb “and he did for them so.” Joseph would appear to be the subject of the singular verb. If the text is retained, the statement seems to be a summary of the preceding, more detailed statement. However, some read the verb as plural, “and they did for them so.” In this case the statement indicates that Joseph’s subordinates carried out his orders. Another alternative is to read the singular verb as passive (with unspecified subject), “and this was done for them so” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).
22 tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.
24 tn Heb “and he lifted up portions from before his face to them.”
25 tn Heb “and they drank and were intoxicated with him” (cf. NIV “drank freely with him”; NEB “grew merry”; NRSV “were merry”). The brothers were apparently relaxed and set at ease, despite Joseph’s obvious favoritism toward Benjamin.
26 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express Joseph’s instructions.
27 tn Heb “and he did according to the word of Joseph which he spoke.”
28 tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”
29 tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.
30 tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
31 tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”
32 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?”
33 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.
34 tn Heb “hurry and go up.”
35 tn Heb “and he appeared to him.”
36 tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”
37 tn Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.
38 tn Heb “a possession,” or “a holding.” Joseph gave them a plot of land with rights of ownership in the land of Goshen.
39 sn The land of Rameses is another designation for the region of Goshen. It is named Rameses because of a city in that region (Exod 1:11; 12:37). The use of this name may represent a modernization of the text for the understanding of the intended readers, substituting a later name for an earlier one. Alternatively, there may have been an earlier Rameses for which the region was named.
40 tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.
41 tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.
42 tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
43 tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
44 tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.
45 tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
46 tn Heb “heavy.”
sn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story. The weakness of Israel’s sight is one of several connections between this chapter and Gen 27. Here there are two sons, and it appears that the younger is being blessed over the older by a blind old man. While it was by Jacob’s deception in chap. 27, here it is with Jacob’s full knowledge.
47 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
48 tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
49 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
50 tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.
51 tn Heb “it was bad in his eyes.”
52 tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”
53 sn The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua.
54 tn Heb “and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning.” The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow.
55 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”
56 tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.