45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him. 45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” so they came near. Then he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
40:12 “This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent 15 three days.
40:18 Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent 16 three days.
42:3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
42:14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you: 19 You are spies!
46:19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob:
Joseph and Benjamin.
47:5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him 20 before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed 21 Pharaoh.
48:8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?”
50:1 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face. 22 He wept over him and kissed him. 50:2 Joseph instructed the physicians in his service 23 to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel.
1 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “of his brothers.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “them.”
3 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “speak to him for peace.”
5 tn The text uses an interrogative clause: “Are not your brothers,” which means “your brothers are.”
6 sn With these words Joseph is depicted here as an obedient son who is ready to do what his father commands.
7 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here I am.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
8 sn The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.
9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “put into his hand.”
11 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
12 sn Joseph’s brothers were already jealous of him, but this made it even worse. Such jealousy easily leads to action, as the next episode in the story shows. Yet dreams were considered a form of revelation, and their jealousy was not only of the favoritism of their father, but of the dreams. This is why Jacob kept the matter in mind.
13 tn Heb “kept the word.” The referent of the Hebrew term “word” has been specified as “what Joseph said” in the translation for clarity, and the words “in mind” have been supplied for stylistic reasons.
14 tn The verb זָעַף (za’af) only occurs here and Dan 1:10. It means “to be sick, to be emaciated,” probably in this case because of depression.
15 tn Heb “the three branches [are].”
16 tn Heb “the three baskets [are].”
17 tn Heb “had interpreted for them.”
sn The dreams were fulfilled exactly as Joseph had predicted, down to the very detail. Here was confirmation that Joseph could interpret dreams and that his own dreams were still valid. It would have been a tremendous encouragement to his faith, but it would also have been a great disappointment to spend two more years in jail.
18 tn The wayyiqtol verbal form here has a reiterative or emphasizing function.
19 tn Heb “to you, saying.”
20 tn Heb “caused him to stand.”
21 sn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “blessed” is difficult in this passage, because the content of Jacob’s blessing is not given. The expression could simply mean that he greeted Pharaoh, but that seems insufficient in this setting. Jacob probably praised Pharaoh, for the verb is used this way for praising God. It is also possible that he pronounced a formal prayer of blessing, asking God to reward Pharaoh for his kindness.
22 tn Heb “fell on.” The expression describes Joseph’s unrestrained sorrow over Jacob’s death; he probably threw himself across the body and embraced his father.
23 tn Heb “his servants the physicians.”
24 tn The verb means “command,” but they would hardly be commanding him. It probably means they sent their father’s instructions to Joseph.
25 tn Heb “For am I.”