39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 1 An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, 2 purchased him from 3 the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
41:8 In the morning he 4 was troubled, so he called for 5 all the diviner-priests 6 of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, 7 but no one could interpret 8 them for him. 9
44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. 26 Please do not get angry with your servant, 27 for you are just like Pharaoh. 28
46:5 Then Jacob started out 30 from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him.
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 32 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.
50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers 45 of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt,
1 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.
2 sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.
3 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
4 tn Heb “his spirit.”
5 tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.
6 tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.
7 tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).
8 tn “there was no interpreter.”
9 tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
10 tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”
11 tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
12 tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.
13 tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.
14 tn Heb “all the food.”
15 tn Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”
16 tn Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.
17 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.
18 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.
19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”
21 tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).
22 sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD3 1262).
23 sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.
24 sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.
25 tn Heb “and he passed through.”
26 tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”
27 tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”
28 sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.
29 tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.
30 tn Heb “arose.”
31 tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”
32 tn Heb “Look they [are] in the land of Goshen.” Joseph draws attention to the fact of their presence in Goshen.
33 tn Heb “the days of.”
34 tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.
35 tn Heb “the days of.”
36 tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.
37 tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
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 Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.
41 tn Heb “house.”
42 tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
43 tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.
44 tn Heb “four parts.”
45 tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”