Genesis 8:9

8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered ¹  the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah ²  in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, ³  and brought it back into the ark. ⁴ 

Genesis 37:22

37:22 Reuben continued, ⁵  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ⁶  (Reuben said this ⁷  so he could rescue Joseph ⁸  from them ⁹  and take him back to his father.)

Genesis 43:7

43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us ¹⁰  thoroughly ¹¹  about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ ¹²  So we answered him in this way. ¹³  How could we possibly know ¹⁴  that he would say, ¹⁵  ‘Bring your brother down’?”

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¹ tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”

⁵ tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”

⁶ sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.

⁷ tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn The word “us” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹¹ tn The infinitive absolute with the perfect verbal form emphasizes that Joseph questioned them thoroughly.

¹² sn The report given here concerning Joseph’s interrogation does not exactly match the previous account where they supplied the information to clear themselves (see 42:13). This section may reflect how they remembered the impact of his interrogation, whether he asked the specific questions or not. That may be twisting the truth to protect themselves, not wanting to admit that they volunteered the information. (They admitted as much in 42:31, but now they seem to be qualifying that comment.) On the other hand, when speaking to Joseph later (see 44:19), Judah claims that Joseph asked for the information about their family, making it possible that 42:13 leaves out some of the details of their first encounter.

¹³ tn Heb “and we told to him according to these words.”

¹⁴ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the imperfect verbal form, which here is a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of a past time).

¹⁵ tn Once again the imperfect verbal form is used as a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of past time).