Genesis 9:23

9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment ¹  and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned ²  the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.

Genesis 19:34

19:34 So in the morning the older daughter ³  said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. ⁴  Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ⁵ 

Genesis 37:2

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ⁶  was taking care of ⁷  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ⁸  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ⁹  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ¹⁰  to their father.

Genesis 38:11

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ¹¹  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ¹²  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Genesis 50:5

50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, ¹³  “I am about to die. Bury me ¹⁴  in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’”

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¹ tn The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?

² tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”

³ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

⁴ tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”

⁵ tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

⁶ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

⁷ tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

⁸ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

⁹ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.

sn Some interpreters portray Joseph as a tattletale for bringing back a bad report about them [i.e., his brothers], but the entire Joseph story has some of the characteristics of wisdom literature. Joseph is presented in a good light – not because he was perfect, but because the narrative is showing how wisdom rules. In light of that, this section portrays Joseph as faithful to his father in little things, even though unpopular – and so he will eventually be given authority over greater things.

¹¹ tn Heb “said.”

¹² tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”

sn I don’t want him to die like his brothers. This clause explains that Judah had no intention of giving Shelah to Tamar for the purpose of the levirate marriage. Judah apparently knew the nature of his sons, and feared that God would be angry with the third son and kill him as well.

¹³ tn Heb “saying.”

¹⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.