¹ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.

² tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.

³ tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

⁴ tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.

⁵ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

⁶ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁷ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

⁸ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

⁹ tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.

¹⁰ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

¹¹ tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”

¹² tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”

¹³ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”

¹⁵ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, it has been placed in parentheses in the translation.

¹⁶ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.

¹⁷ tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”

¹⁸ sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.

¹⁹ 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?”

²⁰ 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.