Discovery BoxGenesis 24:2 
Context24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one 1 in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh 2
Genesis 26:5
Context26:5 All this will come to pass 3 because Abraham obeyed me 4 and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” 5
Genesis 39:4
Context39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. 6 Potiphar appointed Joseph 7 overseer of his household and put him in charge 8 of everything he owned.
Genesis 43:19
Context43:19 So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
Genesis 43:24
Context43:24 The servant in charge 9 brought the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys.
1 tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).
2 sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.
3 tn The words “All this will come to pass” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
5 sn My charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. The language of this verse is clearly interpretive, for Abraham did not have all these laws. The terms are legal designations for sections of the Mosaic law and presuppose the existence of the law. Some Rabbinic views actually conclude that Abraham had fulfilled the whole law before it was given (see m. Qiddushin 4:14). Some scholars argue that this story could only have been written after the law was given (C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:424-25). But the simplest explanation is that the narrator (traditionally taken to be Moses the Lawgiver) elaborated on the simple report of Abraham’s obedience by using terms with which the Israelites were familiar. In this way he depicts Abraham as the model of obedience to God’s commands, whose example Israel should follow.
6 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.
7 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “put into his hand.”
9 tn Heb “the man.”
