Discovery BoxGenesis 27:45 
Context27:45 Stay there 1 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. 2 Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 3
Genesis 34:30
Context34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin 4 on me by making me a foul odor 5 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 6 am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”
Genesis 39:5
Context39:5 From the time 7 Potiphar 8 appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed 9 the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both 10 in his house and in his fields. 11
Genesis 46:34
Context46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle 12 from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, 13 for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting 14 to the Egyptians.”
Genesis 47:19
Context47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become 15 Pharaoh’s slaves. 16 Give us seed that we may live 17 and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” 18
1 tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.
3 tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.
4 tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.
5 tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.
6 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
7 tn Heb “and it was from then.”
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).
10 tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
11 sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.
12 tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”
13 sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.
14 tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.
15 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.
16 sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.
17 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.
18 tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.
