Discovery BoxGenesis 34:17 
Context34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms 1 by being circumcised, then we will take 2 our sister 3 and depart.”
Genesis 42:15
Context42:15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, 4 you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
1 tn Heb “listen to us.”
2 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
3 tn Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as “sister” for clarity.
4 tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”
sn As surely as Pharaoh lives. Joseph uses an oath formula to let the brothers know the certainty of what he said. There is some discussion in the commentaries on swearing by the life of Pharaoh, but since the formulation here reflects the Hebrew practice, it would be hard to connect the ideas exactly to Egyptian practices. Joseph did this to make the point in a way that his Hebrew brothers would understand. See M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92.
