Discovery BoxGenesis 34:30 
Context34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin 1 on me by making me a foul odor 2 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 3 am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”
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 4 Pharaoh’s slaves. 5 Give us seed that we may live 6 and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” 7
1 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.
2 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.
3 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
4 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.
5 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.
6 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.
7 tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.
