Discovery BoxGenesis 37:28 
Context37:28 So when the Midianite 1 merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled 2 him 3 out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites 4 then took Joseph to Egypt.
Genesis 42:6
Context42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. 5 Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down 6 before him with 7 their faces to the ground.
Genesis 47:20
Context47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each 8 of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. 9 So the land became Pharaoh’s.
1 sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.
2 tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).
3 tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The disjunctive clause either introduces a new episode in the unfolding drama or provides the reader with supplemental information necessary to understanding the story.
6 sn Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Here is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (see Gen 37). But it is not the complete fulfillment, since all his brothers and his parents must come. The point of the dream, of course, was not simply to get the family to bow to Joseph, but that Joseph would be placed in a position of rule and authority to save the family and the world (41:57).
7 tn The word “faces” is an adverbial accusative, so the preposition has been supplied in the translation.
8 tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
9 tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
