Discovery BoxGenesis 39:5 
Context39:5 From the time 1 Potiphar 2 appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed 3 the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both 4 in his house and in his fields. 5
Genesis 14:14
Context14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew 6 had been taken captive, he mobilized 7 his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders 8 as far as Dan. 9
Genesis 17:23
Context17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 10 and circumcised them 11 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.
Genesis 34:19
Context34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked 12 because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah 13 badly. (Now he was more important 14 than anyone in his father’s household.) 15
Genesis 39:8-9
Context39:8 But he refused, saying 16 to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought 17 to his household with me here, 18 and everything that he owns he has put into my care. 19 39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do 20 such a great evil and sin against God?”
Genesis 39:14
Context39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought 21 in a Hebrew man 22 to us to humiliate us. 23 He tried to have sex with me, 24 but I screamed loudly. 25
Genesis 43:16
Context43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.”
Genesis 44:1
Context44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.
Genesis 44:4
Context44:4 They had not gone very far from the city 26 when Joseph said 27 to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! 28 When you overtake 29 them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?
Genesis 45:8
Context45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser 30 to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 45:11
Context45:11 I will provide you with food 31 there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you.”’
Genesis 50:7
Context50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers 32 of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt,
1 tn Heb “and it was from then.”
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 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).
4 tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 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.
6 tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).
7 tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.
8 tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.
9 sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.
10 tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”
11 tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.
12 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
13 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
14 tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).
15 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
16 tn Heb “and he said.”
17 tn Heb “know.”
18 tn The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
19 tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
20 tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.
21 tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).
22 sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.
23 tn Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.
24 tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
25 tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”
26 tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”
27 tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.
28 tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
29 tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”
30 tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.
31 tn The verb כּוּל (kul) in the Pilpel stem means “to nourish, to support, to sustain.” As in 1 Kgs 20:27, it here means “to supply with food.”
32 tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”
