Discovery BoxGenesis 9:25 
Context9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 3
he will be to his brothers.”
Genesis 19:7
Context19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! 4
Genesis 27:44
Context27:44 Live with him for a little while 5 until your brother’s rage subsides.
Genesis 29:4
Context29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.”
Genesis 37:11-12
Context37:11 His brothers were jealous 6 of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said. 7
37:12 When his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,
Genesis 38:1
Context38:1 At that time Judah left 8 his brothers and stayed 9 with an Adullamite man 10 named Hirah.
Genesis 42:3
Context42:3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
Genesis 47:2
Context47:2 He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh. 11
Genesis 47:5
Context47:5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
Genesis 49:5
Context49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,
weapons of violence are their knives! 12
1 sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.
2 sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
3 tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.
4 tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”
5 tn Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone twenty years and he never sees Rebekah again.
6 sn Joseph’s brothers were already jealous of him, but this made it even worse. Such jealousy easily leads to action, as the next episode in the story shows. Yet dreams were considered a form of revelation, and their jealousy was not only of the favoritism of their father, but of the dreams. This is why Jacob kept the matter in mind.
7 tn Heb “kept the word.” The referent of the Hebrew term “word” has been specified as “what Joseph said” in the translation for clarity, and the words “in mind” have been supplied for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “went down from.”
9 tn Heb “and he turned aside unto.”
10 tn Heb “a man, an Adullamite.”
11 tn Heb “and from the whole of his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh.”
12 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מְכֵרָה (mÿkherah) is uncertain. It has been rendered (1) “habitations”; (2) “merchandise”; (3) “counsels”; (4) “swords”; (5) “wedding feasts.” If it is from the verb כָּרַת (karat) and formed after noun patterns for instruments and tools (maqtil, miqtil form), then it would refer to “knives.” Since the verb is used in Exod 4:25 for circumcision, the idea would be “their circumcision knives,” an allusion to the events of Gen 34 (see M. J. Dahood, “‘MKRTYHM’ in Genesis 49,5,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 54-56). Another explanation also connects the word to the events of Gen 34 as a reference to the intended “wedding feast” for Dinah which could take place only after the men of Shechem were circumcised (see D. W. Young, “A Ghost Word in the Testament of Jacob (Gen 49:5)?” JBL 100 [1981]: 335-422).
