Genesis 15:2-3

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ¹  what will you give me since ²  I continue to be ³  childless, and my heir ⁴  is ⁵  Eliezer of Damascus?” ⁶  15:3 Abram added, ⁷  “Since ⁸  you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” ⁹ 

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ¹⁰  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ¹¹ 

Genesis 39:6

39:6 So Potiphar ¹²  left ¹³  everything he had in Joseph’s care; ¹⁴  he gave no thought ¹⁵  to anything except the food he ate. ¹⁶ 

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master, Lord”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “master”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Master, God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Master” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Master, Lord,” which is rendered here “sovereign Lord.”

² tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

³ tn Heb “I am going.”

⁴ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

⁵ tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

⁶ sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.

⁷ tn Heb “And Abram said.”

⁸ tn The construction uses הֵן (hen) to introduce the foundational clause (“since…”), and וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) to introduce the main clause (“then look…”).

⁹ tn Heb “is inheriting me.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

¹¹ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ sn The Hebrew verb translated left indicates he relinquished the care of it to Joseph. This is stronger than what was said earlier. Apparently Potiphar had come to trust Joseph so much that he knew it was in better care with Joseph than with anyone else.

¹⁴ tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.

¹⁵ tn Heb “did not know.”

¹⁶ sn The expression except the food he ate probably refers to Potiphar’s private affairs and should not be limited literally to what he ate.

¹⁷ tn Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.