39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. 4 He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden. 5
39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 6 An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, 7 purchased him from 8 the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
8:1 But God remembered 9 Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over 10 the earth and the waters receded.
7:27 11 Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem! 7:28 He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.
Now 16 I was cupbearer for the king.
4:3 Realize that 18 the Lord shows the godly special favor; 19
the Lord responds 20 when I cry out to him.
106:46 He caused all their conquerors 21
to have pity on them.
16:7 When a person’s 22 ways are pleasing to the Lord, 23
he 24 even reconciles his enemies to himself. 25
1 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 sn The name Israel is a common construction, using a verb with a theophoric element (אֵל, ’el) that usually indicates the subject of the verb. Here it means “God fights.” This name will replace the name Jacob; it will be both a promise and a call for faith. In essence, the
3 sn You have fought. The explanation of the name Israel includes a sound play. In Hebrew the verb translated “you have fought” (שָׂרִיתָ, sarita) sounds like the name “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל, yisra’el ), meaning “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). The name would evoke the memory of the fight and what it meant. A. Dillmann says that ever after this the name would tell the Israelites that, when Jacob contended successfully with God, he won the battle with man (Genesis, 2:279). To be successful with God meant that he had to be crippled in his own self-sufficiency (A. P. Ross, “Jacob at the Jabboq, Israel at Peniel,” BSac 142 [1985]: 51-62).
4 tn Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”
5 tn Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).
6 tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.
7 sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.
8 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
9 tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).
10 tn Heb “to pass over.”
11 sn At this point the language of the book reverts from Aramaic (7:12-26) back to Hebrew.
12 tn The interjection אָנָּא (’anna’) is an emphatic term of entreaty: “please!” (BDB 58 s.v.; HALOT 69-70 s.v.). This term is normally reserved for pleas for mercy from God in life-and-death situations (2 Kgs 20:3 = Isa 38:3; Pss 116:4; 118:25; Jonah 1:14; 4:2) and for forgiveness of heinous sins that would result or have resulted in severe judgment from God (Exod 32:31; Dan 9:4; Neh 1:5, 11).
13 tn Heb “let your ear be attentive.”
14 tn Heb “fear.”
15 tn Heb “grant compassion.” The words “to me” are supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and style in English.
16 tn The vav (ו) on וַאֲנִי (va’ani, “Now, I”) introduces a disjunctive parenthetical clause that provides background information to the reader.
17 tn Heb “said to me.”
18 tn Heb “and know that.”
19 tn Heb “that the
20 tn Heb “hears.”
21 tn Or “captors.”
22 tn Heb “ways of a man.”
23 tn The first line uses an infinitive in a temporal clause, followed by its subject in the genitive case: “in the taking pleasure of the
24 tn The referent of the verb in the second colon is unclear. The straightforward answer is that it refers to the person whose ways please the
25 tn Heb “even his enemies he makes to be at peace with him.”
26 tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.