37:36 Now 1 in Egypt the Midianites 2 sold Joseph 3 to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. 4
37:2 This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, 5 was taking care of 6 the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster 7 working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. 8 Joseph brought back a bad report about them 9 to their father.
1 tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.
2 tc The MT spells the name of the merchants as מְדָנִים (mÿdanim, “Medanites”) rather than מִדְיָנִים (midyanim, “Midianites”) as in v. 28. It is likely that the MT is corrupt at this point, with the letter yod (י) being accidentally omitted. The LXX, Vulgate, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac read “Midianites” here. Some prefer to read “Medanites” both here and in v. 28, but Judg 8:24, which identifies the Midianites and Ishmaelites, favors the reading “Midianites.”
3 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.
5 tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”
6 tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”
7 tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.
8 tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”
9 tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.
10 tn Heb “old and full.”
11 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.