41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look 1 for a wise and discerning man 2 and give him authority 3 over all the land of Egypt. 41:34 Pharaoh should do 4 this – he should appoint 5 officials 6 throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt 7 during the seven years of abundance. 41:35 They should gather all the excess food 8 during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority 9 they should store up grain so the cities will have food, 10 and they should preserve it. 11 41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” 12
41:37 This advice made sense to Pharaoh and all his officials. 13
119:46 I will speak 14 about your regulations before kings
and not be ashamed.
1 tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
2 tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “and let him set him.”
4 tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”
5 tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
6 tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.
7 tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.
8 tn Heb “all the food.”
9 tn Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”
10 tn Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.
11 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.
12 tn Heb “and the land will not be cut off in the famine.”
13 tn Heb “and the matter was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.”
14 tn The series of four cohortatives with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive in vv. 46-48 list further consequences of the anticipated positive divine response to the request made in v. 43.
15 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Or “speaking about.”
17 tn Grk “and self-control.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
18 sn See the note on Felix in 23:26.
19 tn Grk “becoming.” The participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
20 tn Or “when I find time.” BDAG 639 s.v. μεταλαμβάνω 2 has “καιρὸν μ. have an opportunity = find time…Ac 24:25.”
21 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Or “began to bring charges, saying.”
23 tn Grk “experienced much peace.”
24 tn Grk “through you” (“rule” is implied).
25 tn This term is used only once in the NT (a hapax legomenon). It refers to improvements in internal administration (BDAG 251 s.v. διόρθωμα).
26 tn Or “being made for this people.”
27 sn References to peaceful rule, reforms, and the governor’s foresight in the opening address by Tertullus represent an attempt to praise the governor and thus make him favorable to the case. Actual descriptions of his rule portray him as inept (Tacitus, Annals 12.54; Josephus, J. W. 2.13.2-7 [2.253-270]).
28 tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.