Genesis 13:7

13:7 So there were quarrels ¹  between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. ²  (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) ³ 

Genesis 31:9

31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

Genesis 49:32

49:32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.” ⁴ 

Genesis 26:14

26:14 He had ⁵  so many sheep ⁶  and cattle ⁷  and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous ⁸  of him.

Genesis 46:32

46:32 The men are shepherds; ⁹  they take care of livestock. ¹⁰  They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’

Genesis 31:18

31:18 He took ¹¹  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ¹² 

Genesis 46:34

46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ¹³  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ¹⁴  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ¹⁵  to the Egyptians.”

Genesis 47:6

47:6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men ¹⁶  among them, put them in charge ¹⁷  of my livestock.”

¹ tn The Hebrew term רִיב (riv) means “strife, conflict, quarreling.” In later texts it has the meaning of “legal controversy, dispute.” See B. Gemser, “The rîb – or Controversy – Pattern in Hebrew Mentality,” Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 120-37.

² sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.

³ tn This parenthetical clause, introduced with the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), again provides critical information. It tells in part why the land cannot sustain these two bedouins, and it also hints of the danger of weakening the family by inner strife.

⁴ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

⁷ tn Heb “and there was to him.”

⁸ tn Heb “possessions of sheep.”

⁹ tn Heb “possessions of cattle.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb translated “became jealous” refers here to intense jealousy or envy that leads to hostile action (see v. 15).

¹⁰ tn Heb “feeders of sheep.”

¹¹ tn Heb “for men of livestock they are.”

¹³ tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

¹⁷ sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.

¹⁸ tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.

¹⁹ tn Heb “men of skill.”

²⁰ tn Heb “make them rulers.”