36:31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites: 4
41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look 5 for a wise and discerning man 6 and give him authority 7 over all the land of Egypt.
41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place 8 you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” 9
1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Isaac’s servants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “and he called its name.” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 sn The name Sitnah (שִׂטְנָה, sitnah) is derived from a Hebrew verbal root meaning “to oppose; to be an adversary” (cf. Job 1:6). The name was a reminder that the digging of this well caused “opposition” from the Philistines.
4 tn Or perhaps “before any Israelite king ruled over [them].”
7 tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
8 tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn Heb “and let him set him.”
10 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן (natan) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”
11 sn Joseph became the grand vizier of the land of Egypt. See W. A. Ward, “The Egyptian Office of Joseph,” JSS 5 (1960): 144-50; and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 129-31.