43:23 “Everything is fine,” 8 the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. 9 I had your money.” 10 Then he brought Simeon out to them.
33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
33:13 Of Joseph he said:
May the Lord bless his land
with the harvest produced by the sky, 14 by the dew,
and by the depths crouching beneath;
33:14 with the harvest produced by the daylight 15
and by 16 the moonlight; 17
33:15 with the best 18 of the ancient mountains
and the harvest produced by the age-old hills;
33:16 with the harvest of the earth and its fullness
and the pleasure of him who resided in the burning bush. 19
May blessing rest on Joseph’s head,
and on the top of the head of the one set apart 20 from his brothers.
33:17 May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor,
and may his horns be those of a wild ox;
with them may he gore all peoples,
all the far reaches of the earth.
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, 21
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
1 tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.
2 tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.
3 tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”
4 tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.
5 tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.
6 tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.
7 tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).
8 tn Heb “and he said, ‘peace to you.’” Here the statement has the force of “everything is fine,” or perhaps even “calm down.” The referent of “he” (the man in charge of Joseph’ household) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
9 sn Your God and the God of your father…This is the first clear reference in the story to the theme of divine providence – that God works through the human actions to do his will.
10 tn Heb “your money came to me.”
11 tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection.
12 tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.”
13 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
14 tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.
15 tn Heb “goings forth of the sun.”
16 tn Heb “and from the harvest of the yield of.” This has been simplified in the translation to avoid redundancy.
17 tn Heb “the moon.” Many English versions regard this as a reference to “months” (“moons”) rather than the moon itself (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
18 tn Heb “head” or “top.”
19 tn The expression “him who resided in the bush” is frequently understood as a reference to the appearance of the Lord to Moses at Sinai from a burning bush (so NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT; cf. Exod 2:2-6; 3:2, 4). To make this reference clear the word “burning” is supplied in the translation.
20 sn This apparently refers to Joseph’s special status among his brothers as a result of his being chosen by God to save the family from the famine and to lead Egypt.
21 sn Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph who became founders of the two tribes into which Joseph’s descendants were split (Gen 48:19-20). Jacob’s blessing granted favored status to Ephraim; this is probably why Ephraim is viewed here as more numerous than Manasseh.