Genesis 33:5

33:5 When Esau ¹  looked up ²  and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob ³  replied, “The children whom God has graciously given ⁴  your servant.”

Genesis 37:2

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.

Genesis 38:25

38:25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word ¹⁰  to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” ¹¹  Then she said, “Identify ¹²  the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.”

¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”

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.

⁹ tn Heb “she was being brought out and she sent.” The juxtaposition of two clauses, both of which place the subject before the predicate, indicates synchronic action.

¹⁰ tn Heb “who these to him.”

¹¹ tn Or “ recognize; note.” This same Hebrew verb (נָכַר, nakhar) is used at the beginning of v. 26, where it is translated “recognized.”