47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s 13 brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” 14
49:24 But his bow will remain steady,
and his hands 15 will be skillful;
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of 16 the Shepherd, the Rock 17 of Israel,
1 tn Heb “And she again gave birth.”
2 sn The name Abel is not defined here in the text, but the tone is ominous. Abel’s name, the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hevel), means “breath, vapor, vanity,” foreshadowing Abel’s untimely and premature death.
3 tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (ro’eh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (’oved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.
4 tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”
5 tn Heb “touched.”
6 tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”
7 tn Heb “and we sent you away.”
8 tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).
7 tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”
8 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.
10 tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.
11 tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”
13 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”
16 tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”
17 tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”
18 tn Or “Stone.”
19 tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”
20 tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”