Genesis 44:4-5

44:4 They had not gone very far from the city ¹  when Joseph said ²  to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! ³  When you overtake ⁴  them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup ⁵  and use it for divination? ⁶  You have done wrong!’” ⁷ 

Genesis 3:13

3:13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this ⁸  you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent ⁹  tricked ¹⁰  me, and I ate.”

Genesis 4:10

4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? ¹¹  The voice ¹²  of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!

¹ tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”

² tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.

³ tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

⁴ tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”

⁵ tn Heb “Is this not what my master drinks from.” The word “cup” is not in the Hebrew text, but is obviously the referent of “this,” and so has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “and he, divining, divines with it.” The infinitive absolute is emphatic, stressing the importance of the cup to Joseph.

⁷ tn Heb “you have caused to be evil what you have done.”

⁸ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun is enclitic, serving as an undeclined particle for emphasis. It gives the sense of “What in the world have you done?” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

⁹ sn The Hebrew word order puts the subject (“the serpent”) before the verb here, giving prominence to it.

¹⁰ tn This verb (the Hiphil of נָשָׁא, nasha) is used elsewhere of a king or god misleading his people into false confidence (2 Kgs 18:29 = 2 Chr 32:15 = Isa 36:14; 2 Kgs 19:10 = Isa 37:10), of an ally deceiving a partner (Obad 7), of God deceiving his sinful people as a form of judgment (Jer 4:10), of false prophets instilling their audience with false hope (Jer 29:8), and of pride and false confidence producing self-deception (Jer 37:9; 49:16; Obad 3).

¹¹ sn What have you done? Again the Lord’s question is rhetorical (see Gen 3:13), condemning Cain for his sin.

¹² tn The word “voice” is a personification; the evidence of Abel’s shed blood condemns Cain, just as a human eyewitness would testify in court. For helpful insights, see G. von Rad, Biblical Interpretations in Preaching; and L. Morris, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 6 (1955/56): 77-82.