8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, 4
planting time 5 and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night will not cease.”
“Our sister, may you become the mother 18 of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholds 19 of their enemies.”
47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate 30 the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, 31 give 32 one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest 33 will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.”
1 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
2 tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).
3 tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”
4 tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
5 tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
7 tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
13 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.
14 tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.
15 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”
16 tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.
16 tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.
17 tn Or “as an eternal.”
19 tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”
20 sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.
22 tn Heb “and said to her.”
23 tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”
24 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.
25 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
26 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.
28 tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
29 tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.
30 tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.
31 tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.
31 tn The Hebrew verb translated “gave” refers to the Abrahamic promise of the land. However, the actual possession of that land lay in the future. The decree of the
32 tn Heb “and to your offspring after you.”
34 tn Heb “and they took their livestock and their possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
37 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.
40 tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
41 tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.
42 tn Heb “four parts.”
43 tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following הִנֵּה (hinneh) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.
44 tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.
45 tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
46 tn The Hebrew word אֲחֻזָּה (’akhuzzah), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (אָחַז, ’akhaz) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).
46 tn On the meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּלַל (palal) here, see E. A. Speiser, “The Stem pll in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6. Speiser argues that this verb means “to estimate” as in Exod 21:22.
47 tn Heb “your face.”
48 tn Heb “offspring.”