9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 1 he learned 2 what his youngest son had done 3 to him.
27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 18 she quickly summoned 19 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 20
43:29 When Joseph looked up 24 and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 25
48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude 26 of nations.”
1 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
2 tn Heb “he knew.”
3 tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
4 tn The imperfect here has an injunctive force.
5 tn After the injunctive imperfect, this imperfect with vav indicates purpose or result.
6 tn The Niphal form of the verb has the sense of “to be faithful; to be sure; to be reliable.” Joseph will test his brothers to see if their words are true.
7 tn Heb “and they did so.”
7 tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “go down.”
10 sn Two great lights. The text goes to great length to discuss the creation of these lights, suggesting that the subject was very important to the ancients. Since these “lights” were considered deities in the ancient world, the section serves as a strong polemic (see G. Hasel, “The Polemical Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,” EvQ 46 [1974]: 81-102). The Book of Genesis is affirming they are created entities, not deities. To underscore this the text does not even give them names. If used here, the usual names for the sun and moon [Shemesh and Yarih, respectively] might have carried pagan connotations, so they are simply described as greater and lesser lights. Moreover, they serve in the capacity that God gives them, which would not be the normal function the pagans ascribed to them. They merely divide, govern, and give light in God’s creation.
11 tn Heb “and the stars.” Now the term “stars” is added as a third object of the verb “made.” Perhaps the language is phenomenological, meaning that the stars appeared in the sky from this time forward.
13 tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”
14 tn Heb “today.”
15 tn Heb “and the one is not.”
16 tn Heb “[By] the life of Pharaoh.”
19 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express Joseph’s instructions.
20 tn Heb “and he did according to the word of Joseph which he spoke.”
22 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
23 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
24 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
25 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.
26 tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”
27 sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.
28 tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.
31 tn Heb “fullness.”