Genesis 37:28

37:28 So when the Midianite ¹  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ²  him ³  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ⁴  then took Joseph to Egypt.

Genesis 37:36

37:36 Now ⁵  in Egypt the Midianites ⁶  sold Joseph ⁷  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ⁸ 

Genesis 39:2-3

39:2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful ⁹  and lived ¹⁰  in the household of his Egyptian master. 39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. ¹¹ 

Genesis 43:32

43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ¹²  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ¹³  to do so.) ¹⁴ 

Genesis 45:9-11

45:9 Now go up to my father quickly ¹⁵  and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay! 45:10 You will live ¹⁶  in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me – you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everything you have. 45:11 I will provide you with food ¹⁷  there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you.”’

Genesis 49:26

49:26 The blessings of your father are greater

than ¹⁸  the blessings of the eternal mountains ¹⁹ 

or the desirable things of the age-old hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph

and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. ²⁰ 

[37:28]  ¹ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

[37:28]  ² tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).

[37:28]  ³ tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

[37:36]  ⁶ tc The MT spells the name of the merchants as מְדָנִים (mÿdanim, “Medanites”) rather than מִדְיָנִים (midyanim, “Midianites”) as in v. 28. It is likely that the MT is corrupt at this point, with the letter yod (י) being accidentally omitted. The LXX, Vulgate, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac read “Midianites” here. Some prefer to read “Medanites” both here and in v. 28, but Judg 8:24, which identifies the Midianites and Ishmaelites, favors the reading “Midianites.”

[37:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁸ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.

[39:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).

[39:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he was.”

[39:3]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[43:32]  ¹² tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:32]  ¹³ tn Or “disgraceful.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 46:34 and Exod 8:22.

[43:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not able to eat food with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination for the Egyptians.” The imperfect verbal form in the explanatory clause is taken as habitual in force, indicating a practice that was still in effect in the narrator’s time.

[45:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “hurry and go up.”

[45:10]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive here expresses instruction.

[45:11]  ¹⁷ tn The verb כּוּל (kul) in the Pilpel stem means “to nourish, to support, to sustain.” As in 1 Kgs 20:27, it here means “to supply with food.”

[49:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “have prevailed over.”

[49:26]  ¹⁹ tn One could interpret the phrase הוֹרַי (horay) to mean “my progenitors” (literally, “the ones who conceived me”), but the masculine form argues against this. It is better to emend the text to הַרֲרֵי (harare, “mountains of”) because it forms a better parallel with the next clause. In this case the final yod (י) on the form is a construct plural marker, not a pronominal suffix.

[49:26]  ²⁰ tn For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.