Genesis 37:36

37:36 Now ¹  in Egypt the Midianites ²  sold Joseph ³  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 39:9

39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, ⁵  took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 52:12

52:12 On the tenth ⁷  day of the fifth month, ⁸  in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard ⁹  who served ¹⁰  the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 52:14

52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

[37:36]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

[37:36]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁴ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.

[39:9]  ⁵ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[39:9]  ⁶ tc The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the same phrase at the beginning of the verse. Some commentators emend the phrase “the rest of the people who were left” (הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָעָם, hannish’arim vÿ’et yeter ha’am) to read “the rest of the craftsmen who were left” (וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָאָמוֹן הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, vÿ’et yeter ha’amon hannish’arim) on the basis of the parallel in Jer 52:15 (which does not have הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, hannish’arim). However, it is easier to explain the phrase as a dittography of the phrase at the beginning (which is exactly the same except הָעִיר [ha’ir] follows it). The text is redundant because it refers twice to the same group of people. The Hebrew text reads: “And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon.” The text has also been divided up to create two shorter sentences to better conform with contemporary English style.

[52:12]  ⁷ tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.”

[52:12]  ⁸ sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.

[52:12]  ⁹ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[52:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “stood before.”