Genesis 41:44-45

41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission ¹  no one ²  will move his hand or his foot ³  in all the land of Egypt.” 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ⁴  He also gave him Asenath ⁵  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ⁶  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ⁷  all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 47:11-25

47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory ⁸  in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, ⁹  just as Pharaoh had commanded. 47:12 Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children.

47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away ¹⁰  because of the famine. 47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ¹¹  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ¹²  47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ¹³  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ¹⁴  before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

47:16 Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food ¹⁵  in exchange for ¹⁶  your livestock.” 47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. ¹⁷  He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock.

47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our ¹⁸  lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land. 47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ¹⁹  Pharaoh’s slaves. ²⁰  Give us seed that we may live ²¹  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ²² 

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ²³  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ²⁴  So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph ²⁵  made all the people slaves ²⁶  from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate ²⁷  the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, ²⁸  give ²⁹  one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest ³⁰  will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ³¹  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ³² 

Daniel 6:1-3

Daniel is Thrown into a Lions’ Den

6:1 It seemed like a good idea to Darius ³³  to appoint over the kingdom 120 satraps ³⁴  who would be in charge of the entire kingdom. 6:2 Over them would be three supervisors, one of whom was Daniel. These satraps were accountable ³⁵  to them, so that the king’s interests might not incur damage. 6:3 Now this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the other supervisors and the satraps, for he had an extraordinary spirit. In fact, the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

Matthew 28:18

28:18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, ³⁶  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

John 5:22-27

5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge ³⁷  anyone, but has assigned ³⁸  all judgment to the Son, 5:23 so that all people ³⁹  will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴⁰  the one who hears ⁴¹  my message ⁴²  and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, ⁴³  but has crossed over from death to life. 5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴⁴  a time ⁴⁵  is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, 5:27 and he has granted the Son ⁴⁶  authority to execute judgment, ⁴⁷  because he is the Son of Man.

John 20:21-23

20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 20:22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, ⁴⁸  “Receive the Holy Spirit. ⁴⁹  20:23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; ⁵⁰  if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” ⁵¹ 

[41:44]  ¹ tn Heb “apart from you.”

[41:44]  ² tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.

[41:44]  ³ tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.

[41:45]  ⁴ sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 1262).

[41:45]  ⁵ sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.

[41:45]  ⁶ sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[41:45]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he passed through.”

[47:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “a possession,” or “a holding.” Joseph gave them a plot of land with rights of ownership in the land of Goshen.

[47:11]  ⁹ sn The land of Rameses is another designation for the region of Goshen. It is named Rameses because of a city in that region (Exod 1:11; 12:37). The use of this name may represent a modernization of the text for the understanding of the intended readers, substituting a later name for an earlier one. Alternatively, there may have been an earlier Rameses for which the region was named.

[47:13]  ¹⁰ tn The verb לַהַה (lahah, = לָאָה, la’ah) means “to faint, to languish”; it figuratively describes the land as wasting away, drooping, being worn out.

[47:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:14]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[47:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.

[47:15]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.

[47:16]  ¹⁵ tn The word “food” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:16]  ¹⁶ tn On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:17]  ¹⁷ tn The definite article is translated here as a possessive pronoun.

[47:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my.” The expression “my lord” occurs twice more in this verse.

[47:19]  ¹⁹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ²⁰ sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ²¹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ²² tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.

[47:20]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:20]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:21]  ²⁶ tc The MT reads “and the people he removed to the cities,” which does not make a lot of sense in this context. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX read “he enslaved them as slaves.”

[47:23]  ²⁷ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.

[47:24]  ²⁸ tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:24]  ²⁹ tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.

[47:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “four parts.”

[47:25]  ³¹ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

[47:25]  ³² sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

[6:1]  ³³ tn Aram “It was pleasing before Darius.”

[6:1]  ³⁴ tn This is a technical term for an official placed in charge of a region of the empire (cf. KJV, NLT “prince[s]”; NCV, TEV “governors”). These satraps were answerable to a supervisor, who in turn answered to Darius.

[6:2]  ³⁵ tn Aram “giving an account.”

[28:18]  ³⁶ tn Grk “coming, Jesus spoke to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn, “saying”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:22]  ³⁷ tn Or “condemn.”

[5:22]  ³⁸ tn Or “given,” or “handed over.”

[5:23]  ³⁹ tn Grk “all.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for stylistic reasons and for clarity (cf. KJV “all men”).

[5:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:24]  ⁴¹ tn Or “obeys.”

[5:24]  ⁴² tn Or “word.”

[5:24]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and does not come into judgment.”

[5:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[5:25]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “an hour.”

[5:27]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “him.”

[5:27]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “authority to judge.”

[20:22]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “said to them.”

[20:22]  ⁴⁹ sn He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The use of the Greek verb breathed on (ἐμφυσάω, emfusaw) to describe the action of Jesus here recalls Gen 2:7 in the LXX, where “the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” This time, however, it is Jesus who is breathing the breath-Spirit of eternal life, life from above, into his disciples (cf. 3:3-10). Furthermore there is the imagery of Ezek 37:1-14, the prophecy concerning the resurrection of the dry bones: In 37:9 the Son of Man is told to prophesy to the “wind-breath-Spirit” to come and breathe on the corpses, so that they will live again. In 37:14 the Lord promised, “I will put my Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you in your own land.” In terms of ultimate fulfillment the passage in Ezek 37 looks at the regeneration of Israel immediately prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. The author saw in what Jesus did for the disciples at this point a partial and symbolic fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, much as Peter made use of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:17-21. What then did Jesus do for the disciples in John 20:22? It appears that in light of the symbolism of the new creation present here, as well as the regeneration symbolism from the Ezek 37 passage, that Jesus at this point breathed into the disciples the breath of eternal life. This was in the form of the Holy Spirit, who was to indwell them. It is instructive to look again at 7:38-39, which states, “Just as the scripture says, ‘Out from within him will flow rivers of living water.’ (Now he said this about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were going to receive; for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”) But now in 20:22 Jesus was glorified, so the Spirit could be given. Had the disciples not believed in Jesus before? It seems clear that they had, since their belief is repeatedly affirmed, beginning with 2:11. But it also seems clear that even on the eve of the crucifixion, they did not understand the necessity of the cross (16:31-33). And even after the crucifixion, the disciples had not realized that there was going to be a resurrection (20:9). Ultimate recognition of who Jesus was appears to have come to them only after the postresurrection appearances (note the response of Thomas, who was not present at this incident, in v. 28). Finally, what is the relation of this incident in 20:22 to the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2? It appears best to view these as two separate events which have two somewhat different purposes. This was the giving of life itself, which flowed out from within (cf. 7:38-39). The giving of power would occur later, on the day of Pentecost – power to witness and carry out the mission the disciples had been given. (It is important to remember that in the historical unfolding of God’s program for the church, these events occurred in a chronological sequence which, after the church has been established, is not repeatable today.)

[20:23]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “they are forgiven to them.” The words “to them” are unnecessary in English and somewhat redundant.

[20:23]  ⁵¹ sn The statement by Jesus about forgive or retaining anyone’s sins finds its closest parallel in Matt 16:19 and 18:18. This is probably not referring to apostolic power to forgive or retain the sins of individuals (as it is sometimes understood), but to the “power” of proclaiming this forgiveness which was entrusted to the disciples. This is consistent with the idea that the disciples are to carry on the ministry of Jesus after he has departed from the world and returned to the Father, a theme which occurred in the Farewell Discourse (cf. 15:27, 16:1-4, and 17:18).