Genesis 19:2

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ¹  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ²  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ³ 

Genesis 19:19

19:19 Your ⁴  servant has found favor with you, ⁵  and you have shown me great ⁶  kindness ⁷  by sparing ⁸  my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because ⁹  this disaster will overtake ¹⁰  me and I’ll die. ¹¹ 

Genesis 24:5

24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me ¹²  to this land? Must I then ¹³  take your son back to the land from which you came?”

Genesis 24:10

24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. ¹⁴  He journeyed ¹⁵  to the region of Aram Naharaim ¹⁶  and the city of Nahor.

Genesis 24:14

24:14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ ¹⁷  In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” ¹⁸ 

Genesis 26:24

26:24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

Genesis 27:37

27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

Genesis 32:10

32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ¹⁹  you have shown ²⁰  your servant. With only my walking stick ²¹  I crossed the Jordan, ²²  but now I have become two camps.

Genesis 32:20

32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” ²³  Jacob thought, ²⁴  “I will first appease him ²⁵  by sending a gift ahead of me. ²⁶  After that I will meet him. ²⁷  Perhaps he will accept me.” ²⁸ 

Genesis 33:5

33:5 When Esau ²⁹  looked up ³⁰  and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob ³¹  replied, “The children whom God has graciously given ³²  your servant.”

Genesis 33:14

33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, ³³  until I come to my lord at Seir.”

Genesis 43:18

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ³⁴  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ³⁵  He wants to capture us, ³⁶  make us slaves, and take ³⁷  our donkeys!”

Genesis 44:17

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of ³⁸  you may go back ³⁹  to your father in peace.”

Genesis 46:34

46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ⁴⁰  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ⁴¹  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ⁴²  to the Egyptians.”

Genesis 47:19

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 ⁴³  Pharaoh’s slaves. ⁴⁴  Give us seed that we may live ⁴⁵  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ⁴⁶ 

Genesis 50:17

50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. ⁴⁷ 

[19:2]  ¹ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ² tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ³ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:19]  ⁴ tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.

[19:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “in your eyes.”

[19:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”

[19:19]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.

[19:19]  ⁸ tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.

[19:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “lest.”

[19:19]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.

[19:19]  ¹¹ tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.

[24:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “to go after me.”

[24:5]  ⁸ tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.

[24:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and every good thing of his master was in his hand.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, explaining that he took all kinds of gifts to be used at his discretion.

[24:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

[24:10]  ¹² tn The words “the region of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:14]  ¹³ sn I will also give your camels water. It would be an enormous test for a young woman to water ten camels. The idea is that such a woman would not only be industrious but hospitable and generous.

[24:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And let the young woman to whom I say, ‘Lower your jar that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink and I will also give your camels water,’ – her you have appointed for your servant, for Isaac, and by it I will know that you have acted in faithfulness with my master.”

[32:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

[32:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[32:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

[32:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”

[32:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.

[32:20]  ²² tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”

[32:20]  ²³ tn Heb “I will see his face.”

[32:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.

[33:5]  ²² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ²³ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[33:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”

[33:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”

[43:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[43:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

[43:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to roll himself upon us and to cause himself to fall upon us.” The infinitives here indicate the purpose (as viewed by the brothers) for their being brought to Joseph’s house.

[43:18]  ³¹ tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ³¹ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ³² tn Heb “up” (reflecting directions from their point of view – “up” to Canaan; “down” to Egypt).

[46:34]  ³⁴ tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34]  ³⁵ sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.

[46:34]  ³⁶ tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.

[47:19]  ³⁷ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ⁴⁰ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.

[50:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and Joseph wept when they spoke to him.”