Genesis 19:34

19:34 So in the morning the older daughter ¹  said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. ²  Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ³ 

Genesis 42:16

42:16 One of you must go and get ⁴  your brother, while ⁵  the rest of you remain in prison. ⁶  In this way your words may be tested to see if ⁷  you are telling the truth. ⁸  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

Genesis 43:7

43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us ⁹  thoroughly ¹⁰  about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ ¹¹  So we answered him in this way. ¹²  How could we possibly know ¹³  that he would say, ¹⁴  ‘Bring your brother down’?”

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 ¹⁵  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ¹⁶  He wants to capture us, ¹⁷  make us slaves, and take ¹⁸  our donkeys!”

Genesis 46:34

46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ¹⁹  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ²⁰  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ²¹  to the Egyptians.”

[19:34]  ¹ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:34]  ² tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”

[19:34]  ³ tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[42:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

[42:16]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

[42:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “bound.”

[42:16]  ⁷ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

[43:7]  ⁷ tn The word “us” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[43:7]  ⁸ tn The infinitive absolute with the perfect verbal form emphasizes that Joseph questioned them thoroughly.

[43:7]  ⁹ sn The report given here concerning Joseph’s interrogation does not exactly match the previous account where they supplied the information to clear themselves (see 42:13). This section may reflect how they remembered the impact of his interrogation, whether he asked the specific questions or not. That may be twisting the truth to protect themselves, not wanting to admit that they volunteered the information. (They admitted as much in 42:31, but now they seem to be qualifying that comment.) On the other hand, when speaking to Joseph later (see 44:19), Judah claims that Joseph asked for the information about their family, making it possible that 42:13 leaves out some of the details of their first encounter.

[43:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and we told to him according to these words.”

[43:7]  ¹¹ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the imperfect verbal form, which here is a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of a past time).

[43:7]  ¹² tn Once again the imperfect verbal form is used as a historic future (that is, future from the perspective of past time).

[43:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[43:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

[43:18]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[46:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.