Genesis 19:8

19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ¹  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ²  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ³  of my roof.” ⁴ 

Genesis 23:6

23:6 “Listen, sir, ⁵  you are a mighty prince ⁶  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you ⁷  from burying your dead.”

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ⁸  and saw that Esau was coming ⁹  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 34:25

34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ¹⁰  and went to the unsuspecting city ¹¹  and slaughtered every male.

Genesis 39:14

39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought ¹²  in a Hebrew man ¹³  to us to humiliate us. ¹⁴  He tried to have sex with me, ¹⁵  but I screamed loudly. ¹⁶ 

Genesis 42:21

42:21 They said to one other, ¹⁷  “Surely we’re being punished ¹⁸  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ¹⁹  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ²⁰  has come on us!”

Genesis 42:28

42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; ²¹  they turned trembling one to another ²²  and said, “What in the world has God done to us?” ²³ 

Genesis 44:1

The Final Test

44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

Genesis 47:20

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ²⁴  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ²⁵  So the land became Pharaoh’s.

[19:8]  ¹ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ² tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ³ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ⁴ sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[23:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

[23:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.

[23:6]  ⁷ tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[33:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[34:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

[34:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.

[39:14]  ¹⁷ tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[39:14]  ¹⁸ sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.

[39:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.

[39:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”

[42:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ²² tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ²³ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ²⁴ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[42:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and their heart went out.” Since this expression is used only here, the exact meaning is unclear. The following statement suggests that it may refer to a sudden loss of emotional strength, so “They were dismayed” adequately conveys the meaning (cf. NRSV); NIV has “Their hearts sank.”

[42:28]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and they trembled, a man to his neighbor.”

[42:28]  ²⁷ tn Heb “What is this God has done to us?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question.

[47:20]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.