Genesis 21:14

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ¹  some food ²  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ³  and sent her away. So she went wandering ⁴  aimlessly through the wilderness ⁵  of Beer Sheba.

Genesis 28:20

28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ⁶  to eat and clothing to wear,

Genesis 37:25

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ⁷  and saw ⁸  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ⁹ 

Genesis 39:6

39:6 So Potiphar ¹⁰  left ¹¹  everything he had in Joseph’s care; ¹²  he gave no thought ¹³  to anything except the food he ate. ¹⁴ 

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 41:55

41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, ¹⁶  “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

Genesis 43:32

43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ¹⁷  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ¹⁸  to do so.) ¹⁹ 

Genesis 47:15

47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ²⁰  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ²¹  before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

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 ²²  Pharaoh’s slaves. ²³  Give us seed that we may live ²⁴  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ²⁵ 

[21:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ² tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ³ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ⁵ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[28:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[37:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

[37:25]  ¹² tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.

[37:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

[39:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:6]  ¹⁷ sn The Hebrew verb translated left indicates he relinquished the care of it to Joseph. This is stronger than what was said earlier. Apparently Potiphar had come to trust Joseph so much that he knew it was in better care with Joseph than with anyone else.

[39:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.

[39:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “did not know.”

[39:6]  ²⁰ sn The expression except the food he ate probably refers to Potiphar’s private affairs and should not be limited literally to what he ate.

[39:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.

[41:55]  ²¹ tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[43:32]  ²⁶ tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:32]  ²⁷ tn Or “disgraceful.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 46:34 and Exod 8:22.

[43:32]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not able to eat food with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination for the Egyptians.” The imperfect verbal form in the explanatory clause is taken as habitual in force, indicating a practice that was still in effect in the narrator’s time.

[47:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.

[47:15]  ³² tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.

[47:19]  ³⁶ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ³⁹ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.