Genesis 21:21

21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ¹  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ² 

Genesis 37:36

37:36 Now ³  in Egypt the Midianites ⁴  sold Joseph ⁵  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ⁶ 

Genesis 41:29

41:29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:33

41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look ⁷  for a wise and discerning man ⁸  and give him authority ⁹  over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:41

41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place ¹⁰  you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” ¹¹ 

Genesis 45:2

45:2 He wept loudly; ¹²  the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. ¹³ 

Genesis 45:20

45:20 Don’t worry ¹⁴  about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours.’”

Genesis 47:21

47:21 Joseph ¹⁵  made all the people slaves ¹⁶  from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it.

Genesis 47:27

47:27 Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they owned land there. They were fruitful and increased rapidly in number.

[21:21]  ¹ sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

[21:21]  ² tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

[37:36]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause formally signals closure for this episode of Joseph’s story, which will be resumed in Gen 39.

[37:36]  ⁴ tc The MT spells the name of the merchants as מְדָנִים (mÿdanim, “Medanites”) rather than מִדְיָנִים (midyanim, “Midianites”) as in v. 28. It is likely that the MT is corrupt at this point, with the letter yod (י) being accidentally omitted. The LXX, Vulgate, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac read “Midianites” here. Some prefer to read “Medanites” both here and in v. 28, but Judg 8:24, which identifies the Midianites and Ishmaelites, favors the reading “Midianites.”

[37:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:36]  ⁶ sn The expression captain of the guard might indicate that Potiphar was the chief executioner.

[41:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

[41:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “and let him set him.”

[41:41]  ⁷ tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן (natan) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”

[41:41]  ⁸ sn Joseph became the grand vizier of the land of Egypt. See W. A. Ward, “The Egyptian Office of Joseph,” JSS 5 (1960): 144-50; and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 129-31.

[45:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he gave his voice in weeping,” meaning that Joseph could not restrain himself and wept out loud.

[45:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the Egyptians heard and the household of Pharaoh heard.” Presumably in the latter case this was by means of a report.

[45:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “let not your eye regard.”

[47:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:21]  ¹⁴ 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.”