Genesis 24:30

24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring ¹  and heard his sister Rebekah say, ²  “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing ³  by the camels near the spring.

Genesis 27:19

27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up ⁴  and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” ⁵ 

Genesis 29:34

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ⁶  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ⁷ 

Genesis 30:16

30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ⁸  with me because I have paid for your services ⁹  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ¹⁰  with her that night.

Genesis 31:29

31:29 I have ¹¹  the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful ¹²  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ ¹³ 

Genesis 31:52

31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 38:16

38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” ¹⁵  (He did not realize ¹⁶  it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” ¹⁷ 

Genesis 39:14

39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought ¹⁸  in a Hebrew man ¹⁹  to us to humiliate us. ²⁰  He tried to have sex with me, ²¹  but I screamed loudly. ²² 

Genesis 42:34

42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know ²³  that you are honest men and not spies. ²⁴  Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” ²⁵ 

Genesis 43:23

43:23 “Everything is fine,” ²⁶  the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. ²⁷  I had your money.” ²⁸  Then he brought Simeon out to them.

Genesis 43:29

43:29 When Joseph looked up ²⁹  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ 

Genesis 45:9

45:9 Now go up to my father quickly ³¹  and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay!

Genesis 46:31

46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, ³²  ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.

[24:30]  ¹ tn Heb “And it was when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister.” The word order is altered in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[24:30]  ² tn Heb “and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying.”

[24:30]  ³ tn Heb “and look, he was standing.” The disjunctive clause with the participle following the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites the audience to view the scene through Laban’s eyes.

[27:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.

[27:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.

[29:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ⁸ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[30:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.

[30:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.

[30:16]  ¹² tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.

[31:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “there is to my hand.”

[31:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:29]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 24, is uncertain. See the note on the same phrase in v. 24.

[31:52]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness, if I go past this pile to you and if you go past this pile and this pillar to me for harm.”

[38:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will go to you.” The imperfect verbal form probably indicates his desire here. The expression “go to” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for he did not know that.”

[38:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:14]  ²² 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]  ²³ sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.

[39:14]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”

[42:34]  ²⁵ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.

[42:34]  ²⁶ tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”

[42:34]  ²⁷ sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.

[43:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and he said, ‘peace to you.’” Here the statement has the force of “everything is fine,” or perhaps even “calm down.” The referent of “he” (the man in charge of Joseph’ household) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[43:23]  ²⁹ sn Your God and the God of your father…This is the first clear reference in the story to the theme of divine providence – that God works through the human actions to do his will.

[43:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “your money came to me.”

[43:29]  ³¹ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ³² sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.

[45:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “hurry and go up.”

[46:31]  ³⁷ tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”