Genesis 29:17

29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, ¹  but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.) ² 

Genesis 41:18

41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. ³ 

Genesis 39:6

39:6 So Potiphar ⁴  left ⁵  everything he had in Joseph’s care; ⁶  he gave no thought ⁷  to anything except the food he ate. ⁸ 

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. ⁹ 

Genesis 41:19

41:19 Then ¹⁰  seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows ¹¹  as these in all the land of Egypt!

[29:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and the eyes of Leah were tender.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a noun) continues the parenthesis begun in v. 16. It is not clear what is meant by “tender” (or “delicate”) eyes. The expression may mean she had appealing eyes (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT), though some suggest that they were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. Either way, she did not measure up to her gorgeous sister.

[29:17]  ² tn Heb “and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.”

[41:18]  ³ tn Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”

[39:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:6]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.

[39:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “did not know.”

[39:6]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.

[41:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “And look.”

[41:19]  ⁸ tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.