Genesis 29:9

29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. ¹ 

Genesis 37:33

37:33 He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! ²  Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

Genesis 37:2

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ³  was taking care of ⁴  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ⁵  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ⁶  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ⁷  to their father.

Genesis 4:2

4:2 Then she gave birth ⁸  to his brother Abel. ⁹  Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 26:29

26:29 so that ¹¹  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ¹²  you, but have always treated you well ¹³  before sending you away ¹⁴  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ¹⁵ 

Genesis 30:36

30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, ¹⁶  while ¹⁷  Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Genesis 37:20

37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild ¹⁸  animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!” ¹⁹ 

Genesis 47:3

47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s ²⁰  brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” ²¹ 

Genesis 49:24

49:24 But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands ²²  will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of ²³  the Shepherd, the Rock ²⁴  of Israel,

Genesis 50:20

50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, ²⁵  but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. ²⁶ 

Genesis 44:4

44:4 They had not gone very far from the city ²⁷  when Joseph said ²⁸  to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! ²⁹  When you overtake ³⁰  them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

Genesis 46:34

46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ³¹  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ³²  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ³³  to the Egyptians.”

Genesis 50:17

50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. ³⁴ 

[29:9]  ¹ tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”

[37:33]  ² sn A wild animal has eaten him. Jacob draws this conclusion on his own without his sons actually having to lie with their words (see v. 20). Dipping the tunic in the goat’s blood was the only deception needed.

[37:2]  ³ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

[37:2]  ⁴ tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

[37:2]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

[37:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

[37:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “And she again gave birth.”

[4:2]  ⁵ sn The name Abel is not defined here in the text, but the tone is ominous. Abel’s name, the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hevel), means “breath, vapor, vanity,” foreshadowing Abel’s untimely and premature death.

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (ro’eh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (’oved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.

[26:29]  ⁵ tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”

[26:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “touched.”

[26:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”

[26:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “and we sent you away.”

[26:29]  ⁹ tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).

[30:36]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”

[30:36]  ⁷ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.

[37:20]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.

[37:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”

[47:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”

[49:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”

[49:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”

[49:24]  ¹¹ tn Or “Stone.”

[50:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”

[50:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”

[44:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”

[44:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.

[44:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

[44:4]  ¹⁴ tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”

[46:34]  ¹² tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34]  ¹³ sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.

[46:34]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.

[50:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and Joseph wept when they spoke to him.”