Genesis 31:30

31:30 Now I understand that ¹  you have gone away ²  because you longed desperately ³  for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” ⁴ 

Genesis 47:5

47:5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

Genesis 49:4

49:4 You are destructive ⁵  like water and will not excel, ⁶ 

for you got on your father’s bed, ⁷ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ⁸ 

Genesis 49:8

49:8 Judah, ⁹  your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

Genesis 50:16

50:16 So they sent word ¹⁰  to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died:

[31:30]  ¹ tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[31:30]  ² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.

[31:30]  ³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.

[31:30]  ⁴ sn Yet why did you steal my gods? This last sentence is dropped into the speech rather suddenly. See C. Mabee, “Jacob and Laban: The Structure of Judicial Proceedings,” VT 30 (1980): 192-207, and G. W. Coats, “Self-Abasement and Insult Formulas,” JBL 91 (1972): 90-92.

[49:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).

[49:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).

[49:4]  ⁷ sn This is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse with Jacob’s wives (see Gen 35:22).

[49:4]  ⁸ tn The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this passage see S. Gevirtz, “The Reprimand of Reuben,” JNES 30 (1971): 87-98.

[49:8]  ⁹ sn There is a wordplay here; the name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) sounds in Hebrew like the verb translated praise (יוֹדוּךָ, yodukha). The wordplay serves to draw attention to the statement as having special significance.

[50:16]  ¹³ tn The verb means “command,” but they would hardly be commanding him. It probably means they sent their father’s instructions to Joseph.