Genesis 34:10

34:10 You may live ¹  among us, and the land will be open to you. ²  Live in it, travel freely in it, ³  and acquire property in it.”

Genesis 46:34

46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ⁴  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ⁵  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ⁶  to the Egyptians.”

[34:10]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

[34:10]  ² tn Heb “before you.”

[34:10]  ³ tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”

[46:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.