Genesis 34:15

34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become ¹  like us by circumcising ²  all your males.

Genesis 41:39

41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ³  as you are!

Genesis 44:15

44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ⁴  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ⁵ 

Genesis 19:15

19:15 At dawn ⁶  the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, ⁷  or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” ⁸ 

Genesis 44:18

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ⁹  Please do not get angry with your servant, ¹⁰  for you are just like Pharaoh. ¹¹ 

[34:15]  ¹ tn Heb “if you are like us.”

[34:15]  ² tn The infinitive here explains how they would become like them.

[41:39]  ³ tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”

[44:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.

[19:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “When dawn came up.”

[19:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.

[19:15]  ⁹ tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[44:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ¹¹ sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.