Genesis 37:11

37:11 His brothers were jealous ¹  of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said. ² 

Genesis 35:18

35:18 With her dying breath, ³  she named him Ben-Oni. ⁴  But his father called him Benjamin instead. ⁵ 

Genesis 44:20

44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ⁶  The boy’s ⁷  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ⁸  and his father loves him.’

[37:11]  ¹ sn Joseph’s brothers were already jealous of him, but this made it even worse. Such jealousy easily leads to action, as the next episode in the story shows. Yet dreams were considered a form of revelation, and their jealousy was not only of the favoritism of their father, but of the dreams. This is why Jacob kept the matter in mind.

[37:11]  ² tn Heb “kept the word.” The referent of the Hebrew term “word” has been specified as “what Joseph said” in the translation for clarity, and the words “in mind” have been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[35:18]  ³ tn Heb “in the going out of her life, for she was dying.” Rachel named the child with her dying breath.

[35:18]  ⁴ sn The name Ben-Oni means “son of my suffering.” It is ironic that Rachel’s words to Jacob in Gen 30:1, “Give me children or I’ll die,” take a different turn here, for it was having the child that brought about her death.

[35:18]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive.

[44:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”