Genesis 37:25

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ¹  and saw ²  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ³ 

Genesis 42:21

42:21 They said to one other, ⁴  “Surely we’re being punished ⁵  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ⁶  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁷  has come on us!”

[37:25]  ¹ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

[37:25]  ² tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.

[37:25]  ³ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

[42:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ⁵ tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ⁷ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.