Genesis 37:4

37:4 When Joseph’s ¹  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ²  they hated Joseph ³  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ⁴ 

Genesis 37:18-20

37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers ⁵  saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 37:19 They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams! ⁶  37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild ⁷  animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!” ⁸ 

Psalms 56:5

56:5 All day long they cause me trouble; ⁹ 

they make a habit of plotting my demise. ¹⁰ 

[37:4]  ¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:4]  ² tn Heb “of his brothers.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “them.”

[37:4]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “speak to him for peace.”

[37:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “Look, this master of dreams is coming.” The brothers’ words have a sarcastic note and indicate that they resent his dreams.

[37:20]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.

[37:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”

[56:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “my affairs they disturb.” For other instances of דָּבָר (davar) meaning “affairs, business,” see BDB 183 s.v.. The Piel of עָצַב (’atsav, “to hurt”) occurs only here and in Isa 63:10, where it is used of “grieving” (or “offending”) the Lord’s holy Spirit. Here in Ps 56:5, the verb seems to carry the nuance “disturb, upset,” in the sense of “cause trouble.”

[56:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “against me [are] all their thoughts for harm.”