Genesis 40:20

40:20 On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He “lifted up” ¹  the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants.

Genesis 41:42

41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen ²  clothes and put a gold chain around his neck.

Genesis 41:45

41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ³  He also gave him Asenath ⁴  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ⁵  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ⁶  all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 42:16

42:16 One of you must go and get ⁷  your brother, while ⁸  the rest of you remain in prison. ⁹  In this way your words may be tested to see if ¹⁰  you are telling the truth. ¹¹  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

Genesis 44:18

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ¹²  Please do not get angry with your servant, ¹³  for you are just like Pharaoh. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 46:5

46:5 Then Jacob started out ¹⁵  from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him.

Genesis 46:31

46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, ¹⁶  ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.

Genesis 47:4

47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents ¹⁷  in the land. There ¹⁸  is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

Genesis 47:9

47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All ¹⁹  the years of my travels ²⁰  are 130. All ²¹  the years of my life have been few and painful; ²²  the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” ²³ 

Genesis 47:14

47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ²⁴  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ²⁵ 

Genesis 47:19

47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ²⁶  Pharaoh’s slaves. ²⁷  Give us seed that we may live ²⁸  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ²⁹ 

[40:20]  ¹ tn The translation puts the verb in quotation marks because it is used rhetorically here and has a double meaning. With respect to the cup bearer it means “reinstate” (see v. 13), but with respect to the baker it means “decapitate” (see v. 19).

[41:42]  ² tn The Hebrew word שֵׁשׁ (shesh) is an Egyptian loanword that describes the fine linen robes that Egyptian royalty wore. The clothing signified Joseph’s rank.

[41:45]  ³ sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 1262).

[41:45]  ⁴ sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.

[41:45]  ⁵ sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[41:45]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he passed through.”

[42:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

[42:16]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

[42:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “bound.”

[42:16]  ⁷ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

[44:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ⁷ 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.

[46:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “arose.”

[46:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”

[47:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “to sojourn.”

[47:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “for there.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.

[47:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.

[47:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”

[47:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[47:19]  ¹¹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ¹² sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ¹³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ¹⁴ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.