Genesis 41:34

41:34 Pharaoh should do ¹  this – he should appoint ²  officials ³  throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt ⁴  during the seven years of abundance.

Genesis 41:43

41:43 Pharaoh ⁵  had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, ⁶  and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” ⁷  So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:56

41:56 While the famine was over all the earth, ⁸  Joseph opened the storehouses ⁹  and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt.

[41:34]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”

[41:34]  ² tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

[41:34]  ³ tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.

[41:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.

[41:43]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:43]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”

[41:43]  ⁷ tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).

[41:56]  ⁹ tn Or “over the entire land”; Heb “over all the face of the earth.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal to the next clause.

[41:56]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads “he opened all that was in [or “among”] them.” The translation follows the reading of the LXX and Syriac versions.