Genesis 42:1

Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt

42:1 When Jacob heard ¹  there was grain in Egypt, he ²  said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” ³ 

Genesis 31:55

31:55 (32:1) ⁴  Early in the morning Laban kissed ⁵  his grandchildren ⁶  and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. ⁷ 

[42:1]  ¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[42:1]  ² tn Heb “Jacob.” Here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:1]  ³ sn Why are you looking at each other? The point of Jacob’s question is that his sons should be going to get grain rather than sitting around doing nothing. Jacob, as the patriarch, still makes the decisions for the whole clan.

[31:55]  ⁴ sn Beginning with 31:55, the verse numbers in the English Bible through 32:32 differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 31:55 ET = 32:1 HT, 32:1 ET = 32:2 HT, etc., through 32:32 ET = 32:33 HT. From 33:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[31:55]  ⁵ tn Heb “and Laban got up early in the morning and he kissed.”

[31:55]  ⁶ tn Heb “his sons.”

[31:55]  ⁷ tn Heb “to his place.”