Kejadian 41:40

41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. ¹  Only I, the king, will be greater than you. ² 

Kejadian 47:20-26

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ³  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ⁴  So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph ⁵  made all the people slaves ⁶  from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate ⁷  the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, ⁸  give ⁹  one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest ¹⁰  will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ¹¹  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ¹² 

47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, ¹³  which is in effect ¹⁴  to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

[41:40]  ¹ tn Heb “and at your mouth (i.e., instructions) all my people will kiss.” G. J. Wenham translates this “shall kowtow to your instruction” (Genesis [WBC], 2:395). Although there is some textual support for reading “will be judged, ruled by you,” this is probably an attempt to capture the significance of this word. Wenham lists a number of references where individuals have tried to make connections with other words or expressions – such as a root meaning “order themselves” lying behind “kiss,” or an idiomatic idea of “kiss” meaning “seal the mouth,” and so “be silent and submit to.” See K. A. Kitchen, “The Term Nsq in Genesis 41:40,” ExpTim 69 (1957): 30; D. S. Sperling, “Genesis 41:40: A New Interpretation,” JANESCU 10 (1978): 113-19.

[41:40]  ² tn Heb “only the throne, I will be greater than you.”

[47:20]  ³ tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:20]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:21]  ⁶ tc The MT reads “and the people he removed to the cities,” which does not make a lot of sense in this context. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX read “he enslaved them as slaves.”

[47:23]  ⁷ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive is equivalent to a command here.

[47:24]  ⁸ tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:24]  ⁹ tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.

[47:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “four parts.”

[47:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

[47:25]  ¹² sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

[47:26]  ¹³ tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.

[47:26]  ¹⁴ tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.