For washed their feet see comments on 18.4. For provender see 24.25. Eat bread means to have a meal.

Translators may find that some adjustments are required to translate the order of events in verses 24-25. It is most likely that the brothers learned early on that they were to eat at Joseph’s house. Therefore we may combine verses 24-25 and shift verse 25b to the opening of the combined text. We may say, for example:

• The brothers learned that they were to eat the noon meal in Joseph’s house. After they had entered the house, the steward gave them water to wash their feet. He also fed their donkeys. While they waited for Joseph to come home, they laid out the gifts they had brought for him.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .