When all the land of Egypt was famished: that is, “When the people of Egypt became hungry.” Some translations say “… ran out of food” or “… began to be short of food.”

Cried to Pharaoh for bread: that is, “begged the king for food.”

Go to Joseph: that is, “Go and ask Joseph [for food].”

What he says to you, do: that is, “and do whatever he tells you to do.”

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 .

Ephraim: see the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation footnotes.

Made me fruitful: that is, “made me become a father” or “made me have children.”

In the land of my affliction: that is, “here in this land where I have suffered.”

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 .

Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh: as the sound of words is significant in many earlier explanations of names, the Hebrew for “cause to forget” sounds somewhat like Manasseh. See the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation footnotes.

All my hardship: hardship translates a word meaning “trouble,” “sorrow,” or “suffering.”

All my father’s house: this refers to Joseph’s relatives. For a parallel usage of this expression, see Psa 45.10.

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 .

In verses 50-52 the narrator shifts our attention to Joseph’s personal life and the birth of his two sons.

Before the year of famine came: that is, “Before the famine began.”

The daughter of …: Good News Translation and some other modern translations do not repeat the identification of Asenath as the daughter of the priest of On, because this information has just been given in verse 45.

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 .

Stored up grain in great abundance: here again it may be necessary to say, for example, “Joseph commanded people and they stored up lots of grain.”

Like the sand of the sea: this simile was used in promises of numerous descendants in 22.17 and 32.12.

Until he ceased to measure it … measured: it is not known how the grain was counted or measured; but this is not really important for the story, and translators may use a very general expression or an expression for measuring grain that is known to their readers. Another way of expressing the sense of this clause is to say, for example, “the grain that was stored increased so much that the people no longer wrote down how much it was.”

We may translate verse 49, for example, “The grain that Joseph ordered the people to store was so great in amount that they stopped trying to measure how much there was. Counting it was like counting grains of sand on the seashore.”

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 .

He gathered up: he refers to Joseph; however, the work of gathering is actually done under Joseph’s supervision. It may be necessary to say, for example, “Joseph made workers gather….”

The food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land: as in verse 35, food refers to crops or grain. Of the seven years represents the Hebrew text, to which the Septuagint adds “of plenty,” which is then followed by Revised Standard Version. However, this is more a translation adjustment than a textual problem.

Stored up food in the cities: that is, “he ordered the people to store the crops in the towns,” which in Hebrew refers to “walled cities.”

He stored up … from the fields around it: in every town he arranged for the crops grown near by to be stored in the local towns. The point here is that the grain would not have to be transported to a central storage place, and when the time of need came, the grain would be locally available.

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 .

During the seven … abundantly: that is, “During the seven years of good crops, the land produced lots of grain.”

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 .