24:32a
And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem: In Genesis 50:25 Joseph had made the Israelites promise to bring his bones with them when they left Egypt.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
The people of Israel had brought Joseph’s bones with them when they left Egypt. They buried them at the town of Shechem.
-or-
The Israelites buried Joseph’s bones at Shechem town. They had brought the bones with them when they came out of Egypt.
24:32b
in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pieces of silver is found in only two other places in the Old Testament: Genesis 33:19 and Job 42:11. It was an ancient weight, but it is not certain how heavy it was.
Avoid using the word “coins.” Coins had not been invented at this time. They used pieces of silver in a wedge shape with a standard weight.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Jacob had bought a plot of land there from the sons of Hamor, who was Shechem’s father. Jacob had paid one hundred pieces of silver for it.
-or-
⌊They buried them⌋ in the plot of land that Jacob had bought for one hundred silver pieces from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
24:32c
So it became an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
That land was in the area that belonged to the descendants of Joseph.
-or-
Joseph’s descendants now own that land.
General Comment on verse 24:32
In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse so that they are in chronological order. For example:
⌊Many years ago⌋ Jacob had bought a piece of land from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver. When the Israelites left Egypt they carried Joseph’s bones with them. ⌊Now, years later,⌋ they buried his bones in that piece of land that Jacob had bought in Shechem.
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