The clause brought him safely through all his troubles may be rendered in some languages as “helped him whenever he was in trouble,” “caused him to be safe even when he was in difficulties,” or “caused him to be safe even when people tried to harm him.”

When Joseph appeared before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, God gave him a pleasing manner and wisdom does not necessarily refer to one formal appearance that Joseph made before Pharaoh. The Greek simply says, “He [God] gave to him [Joseph] grace and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt.” This statement may mean that Joseph’s pleasing manner and wisdom (perhaps a specific reference to his ability to interpret dreams) was such as to attract the attention of Pharaoh (see Jerusalem Bible “by making him wise enough to attract the attention of Pharaoh king of Egypt”). Pleasing manner translates the word “grace,” which here refers not to the grace of God but rather to the impression that Joseph made before Pharaoh. The royal household is taken by most to be the meaning of the words, “his [Pharaoh’s] house,” though in light of Genesis 41.43 some understand this to refer to Pharaoh’s property. The subject of the verb made is not explicitly stated; some understand it to be God, but most understand it to be Pharaoh, which seems to go better with over … the royal household.

The equivalent of royal household is in many languages “all the houses that the king had.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .