Brothers said: the brothers’ questions are rhetorical and sarcastic. In some languages said may need to be rendered “asked him,” if a question form is used (see Good News Translation).

Are you indeed to reign over us?: the Hebrew construction says “Do you become king and rule [same word as king] over us?” For a model translation see Good News Translation. From here to the end of verse 10, the first person plural pronouns are exclusive.

Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?: have dominion translates a general verb meaning to govern or control. New Jerusalem Bible translates “ ‘So you want to be king over us,’ his brothers retorted, ‘you want to lord it over us?’ ” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “You mean that you are going to be our king, and that you are going to dominate us?”

So they hated him yet more: this expression is similar to that in Gen 37.5.

For his dreams and for his words: that is, “because of his dreams and for what he told them about his dreams.”

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 .