He lifted up his eyes is an idiom that means “he looked up,” “he looked around,” or “he looked.”

His brother Benjamin may need to be expressed as “his younger brother Benjamin.”

His mother’s son is the narrator’s way of calling attention to the special relationship Joseph has with Benjamin through the same mother, Rachel.

Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?: translators differ in the way they handle this. Revised Standard Version and others make it a question, but Good News Translation and others prefer a statement. Both interpretations are possible.

God be gracious to you, my son: this is a blessing or wish for God to show favor or kindness to Benjamin. My son strengthens the impression that Benjamin is a young lad. Regardless of the fact that not many years could separate Joseph and Benjamin, it is the design of the story to present Benjamin as a youth.

In some languages my son can only mean that Joseph is Benjamin’s father. In such cases it may be necessary to say something equivalent to “young man” or “boy.”

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 .