Up, follow after the men: Joseph’s instructions to the steward may be expressed as “Go, follow them” or “Go after those men.”

When you overtake them: that is, “when you catch them,” or we may combine this with the first command; for example, “Go after those men and catch them.”

Why have you returned evil for good?: in Revised Standard Version verse 4 has two “why” questions. The first is abstract and the second concrete. However, as the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation (verse 5) footnotes show, the second question Why have you stolen my silver cup? is not in the Hebrew text but is taken from the Septuagint.

Modern translations handle this question in three ways:
(1) as in Revised Standard Version, in which both questions are placed in verse 4,
(2) as in Good News Translation, in which the second question is placed in verse 5, and
(3) as in Traduction oecuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, which omit the second question.

Hebrew Old Testament Text Project favors keeping the question Why have you stolen my silver cup? and placing it in verse 5, as in Good News Translation. Apparently the Septuagint translators felt this addition was necessary for correct understanding, and it is recommended to modern translators also. This question must be expressed in some languages as, for example, “Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup?”

The expression returned evil for good is difficult and may have to be restructured in some languages to indicate the people who did the good and the evil actions. Two examples of such restructuring are “We [exclusive] did good to you. Why have you done bad to us?” and “My master was very good to you. Why have you behaved badly to him in return?”

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 .