You shall say: this has the force of a command. It is rendered in some translations as “this is what you must say” or “make sure you tell him.”

Your servants … our youth even until now: Your servants may need to be modified, as in some languages this expression may mean the people who are employed by the king. We may sometimes adjust this to say, for example, “We who honor you, sir, have been…,” or if using an indirect quote, “… that you [plural] have taken care of….” See Good News Translation. From our youth even until now may also be expressed as “through all our lives.”

Both we and our fathers: our fathers or “our ancestors” does not fit with until now, as these ancestors are no longer living. Therefore it is necessary to adjust this clause by saying, for example, “that you [plural] have taken care of livestock [been herders or herdsmen] all your lives, the same as your ancestors did.” Spoken in the “we” form (direct speech) this may be “We have been herdsmen all our lives, just like our ancestors were.”

In order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen: see Good News Translation “in this way he will let you live….” It is expressed more fully in some translations as “When you say that, the king will let you live….”

For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians: for abomination see 43.32. Although Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation correctly translate the Hebrew text, even the king of Egypt had a herd of livestock (see 47.6). Driver comments that, according to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, swineherds and cowherds were looked down upon by the Egyptians, but that shepherds were not. Anchor Bible thinks that the term shepherd is here a play on the popular interpretation of the Hyksos dynasty as “shepherd kings.” The Hyksos were Asians who ruled Egypt from about 1660 B.C. for a hundred years; and the descendants of Jacob were in Egypt before, during, and after the Hyksos period.

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 .