In languages whose discourse requires careful marking of movements and new settings, or even summary statements like this, it may be necessary to move the end of this verse to the beginning by saying, for example, “After Joseph’s father and brothers had spoken with the king, Joseph did what the king had told him to do; he settled them….”

Settled: see verse 6.

Gave them a possession in the land of Egypt … land: that is, “he gave them land [property, fields, pastures] in the best part of the country.”

In the land of Rameses: interpreters understand this name to refer to Rameses II (that is, the second king of Egypt of that name); he was a Pharaoh who lived long after Joseph’s time. Land of Rameses is found in the Septuagint in 46.28, where the Hebrew text has “land of Goshen.” According to Exo 1.11 Rameses is one of two cities built by the Israelites living in Egypt. Most modern versions refer to this place as the “region [district, area] of Rameses.”

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 .