Pharaoh said to his brothers: his refers to Joseph and will often be clearer if translated as “The king asked Joseph’s brothers.”

Occupation: see 46.33.

Your servants: see comment on 18.3.

The brothers’ reply to the king is based on the instructions they received from Joseph in 46.34. In this reply the first person pronouns used by the brothers are exclusive in those languages that make a distinction between inclusive and exclusive forms.

As our fathers were: fathers refers to ancestors.

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 .