complete verse (Genesis 39:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 39:11:

  • Kankanaey: “When that was so, there was one-occasion that Jose entered the house to do his work, and guess-what, none of the other slaves were there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “One day Joseph went into the house to do his work. At that time not one worker was in the house.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “One day back-then, Jose went-into the house in-order to-work. (It) happened that there-was not even one servant there inside the house.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “One day Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the other household servants were in the house.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 39:11

Verses 11-19 report the incident that led to Joseph being put in prison.

But one day is literally “On a day like this,” which means “As usual.” The reference is to one of those days in which Potiphar’s wife was trying to seduce Joseph. Anchor Bible translates “One such day.”

Went into the house: that is, “his master’s house.”

And none of the men of the house refers to the other servants who worked in Potiphar’s house. See Good News Translation. In some languages this information will need to be expressed as an independent sentence.

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 .