Γένεσις 37
1 κατῴκει δὲ Ιακωβ ἐν τῇ γῇ οὗ παρῴκησεν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ἐν γῇ Χανααν
Jacob continued to live in the Canaan region where his father had lived previously.
2 αὗται δὲ αἱ γενέσεις Ιακωβ Ιωσηφ δέκα ἑπτὰ ἐτῶν ἦν ποιμαίνων μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ τὰ πρόβατα ὢν νέος μετὰ τῶν υἱῶν Βαλλας καὶ μετὰ τῶν υἱῶν Ζελφας τῶν γυναικῶν τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ κατήνεγκεν δὲ Ιωσηφ ψόγον πονηρὸν πρὸς Ισραηλ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν
(This is/I will now tell you) what happened to Jacob’s family. When his son Joseph was 17 years old, he was taking care of the flocks of sheep and goats with some of his older brothers. They were sons of his father’s (concubines/female slaves that he had taken to be his secondary wives). Joseph sometimes told his father about bad things that his brothers were doing.
3 Ιακωβ δὲ ἠγάπα τὸν Ιωσηφ παρὰ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ὅτι υἱὸς γήρους ἦν αὐτῷ ἐποίησεν δὲ αὐτῷ χιτῶνα ποικίλον
Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved any of his other children, because Joseph had been born when Jacob was an old man. Jacob made for Joseph a long pretty robe that had long sleeves.
4 ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ φιλεῖ ἐκ πάντων τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἐμίσησαν αὐτὸν καὶ οὐκ ἐδύναντο λαλεῖν αὐτῷ οὐδὲν εἰρηνικόν
When Joseph’s older brothers realized that their father loved him more than he loved any of them, they hated him. They never spoke kindly to him.
5 ἐνυπνιασθεὶς δὲ Ιωσηφ ἐνύπνιον ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτὸ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ
One night Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about the dream.
6 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἀκούσατε τοῦ ἐνυπνίου τούτου οὗ ἐνυπνιάσθην
He said to them, “Listen to the dream I had!
7 ᾤμην ἡμᾶς δεσμεύειν δράγματα ἐν μέσῳ τῷ πεδίῳ καὶ ἀνέστη τὸ ἐμὸν δράγμα καὶ ὠρθώθη περιστραφέντα δὲ τὰ δράγματα ὑμῶν προσεκύνησαν τὸ ἐμὸν δράγμα
In the dream, we were tying up bundles of wheat in the field. Suddenly my bundle stood up straight, and surprisingly, your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it!”
8 εἶπαν δὲ αὐτῷ οἱ ἀδελφοί μὴ βασιλεύων βασιλεύσεις ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς ἢ κυριεύων κυριεύσεις ἡμῶν καὶ προσέθεντο ἔτι μισεῖν αὐτὸν ἕνεκεν τῶν ἐνυπνίων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕνεκεν τῶν ῥημάτων αὐτοῦ
His brothers said to him, “Do you think that some day you will rule over us? Are you [saying that some day] you are going to be our king?” [RHQ] They hated him even more than before because of what he had told them about his dream.
9 εἶδεν δὲ ἐνύπνιον ἕτερον καὶ διηγήσατο αὐτὸ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν ἰδοὺ ἐνυπνιασάμην ἐνύπνιον ἕτερον ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ἡ σελήνη καὶ ἕνδεκα ἀστέρες προσεκύνουν με
Later he had another dream, and again he told his older brothers about it. He said, “Listen to this! I had another dream. In this dream, the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me!”
10 καὶ ἐπετίμησεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ τί τὸ ἐνύπνιον τοῦτο ὃ ἐνυπνιάσθης ἆρά γε ἐλθόντες ἐλευσόμεθα ἐγώ τε καὶ ἡ μήτηρ σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου προσκυνῆσαί σοι ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν
He also told his father about it. His father rebuked him, saying “What are you suggesting by that dream [RHQ]? Do you think it means that your mother and I and your older brothers will some day bow down to the ground in front of you?” [RHQ]
11 ἐζήλωσαν δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ ὁ δὲ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ διετήρησεν τὸ ῥῆμα
Joseph’s older brothers were furious/angry with him, but his father just kept thinking about what the dream meant.
12 ἐπορεύθησαν δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ βόσκειν τὰ πρόβατα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν εἰς Συχεμ
One day Joseph’s older brothers went to take care of their father’s sheep and goats that were eating grass near Shechem.
13 καὶ εἶπεν Ισραηλ πρὸς Ιωσηφ οὐχ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ποιμαίνουσιν ἐν Συχεμ δεῦρο ἀποστείλω σε πρὸς αὐτούς εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ἰδοὺ ἐγώ
Some time later, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are taking care of the sheep and goats near Shechem [RHQ]. I am going to send you there to see them.” Joseph replied, “Okay.”
14 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ Ισραηλ πορευθεὶς ἰδὲ εἰ ὑγιαίνουσιν οἱ ἀδελφοί σου καὶ τὰ πρόβατα καὶ ἀνάγγειλόν μοι καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς κοιλάδος τῆς Χεβρων καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Συχεμ
Jacob said, “Go and see if they are doing okay, and if the flocks are doing okay. Then come back and give me a report.” So Jacob sent Joseph from [the valley where they were living], the valley where Hebron is located, [to go north] to find his brothers. When Joseph arrived near Shechem [city],
15 καὶ εὗρεν αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπος πλανώμενον ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ ἠρώτησεν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ ἄνθρωπος λέγων τί ζητεῖς
while he was wandering around in the fields looking/searching for his brothers, a man saw him and asked him, “Whom are you looking/searching for?”
16 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν τοὺς ἀδελφούς μου ζητῶ ἀνάγγειλόν μοι ποῦ βόσκουσιν
Joseph replied, “I am looking for my older brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their sheep and goats?”
17 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀπήρκασιν ἐντεῦθεν ἤκουσα γὰρ αὐτῶν λεγόντων πορευθῶμεν εἰς Δωθαϊμ καὶ ἐπορεύθη Ιωσηφ κατόπισθεν τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ εὗρεν αὐτοὺς ἐν Δωθαϊμ
The man replied, “They are not here any more. I heard one of them saying, ‘Let’s take the sheep and goats and go to Dothan [town].’” So Joseph left there and went north, and found his older brothers near Dothan.
18 προεῖδον δὲ αὐτὸν μακρόθεν πρὸ τοῦ ἐγγίσαι αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπονηρεύοντο τοῦ ἀποκτεῖναι αὐτόν
But they saw him when he was still far away, and they decided to kill him.
19 εἶπαν δὲ ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἰδοὺ ὁ ἐνυπνιαστὴς ἐκεῖνος ἔρχεται
They said to each other [things like], “Here comes that dreamer!”
20 νῦν οὖν δεῦτε ἀποκτείνωμεν αὐτὸν καὶ ῥίψωμεν αὐτὸν εἰς ἕνα τῶν λάκκων καὶ ἐροῦμεν θηρίον πονηρὸν κατέφαγεν αὐτόν καὶ ὀψόμεθα τί ἔσται τὰ ἐνύπνια αὐτοῦ
and “Hey, let’s kill him, and then throw his body into one of the pits/cisterns. Then we will tell people that a ferocious/wild animal attacked and killed him and ate him. And then we will (find out whether his dreams come true/make sure that his dreams do not come true)!”
21 ἀκούσας δὲ Ρουβην ἐξείλατο αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν καὶ εἶπεν οὐ πατάξομεν αὐτὸν εἰς ψυχήν
Reuben heard what they were saying, so he tried to persuade them not to kill [MTY] Joseph. He said, “No, we should not kill him.
22 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτοῖς Ρουβην μὴ ἐκχέητε αἷμα ἐμβάλετε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν λάκκον τοῦτον τὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ χεῖρα δὲ μὴ ἐπενέγκητε αὐτῷ ὅπως ἐξέληται αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀποδῷ αὐτὸν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ
Do not even shed his blood! We can throw him into this pit/cistern in the desert, but we should not harm him [MTY].” He said that, and then left them, planning to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.
23 ἐγένετο δὲ ἡνίκα ἦλθεν Ιωσηφ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐξέδυσαν τὸν Ιωσηφ τὸν χιτῶνα τὸν ποικίλον τὸν περὶ αὐτὸν
So when Joseph arrived where his older brothers were, they seized him and ripped off his pretty robe with long sleeves.
24 καὶ λαβόντες αὐτὸν ἔρριψαν εἰς τὸν λάκκον ὁ δὲ λάκκος κενός ὕδωρ οὐκ εἶχεν
Then they took him and threw him into the pit/cistern. But the pit/cistern was dry; there was no water in it.
25 ἐκάθισαν δὲ φαγεῖν ἄρτον καὶ ἀναβλέψαντες τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς εἶδον καὶ ἰδοὺ ὁδοιπόροι Ισμαηλῖται ἤρχοντο ἐκ Γαλααδ καὶ αἱ κάμηλοι αὐτῶν ἔγεμον θυμιαμάτων καὶ ῥητίνης καὶ στακτῆς ἐπορεύοντο δὲ καταγαγεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον
After they sat down to eat some food, they looked up and saw a (caravan/group [of traders]), descendants of Ishmael, coming from the Gilead area. Their camels were loaded with bags of spices and nice-smelling resins. They were going down to Egypt to sell those things there.
26 εἶπεν δὲ Ιουδας πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ τί χρήσιμον ἐὰν ἀποκτείνωμεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἡμῶν καὶ κρύψωμεν τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ
Judah said to his [older and younger] brothers, “If we kill our younger brother and hide his body, (what will we gain?/we will not gain anything!) [RHQ]
27 δεῦτε ἀποδώμεθα αὐτὸν τοῖς Ισμαηλίταις τούτοις αἱ δὲ χεῖρες ἡμῶν μὴ ἔστωσαν ἐπ’ αὐτόν ὅτι ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν καὶ σὰρξ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἤκουσαν δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ
So, instead of harming him, let’s sell him to these men who are descendants of Ishmael. Don’t forget, he is our own younger brother!” So they all agreed to do that.
28 καὶ παρεπορεύοντο οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ Μαδιηναῖοι οἱ ἔμποροι καὶ ἐξείλκυσαν καὶ ἀνεβίβασαν τὸν Ιωσηφ ἐκ τοῦ λάκκου καὶ ἀπέδοντο τὸν Ιωσηφ τοῖς Ισμαηλίταις εἴκοσι χρυσῶν καὶ κατήγαγον τὸν Ιωσηφ εἰς Αἴγυπτον
When those traders from the Midian area came near, Joseph’s brothers pulled him up out of the pit/cistern. Then they sold him to the men from Midian for 20 pieces of silver. The traders then took Joseph to Egypt.
29 ἀνέστρεψεν δὲ Ρουβην ἐπὶ τὸν λάκκον καὶ οὐχ ὁρᾷ τὸν Ιωσηφ ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ καὶ διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ
When Reuben returned to the pit/cistern, he saw that his younger brother was not there. He was so grieved that he tore his clothes.
30 καὶ ἀνέστρεψεν πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν τὸ παιδάριον οὐκ ἔστιν ἐγὼ δὲ ποῦ πορεύομαι ἔτι
He went back to his [younger] brothers and said, “The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?” [RHQ]
31 λαβόντες δὲ τὸν χιτῶνα τοῦ Ιωσηφ ἔσφαξαν ἔριφον αἰγῶν καὶ ἐμόλυναν τὸν χιτῶνα τῷ αἵματι
[Joseph’s brothers did not dare to tell their father what they had done. So, they decided to invent a story about what had happened]. They got Joseph’s robe. Then they killed a goat and dipped the robe in the goat’s blood.
32 καὶ ἀπέστειλαν τὸν χιτῶνα τὸν ποικίλον καὶ εἰσήνεγκαν τῷ πατρὶ αὐτῶν καὶ εἶπαν τοῦτον εὕρομεν ἐπίγνωθι εἰ χιτὼν τοῦ υἱοῦ σού ἐστιν ἢ οὔ
They took that pretty robe back to their father and said, “We found this robe! Look at it. Is it your son’s robe?”
33 καὶ ἐπέγνω αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν χιτὼν τοῦ υἱοῦ μού ἐστιν θηρίον πονηρὸν κατέφαγεν αὐτόν θηρίον ἥρπασεν τὸν Ιωσηφ
He recognized it, and he said, “Yes, it is my son’s robe! Some ferocious/wild animal must have attacked and killed him! I am sure that the animal has torn Joseph to pieces!”
34 διέρρηξεν δὲ Ιακωβ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπέθετο σάκκον ἐπὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπένθει τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἡμέρας πολλάς
Jacob was so grieved that he tore his clothes. He put on (sackcloth/clothes that people wear when they are mourning for someone who has died). He mourned/cried for his son for many days.
35 συνήχθησαν δὲ πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες καὶ ἦλθον παρακαλέσαι αὐτόν καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν παρακαλεῖσθαι λέγων ὅτι καταβήσομαι πρὸς τὸν υἱόν μου πενθῶν εἰς ᾅδου καὶ ἔκλαυσεν αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ (Sheol h7585)
All of his children came to try to comfort him, but he did not pay attention to what they said. He said, “No, I will still be mourning/crying when I die and go to be with my son.” So Joseph’s father continued to cry because of what had happened to his son. (Sheol h7585)
36 οἱ δὲ Μαδιηναῖοι ἀπέδοντο τὸν Ιωσηφ εἰς Αἴγυπτον τῷ Πετεφρη τῷ σπάδοντι Φαραω ἀρχιμαγείρῳ
In the meantime, the men/traders from Midian took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, who was one of the king’s officials. He was the captain of the soldiers who protected the king.
