Genesis 39

ὁ ἀρχιμάγειρος, "the chief cook," where the Masoretic version reads "officer of the butchers" (שַׂר הַטַּבָּחִים): the Greek reads טַבָּח in its kitchen sense, the slaughterer who cooks the meat, as 1 Sam 9:23–24 uses it of Samuel's cook; the title holds for Potiphar in 37:36 and in Gen 40–41. εὐνοῦχος, "eunuch," renders סָרִיס as the Masoretic version does (Acts 8:27). Πετεφρῆς is a spelling of פּוֹטִיפַר, "Potiphar," and keeps the familiar form (145f; names table). Swete prints ἐκ χειρῶν, "from the hands," plural, from Alexandrinus, where the Masoretic version reads "from the hand". Ἰσμαηλειτῶν is "the Ishmaelites" of 37:25–28.

ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ παρὰ τῷ κυρίῳ τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ, "in the house with his lord the Egyptian," where the Masoretic version reads "in the house of his lord the Egyptian": the Greek sets Joseph beside his master, not only in his household. ἀνὴρ ἐπιτυγχάνων, "a man who succeeded," renders the Masoretic version's "a man who made things prosper" (מַצְלִיחַ) with a plain verb for the causative (143c).

ᾔδει, "knew," where the Masoretic version reads "saw" (וַיַּרְא). The Greek has a general clause, ὅσα ἂν ποιῇ, "as many as he does," and the present εὐοδοῖ, "prospers," where the Masoretic version reads "all that he was doing, ADONAI was making prosper," and the plural "in his hands" for "in his hand." εὐοδόω, to give a good way, is the verb of 3 John 2.

The alignment seeds ὅσα, "as many as," as a plus, but it stands where the Hebrew has the relative of 39:5, 8 (כָּל־אֲשֶׁר, "all that"), as πάντα ὅσα does there unmarked; nothing is added, and the seed is refused. ἐναντίον τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, "before his lord," where the Masoretic version reads "in his eyes"; and εὐηρέστει δὲ αὐτῷ, "now he was well-pleasing to him," for "and he ministered to him" (שָׁרַת): the Greek tells the master's pleasure, not the servant's work, with the verb of Enoch (5:22, 24; Heb 11:5). The last clause has διὰ χειρὸς Ἰωσήφ, "through the hand of Joseph," naming him where the Masoretic version reads "into his hand."

μετὰ τὸ κατασταθῆναι αὐτόν, "after he had been appointed," a passive infinitive, where the Masoretic version reads "from then—he had appointed him in his house": the Greek has no "from then" (מֵאָז) and makes the appointing a thing done to Joseph, over the house, not in it. πᾶσιν τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτῷ, "all his belongings" (the neuter participle, 20), stands for "all that there was to him." διά with the accusative, "on account of," renders בִּגְלַל as the Masoretic version does.

Swete prints ἐπέστρεψεν, "he turned again," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs reads ἐπέτρεψεν, "he entrusted," and the Masoretic version "he forsook" (עָזַב): Swete's word is translated as printed, the master turning all he had back into Joseph's hands. The alignment seeds ἦν, "were," after "as many as" as a plus, but the Masoretic version's English already has "was," and nothing is added; the seed is refused (150j). οὐκ ᾔδει τῶν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν οὐδέν, "he knew nothing of his own affairs," the two negatives making one, as at 30:31: the reflexive is the master's own, his household business, where the Masoretic version reads "he did not know, with him there, anything," with him being Joseph. The alignment seeds the article τῶν as a plus; it belongs to the phrase that renders "with him," and is answered by the mark over the phrase, so the seed is refused. It adds σφόδρα, "very" (seeded), and has καλὸς τῷ εἴδει καὶ ὡραῖος τῇ ὄψει, "beautiful in figure and lovely in appearance," for "beautiful of form and beautiful of sight": two Greek adjectives for the Masoretic version's one.

ἐπέβαλεν … τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῆς ἐπὶ Ἰωσήφ, "cast her eyes on Joseph," where the Masoretic version reads "lifted her eyes to Joseph." Κοιμήθητι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, "Fall asleep with me," holds the Greek's idiom for the Masoretic version's "Lie with me" (150k), here and at 39:12, 14, 17.

οὐκ ἤθελεν, "he did not want," for the Masoretic version's "he refused" (מָאֵן). For "Look, my lord does not know, with me there, what is in the house" the Greek has Εἰ ὁ κύριός μου οὐ γινώσκει δι᾽ ἐμὲ οὐδέν, "If my lord, on account of me, comes to know nothing": it reads הֵן as the "if" it is in Aramaic, so that Joseph's speech runs as one condition into 39:9, and it gives the reason, "on account of me," for the Masoretic version's "with me." The negatives οὐ … οὐδέν make one negation (39:6).

Swete prints ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ, "in his house," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs and the Masoretic version read "this house." The Greek makes the clause impersonal, οὐχ ὑπερέχει … οὐθὲν ἐμοῦ, "nothing in his house surpasses me" (ὑπερέχω, Phil 2:3), where the Masoretic version reads "He is not greater … than I," and the next passive, οὐδὲ ὑπεξῄρηται ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ οὐδέν, "and nothing has been kept back from me," for "he has not withheld from me anything." For "this great bad" it has τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ πονηρὸν τοῦτο, "this evil word," the deed named as at 39:7 ("these words"), without "great" (seeded, marked); and ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ, "before God," for "against Elohim."

Swete prints ὑπήκουεν, "he did not obey her," from Alexandrinus, where the Masoretic version reads "he did not hear her"; ὑπακούω takes its home gloss "obey," and the different word is marked. The Greek has καθεύδειν μετ᾽ αὐτῆς, "to slumber with her," and τοῦ συγγενέσθαι αὐτῇ, "so as to consort with her," for "to lie beside her, to be with her," and the imperfect ἐλάλει, "she was speaking," for "as she spoke." It has no "And it was" (וַיְהִי) at the head of the verse, as at 39:15 and 39:18; it is not marked (151j).

ἐγένετο δὲ τοιαύτη τις ἡμέρα, "now there came to be some such day," where the Masoretic version reads "about this day." The Greek names Joseph (seeded), has τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, "his works," plural, for "his work" (as 2:2), and οὐθείς, "no one," for "no man of the men of the house"; it lacks "there in the house" (seeded, marked) and ends with ἔσω, "inside."

Swete prints καταλείπων τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ ἔφυγεν, "leaving behind his cloaks, he fled," from Alexandrinus, without the words "in her hand" (בְּיָדָהּ) that the Masoretic version has and Rahlfs prints (ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῆς); the alignment, built on Rahlfs, does not seed the lack, and it is marked here. καταλείπων is καταλείπω, "leave behind," as at 39:13, 16, 18. ἐπεσπάσατο αὐτὸν τῶν ἱματίων αὐτοῦ, "she pulled at him by his cloaks," has the plural throughout the scene, where the Masoretic version reads "his garment."

κατέλειπεν, "he had left behind," is Swete's spelling from Alexandrinus (ει for ι) of the aorist κατέλιπεν that Rahlfs prints, here and at 39:18; it is translated as the aorist. The Greek adds καὶ ἐξῆλθεν, "and went out" (seeded), as again at 39:18.

εἰσήγαγεν ἡμῖν παῖδα Ἐβραῖον, "he has brought in to us a servant, a Hebrew," where the Masoretic version reads "a man, a Hebrew"; at 39:17 both have the servant ("slave" in the Masoretic version). ἐμπαίζειν, "to mock," is the verb of the mocking of Jesus (Matt 20:19; 27:29), where the Masoretic version holds צָחַק piel "laugh" (126): the Greek takes the laughter as derision and loses the echo of Isaac's name; "mock" is held through 39:17. She tells her words as direct speech, λέγων Κοιμήθητι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, "saying, 'Fall asleep with me'" (λέγων seeded), where the Masoretic version reads "to lie with me"; and she calls τοὺς ὄντας ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, "those who were in the house," for "the men of her house."

καταλιμπάνει, "she leaves behind," a present in the midst of past tenses, where the Masoretic version reads "she settled" (הִנִּיחַ). καταλιμπάνω is the present stem of καταλείπω (151h), the verb Joseph's flight has in 39:12–18; τὰ ἱμάτια, "the cloaks," for "his garment."

The Greek adds καὶ εἶπέν μοι, "and said to me" (seeded), and Swete prints from Alexandrinus the words that follow, Κοιμήθητι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, "Fall asleep with me," which Rahlfs does not have; the alignment cannot pair them, and they are marked as a second plus beside the seeded one. The servant is παῖς, "servant" (77), where the Masoretic version reads "slave" (עֶבֶד, 34).

ὡς δὲ ἤκουσεν ὅτι, "now as he heard that," where the Masoretic version reads "as I made my voice high": the Greek tells the scene from Joseph's hearing, as at 39:15, and the words "he heard that" are marked as a plus; the alignment does not seed them. It adds καὶ ἐξῆλθεν, "and went out" (seeded).

Οὕτως ἐποίησέν μοι ὁ παῖς σου, "Thus your servant did to me," for the Masoretic version's "According to these words your slave did to me"; and ἐθυμώθη ὀργῇ, "he was enraged with wrath," for "his nose flared": the Greek names the anger where the Hebrew keeps the body (39). θυμόω "be enraged" and ὀργή "wrath" are fixed as a set (44).

The Greek has τὸ ὀχύρωμα, "the stronghold," for the Masoretic version's "the round-house" (בֵּית הַסֹּהַר, 134), here twice, and τὸ δεσμωτήριον, "the prison," at 39:22; the two Greek words are kept apart, as the Greek keeps them. ἐμβάλλω, "cast in," stands for "gave … into." The prisoners κατέχονται, "are held fast," a present, where the Masoretic version reads "were bound"; and the Greek lacks "and he was" (seeded, marked), so that "there, in the stronghold" ends the relative clause.

κατέχεεν αὐτοῦ ἔλεος, "poured mercy over him," where the Masoretic version reads "stretched out loyalty to him" (נָטָה חֶסֶד): καταχέω is the verb of the ointment poured over Jesus' head (Mark 14:3), and ἔλεος, "mercy," is the Greek's word for חֶסֶד. ὁ ἀρχιδεσμοφύλαξ, "the chief jailer," one word for the Masoretic version's "the officer of the round-house," here and at 39:22–23.

The Greek has the jailer give τὸ δεσμωτήριον, "the prison" itself, into Joseph's hand, and with it πάντας τοὺς ἀπηγμένους, "all those led away," where the Masoretic version reads "all the prisoners"; ἀπάγω is the verb of the arrested led off to judgment (Mark 14:44, 53). The present ποιοῦσιν, "they do," stands for "they were doing," and the Greek lacks "he was the one doing it" (seeded, marked).

The Greek adds δι᾽ αὐτόν, "on account of him," γάρ … ἦν, "for … were," and ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ, "in his hands" (all seeded; "for" and "were" stand on either side of "all" for English order, and "were" is answered as its own span), and reads πάντα … διὰ χειρὸς Ἰωσήφ, "all were through the hand of Joseph," where the Masoretic version reads "anything at all in his hand." Swete prints the present εὐοδοῖ, "prospers," from Alexandrinus, where Rahlfs has the imperfect εὐόδου; the Masoretic version reads "was making prosper." οὐκ ἦν … γινώσκων … οὐθέν, "was coming to know nothing," the two negatives making one (39:6).