Bereshis 37-39

Orthodox Jewish Bible

[VAYESHEV]

37 And Ya’akov dwelt in the eretz megurei Aviv (in the land wherein his father was a ger) in Eretz Canaan.

² These are the toldot Ya’akov. Yosef, being seventeen years old, was ro’eh with his achim to the tzon; now the na’ar was with the bnei Bilhah, and with the bnei Zilpah, the ne’shei Aviv (the wives of his father); and Yosef brought unto Avihem (their father) dibbatam ra’ah (a bad, evil report of them).

³ Now Yisroel loved Yosef more than all his children, because he was the ben zekunim (the son of his old age); and he made him a kesones passim (ketonet [tunic] reaching to palms and soles, [see Messianic significance Yn 19:23 OJBC]).

⁴ And when his achim saw that Avihem loved him more than all his achim, they hated him, and could not speak with shalom unto him.

⁵ And Yosef dreamed a chalom (dream [see Mt 2:22 OJBC]), and he told it to his achim; and they hated him yet the more.

⁶ And he said unto them, Hear, now, this chalom which I have dreamed:

⁷ For, hinei, we were binding alummim (sheaves of wheat) out in the sadeh, and, hinei, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, hinei, your alummot (sheaves of wheat) gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.

⁸ And his achim said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his chalomot (dreams), and for his devarim.

⁹ And he dreamed yet another chalom, and told it his achim, and said, Hinei, I have dreamed a chalom more; and, hinei, the shemesh and the yarei’ach and the eleven kokhavim bowed down to me.

¹⁰ And he told it to Aviv, and to his achim: and Aviv rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this chalom that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and Immecha and Achecha indeed come to bow down ourselves to the ground before thee?

¹¹ And his achim had kina (jealousy, envy) toward him; but Aviv was shomer over the saying.

¹² And his achim went for the purpose to be ro’eh tzon Avihem in the vicinity of Shechem.

¹³ And Yisroel said unto Yosef, Do not thy achim ro’im in Shechem? Come and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Hineni.

¹⁴ And he said to him, Go, now, see about the shalom achecha, and the shalom hatzon; and bring me devar. So he sent him out of the Emek Chevron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵ And a certain ish found him, and, hinei, he was wandering in the sadeh; and the ish asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

¹⁶ And he said, I seek my achim; tell me, now, where they ro’im (feed their flocks).

¹⁷ And the ish said, They are departed from here; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dotan. And Yosef went after his achim, and found them in Dotan.

¹⁸ And when they saw him merachok (afar off, in the distance), even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to kill him.

¹⁹ And they said one to another, Hinei, this ba’al hachalomot cometh.

²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us kill him, and throw him into one of the borot (pits), and we will say, Some chayyah ra’ah (evil wild beast) hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his chalomot.

²¹ And Reuven heard it, and he saved him out of their yadayim; and said, Let us not take his nefesh.

²² And Reuven said unto them, Do no shefach dahm (shedding of blood), but throw him into this bor that is in the midbar, and lay no yad upon him; that he might rescue him out of their yadayim, to take him back to Aviv.

²³ And it came to pass, when Yosef was come unto his achim, that they stripped Yosef of his kesones [see Yn 19:23 OJBC], his kesones hapassim that was on him;

²⁴ And they took him, and threw him into the borah (pit); and the bor was empty, there was no mayim in it.

²⁵ And they sat down to eat lechem; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, hinei, a caravan of Yishm’elim was coming from Gil‘ad with their gemalim bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Mitzrayim.

²⁶ And Yehudah said unto his achim, What betza (profit, gain) is it if we kill achinu (our brother), and conceal his dahm?

²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Yishm’elim, and let not yadeinu (our hands) be upon him; for he is achinu (our brother) and besareinu (our flesh). And his achim agreed.

²⁸ Then there passed by anashim Midyanim socharim (men of Midyan, traders); and they drew and lifted up Yosef out of the bor, and sold Yosef to the Yishm’elim for esrim kesef; and they took Yosef to Mitzrayim.

²⁹ And Reuven returned unto the bor; and, hinei, Yosef was not in the bor; and he made the keriah of his clothes [compare Mk 14:63 OJBC].

³⁰ And he returned unto his achim, and said, The yeled is not; and I, where shall I turn?

³¹ And they took the kesones Yosef, and did shachat the se’ir izzim (slaughtered the kid of the goats), and dipped the kesones in the dahm;

³² And they sent the kesones hapassim, and they brought it to Avihem; and said, This have we found; examine for identification purposes now whether it be the kesones Binecha or no.

³³ And he recognized it, and said, It is the kesones beni; a chayyah ra’ah hath devoured him; Yosef is without doubt torn in pieces.

³⁴ And Ya’akov made the keriah of his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for beno yamim rabbim.

³⁵ And all his banim and all his banot rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to beni mourning to Sheol. Thus Aviv wept for him.

³⁶ And the Midyanim sold him into Mitzrayim unto Potiphar, a seris Pharaoh (courtier of Pharaoh), a sar hatabbachim (a captain of the slaughterers, executioners, i.e., captain of the guard).

38 And it came to pass at that time, that Yehudah went down from his achim, and turned in to an ish Adulami shmo Chirah.

² And Yehudah saw there a bat ish Kena’ani shmo Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her.

³ She conceived, and bore ben; and he called shmo Er.

⁴ And she conceived again, and bore ben; and she called shmo Onan.

⁵ And she yet again conceived, and bore ben; and called shmo Shelah; at Keziv, when she bore him.

⁶ And Yehudah took a wife for Er his bechor, whose shem was Tamar.

⁷ And Er, bechor Yehudah, was rah in the eyes of Hashem; and Hashem slaughtered him.

⁸ And Yehudah said unto Onan, Go in unto eshet achicha, and enter into levirate marriage with her, and raise up zera to achicha.

⁹ And Onan knew that the zera should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto eshet achiv, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give zera to achiv.

¹⁰ And the thing which he did was rah in the eyes of Hashem; therefore He slaughtered him also.

¹¹ Then said Yehudah to Tamar his kallah, Remain an almanah at thy bais avi, till Shelah beni is grown; for he said, Lest he die also, as his achim did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her bais avi.

¹² And in process of time the bat Shua, eshet Yehudah, died; and Yehudah was consoled, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his re’a Chirah the Adulami.

¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, Hinei, thy kham (father-in-law) goeth up to Timnah to shear his tzon.

¹⁴ And she put off her widow’s garments from her, and covered her with a tze’if (veil), and disguised herself, and sat at the crossroads which is on the derech to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him as isha.

¹⁵ When Yehudah saw her, he thought her to be a zonah; because she had covered her face.

¹⁶ And he turned unto her by the derech, and said, Come now, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his kallah [daughter-in-law]). And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

¹⁷ And he said, I will send thee a gedi izzim (kid of the goats). And she said, Wilt thou give me an ervon (pledge), till thou send it?

¹⁸ And he said, What ervon shall I give thee? And she said, Thy chotam (signet), and thy [signet neck] cord, and thy staff that is in thine yad. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹ And she arose, and went away, and took off her tze’if from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ And Yehudah sent the gedi izzim by the yad of his friend the Adulami, to get back his ervon from the yad haisha; but he found her not.

²¹ Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the kedesha (cult prostitute) that was on the crossroads by the derech? And they said, There was no kedesha in this place.

²² And he returned to Yehudah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said that there was no kedesha in this place.

²³ And Yehudah said, Let her take for herself, lest we become buz (laughingstock); hinei, I sent this gedi, and thou hast not found her.

²⁴ And it came to pass about shlosh chadashim (three months) later, that it was told Yehudah saying, Tamar thy kallah hath played the zonah; and also, hinei, she is with child by zenunim (whoredom). And Yehudah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burned.

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her kham (father-in-law), saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child; and she said, Discern, now, whose are these, the chotam (signet), and the [signet neck] cord, and the staff.

²⁶ And Yehudah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more tzadekah than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah beni. And he knew her again no more.

²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, hinei te’omim (twin boys) were in her beten.

²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed in labor, that the one put out his yad; and the midwife took and bound upon his yad a scarlet thread, saying, This came out rishonah (first).

²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his yad, that, hinei, his brother came out; and she said, How hast paratzta (thou broken out)? This paretz (breach, breaking) be upon thee; therefore shmo was called Peretz [Breaking out].

³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his yad; and shmo was called Zerach.

39 And Yosef was brought down to Mitzrayim; and Potiphar, a saris Pharaoh, Sar Hatabachim (captain of the bodyguard), a Mitzri, bought him of the hands of the Yishme’elim, which had brought him down to there.

² And Hashem was with Yosef, and he was an ish matzliach (a man [G-d] makes prosper); and he was in the bais adonav haMitzri.

³ And adonav saw that Hashem was with him, and that Hashem caused all that he did matzliach in his yad.

⁴ And Yosef found chen in his eyes, and he ministered to him; and he made him mefake’ach (overseer) over his bais, and all that he had he entrusted into his yad.

⁵ And it came to pass from the time that he had made him mefake’ach (overseer) in his bais, and over all that he had, that Hashem put a brocha on the bais haMitzri on account of Yosef; and the birkat Hashem was upon all that he had in the bais, and in the sadeh.

⁶ And he left all that he had in the yad Yosef; and he knew not ought he had, save the lechem which he did eat. And Yosef was yafeh to’ar (well built) and yafeh mareh (good looking).

⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that eshet adonav cast her eyes upon Yosef; and she said, Lie with me.

⁸ But he refused, and said unto eshet adonav, Look, with me [here], adoni knows not what is in the bais, and he hath entrusted all that he hath to my yad;

⁹ There is none gadol in this bais than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me except thee only, because thou art his isha; how then can I do hara’ah hagedolah hazot, and commit chattat against Elohim?

¹⁰ And it came to pass, as she spoke to Yosef yom yom, that he unto her lo shama (did not pay heed), to lie with her, or to be with her.

¹¹ And it came to pass about this time, that Yosef went into the bais to do his melachah (work); and there was none of the anshei habayit there within.

¹² And she caught him by his beged, saying, Lie with me; and he left his beged in her yad, and fled, and ran outside.

¹³ And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his beged in her yad, and had fled outside,

¹⁴ That she called unto her anshei habayit, and spoke unto them, saying, Look, he hath brought in unto us an ish Ivri to show disrespect and mock us. He came in unto me to lie with me, and I screamed with a kol gadol (loud voice);

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and screamed, that he left his beged with me, and fled, and ran outside.

¹⁶ And she laid up his beged by her, until adonav came to his bais.

¹⁷ And she spoke unto him according to these words, saying, The eved HaIvri, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to show disrespect and mock me;

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and screamed, that he left his beged with me, and fled outside.

¹⁹ And it came to pass, when adonav heard the words of his isha, which she spoke unto him, saying, After this manner did thy eved to me; that his wrath was kindled.

²⁰ And adonei Yosef took him, and put him into the bais hasohar, a place where the asirei HaMelech were prisoners; and he was there in the bais hasohar.

²¹ But Hashem was with Yosef, and showed him chesed, and gave him chen in the eyes of the sar bais hasohar.

²² And the sar bais hasohar entrusted to the yad Yosef all the asirim (prisoners) that were in the bais hasohar; and whatsoever they did there, he was the accomplisher of it.

²³ The sar bais hasohar looked not to anything that was under his [Yosef’s] yad; because Hashem was with him, and that which he did, Hashem made it to prosper.