Kejadian 44:5

44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup ¹  and use it for divination? ²  You have done wrong!’” ³ 

Kejadian 44:15

44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ⁴  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ⁵ 

Imamat 19:26

Blood, Hair, and Body

19:26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. ⁶  You must not practice either divination or soothsaying. ⁷ 

Bilangan 22:7

22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported ⁸  to him the words of Balak.

[44:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Is this not what my master drinks from.” The word “cup” is not in the Hebrew text, but is obviously the referent of “this,” and so has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[44:5]  ² tn Heb “and he, divining, divines with it.” The infinitive absolute is emphatic, stressing the importance of the cup to Joseph.

[44:5]  ³ tn Heb “you have caused to be evil what you have done.”

[44:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”

[44:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.

[19:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “You shall not eat on the blood.” See the extensive remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 319-20, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132-33. The LXX has “on the mountains,” suggesting that this is a prohibition against illegitimate places and occasions of worship, not the eating of blood.

[19:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “You shall not practice divination and you shall not practice soothsaying”; cf. NRSV “practice augury or witchcraft.” For suggestions regarding the practices involved see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 133, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 320.

[22:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “spoke.”