Kejadian 44:15

44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ¹  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ² 

Kejadian 47:26

47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, ³  which is in effect ⁴  to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

[44:15]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[47:26]  ³ tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.

[47:26]  ⁴ tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.