Genesis 45:20

Summary

Joseph tells his brothers not to be concerned about leaving their household belongings behind in Canaan, because the best produce and goods of all the land of Egypt will belong to them. The verse uses an idiom involving the "eye" to express indifference or lack of regret.

Key words

• 'Einkhem ("your eye", H5869A) — feminine singular construct with pronominal suffix; the "eye" functions here as the seat of concern or regret, subject of the following verb.
• Tachos ("it look with regret", H2347) — Qal jussive, third person feminine (agreeing with "eye" as subject); expresses a negated wish/command — "let it not have regret."
• Kelei ("things/vessels", H3627) — masculine plural construct; refers to household goods or implements, the object of the eye's potential regret.
• Tuv ("the good thing(s) of", H2898) — masculine singular construct; a collective noun denoting "the best" or "goodness" of a place, here governing the following construct chain.
• Hu' ("it", H1931) — independent personal pronoun, placed at the end of the clause for emphasis, reinforcing the predicate "yours."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence divides into two clauses joined by ki ("for", H3588A), which introduces the reason for the preceding instruction. The first clause, ve'eynkhem al-tachos al-keleikhem, literally reads "and your eye, let it not have-regret upon your vessels." The verb tachos (H2347) is a Qal jussive in the third person feminine, matching its grammatical subject 'ein ("eye"), a feminine noun. This produces the idiom "let your eye not pity/regret," meaning that the brothers should not feel attached to or worried about the goods they leave behind. The preposition 'al (H5921A) marks the object of this "sparing," namely the kelei ("vessels/goods", H3627).

The second clause states the reason: tuv kol-'eretz Mitzrayim lakhem hu' — "the good of all the land of Egypt, to you it [belongs]." Here tuv (H2898) is a construct noun heading a chain of three linked genitives (tuv... kol... 'eretz... Mitzrayim), producing the phrase "the goodness of all the land of Egypt." The clause ends with the independent pronoun hu' (H1931), which in Hebrew syntax often adds emphasis to the predicate — reinforcing that this good "is indeed" theirs, rather than merely implying possession through the preposition lakhem ("to you", H9036) alone.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew idiom "let your eye not have regret" is preserved more literally in the LXX (μὴ φείσησθε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν, "do not spare with your eyes"), though the LXX shifts the grammatical subject from "eye" to "you" (second person plural verb), with "eyes" appearing as an instrumental dative rather than the grammatical subject. The Vulgate departs further from the idiom, rendering Nec dimittatis quidquam de supellectili vestra ("do not leave behind anything of your household goods"), which conveys the practical sense of the instruction without reproducing the "eye" imagery found in the Hebrew and LXX. Additionally, the Hebrew singular construct tuv ("the good/best of") appears in the LXX as the plural πάντα ἀγαθά ("all good things"), a shift from a collective singular to an explicit plural.