Genesis 45:21

Summary

Genesis 45:21 narrates the compliance of Jacob's sons with instructions received, followed by Joseph's provision of carts and travel supplies according to Pharaoh's directive. The verse consists of three consecutive narrative actions: the sons of Israel "did so," Joseph gave them carts, and Joseph gave them provisions for the journey.

Key words

• va-ya'asu ("and they did", H6213A) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine plural, opening the verse with a sequential action following prior instructions.
• khen ("thus", H3651C) — adverb referring back to something previously stated, indicating conformity to an earlier command.
• va-yiten ("and he gave", H5414G) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine singular, repeated twice in the verse (lines 7 and 16) with Joseph as subject each time.
• 'agalot ("carts", H5699) — feminine plural noun, the direct object of the first giving.
• tzedah ("provision", H6720) — feminine singular noun, the direct object of the second giving, paired with la-Darekh ("for the journey", H1870L).

What the text says

The Hebrew verse is built on three sequential narrative verbs joined by the narrative vav (H9001): va-ya'asu ("and they did"), va-yiten ("and he gave," first occurrence), and va-yiten ("and he gave," second occurrence). This chain structure presents the actions as a tight sequence of cause and effect — compliance followed by two distinct acts of giving.

The phrase 'al pi Par'oh ("on the mouth of Pharaoh", H6310I + H6547H) uses the construct noun pi ("mouth of") idiomatically to indicate the source or standard of the command — literally "according to the mouth of Pharaoh," meaning according to what Pharaoh had spoken. This construction ties the giving of carts specifically to Pharaoh's own utterance, distinct from Joseph's own initiative in giving tzedah ("provision", H6720), which is not marked with any external authority.

The repetition of the identical verb va-yiten ("and he gave") for two different objects ('agalot, "carts", and tzedah, "provision") in immediate succession creates a rhythmic parallelism in the Hebrew that groups the carts under Pharaoh's authorization while the provisions appear as Joseph's direct action for the journey (la-Darekh, H1870L).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'al pi Par'oh ("on the mouth of Pharaoh") as κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπὸ Φαραὼ τοῦ βασιλέως ("according to what was said by Pharaoh the king"), making explicit the idiom of "mouth" as speech, and adding the title "king" not present in the Hebrew. The Vulgate similarly interprets pi as imperium ("command/authority"), shifting from the bodily idiom "mouth" to an abstract noun for royal authority. The Hebrew khen ("thus") in verse 21 does not specify content, while both the Vulgate ("ut eis mandatum fuerat," "as had been commanded to them") and the BSB ("as they were told") supply the implied referent explicitly.