요셉 이야기(창 37:18-36) 다시 보기 ― 창세기 37:28의 번역을 중심으로

Abstract

The translation of Genesis 37:28 is not only a matter of certain words and expressions, but also a matter of context. The current problem in the translation of 37:28 is the fact that the Korean Revised Version translated the subject ‘they’ to refer to ‘the Midianite traders.’ However, the New Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Standard Version identify the subject as ‘brothers’ in the same text and did not think the Midianites were the subject of the sentence. If we regards ‘they’ as the subject of v. 28, the stream of the story that the Midianites sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites and the Ishmaelites brought him to Egypt and sold him to Poti-phar there, would be coherent. However, if we make ‘the brothers’ as the subject of v. 28b, it is hard to explain why the brothers did not say anything about it when Reuben found out that the pit was empty and rent his clothes. Furthermore, in MT the word ‘the brothers’ is not used and it supports the position that the subject should be ‘they’ instead of ‘the brothers.’ Although we do not know the exact reason for the content that the Midianite traders sold Joseph to Poti-phar in 37:36, the possibility would be that the Midianites and the Ishmaelites were probably interchangeable at the time. In conclusion, we do not have to assume that there were two different sources in Genesis 37. It is correct to translate the text saying that the Midianite traders rescued Joseph from the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels. Therefore, all Korean translations should make ‘they’ the subject of v. 28b just like the Korean Revised Version. In the exegesis of the confusion aroundverse 37:36 is the result of the fact that two names for one people were used interchangeably. Later the texts say that Joseph talked about his brothers in Genesis 40 and 45 and they also support the translation of v. 28 as we suggest in this paper.