Save "Genesis 50:21 - On who will be sustained"

וְעַתָּה֙ אַל־תִּירָ֔אוּ אָנֹכִ֛י אֲכַלְכֵּ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֖ם וְאֶֽת־טַפְּכֶ֑ם וַיְנַחֵ֣ם אוֹתָ֔ם וַיְדַבֵּ֖ר עַל־לִבָּֽם׃

“…And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your dependents.” Thus he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term in question, taf.)


Heb. טַף. As background, there was a basic social dichotomy in the ancient Near East. It consisted of the responsible parties (typically the heads of household, who made decisions about resource allocation and the like) versus their dependents. This division was roughly equivalent to today’s dichotomy of entrepreneurs versus employees in small companies.

Typically, the dependents of a (male) householder included women, children, and dependent men. As Carol Meyers points out, “women are usually part of [the denotative scope of this] collective term ... and thus are often invisible in translations that render the term ... ‘children’” (Women in Scripture, p. 223, citing the entry on טַף in the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament). So too already the BDB dictionary in 1906 (addenda, p. 1124); and the more recent HALOT dictionary, p. 378.

In each instance of this noun, the scope of the denoted dependency is set by the context. In some usages, women are in view, while in other cases they are not. Here, women, children, and dependent men are all in view. Surely Joseph intends to reassure his audience (his brothers) that he will look out for their entire households/offspring, not only the young ones.


As for translation, the NJPS rendering childrenis unduly restricted in scope. The rendering should allow for all of the parties who are in view in the Hebrew, particularly women. In contrast, the revised rendering is properly inclusive.

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible on our site. Click OK to continue using Sefaria. Learn More.OKאנחנו משתמשים ב"עוגיות" כדי לתת למשתמשים את חוויית השימוש הטובה ביותר.קראו עוד בנושאלחצו כאן לאישור