1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms 1 of living creatures and let birds fly 2 above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”
7:17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth.
27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,
“Indeed, 3 your home will be
away from the richness 4 of the earth,
and away from the dew of the sky above.
1 tn The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.
2 tn The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.
3 tn Heb “look.”
4 tn Heb “from the fatness.”
5 tn The pronouns translated “your” and “you” in this verse are singular in the Hebrew text.
6 tn The Hebrew word שְׁכֶם (shÿkhem) could be translated either as “mountain slope” or “shoulder, portion,” or even taken as the proper name “Shechem.” Jacob was giving Joseph either (1) one portion above his brothers, or (2) the mountain ridge he took from the Amorites, or (3) Shechem. The ambiguity actually allows for all three to be the referent. He could be referring to the land in Shechem he bought in Gen 33:18-19, but he mentions here that it was acquired by warfare, suggesting that the events of 34:25-29 are in view (even though at the time he denounced it, 34:30). Joseph was later buried in Shechem (Josh 24:32).