1:24 God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” 1 It was so.
12:1 Now the Lord said 2 to Abram, 3
“Go out 4 from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you. 5
12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt 6 to stay for a while 7 because the famine was severe. 8
15:7 The Lord said 13 to him, “I am the Lord 14 who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans 15 to give you this land to possess.”
21:32 So they made a treaty 19 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 20 to the land of the Philistines. 21
23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, 28 because the Lord blessed him. 29
31:3 The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers 30 and to your relatives. I will be with you.” 31
33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near 32 the city.
Jacob had twelve sons:
36:35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.
41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look 43 for a wise and discerning man 44 and give him authority 45 over all the land of Egypt.
41:56 While the famine was over all the earth, 49 Joseph opened the storehouses 50 and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt.
42:29 They returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all the things that had happened to them, saying,
46:12 The sons of Judah:
Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah
(but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).
The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
46:20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, 58 bore them to him.
48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you 59 and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
49:15 When he sees 60 a good resting place,
and the pleasant land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and become a slave laborer. 61
1 tn There are three groups of land animals here: the cattle or livestock (mostly domesticated), things that creep or move close to the ground (such as reptiles or rodents), and the wild animals (all animals of the field). The three terms are general classifications without specific details.
2 sn The
3 tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.
sn It would be hard to overestimate the value of this call and this divine plan for the theology of the Bible. Here begins God’s plan to bring redemption to the world. The promises to Abram will be turned into a covenant in Gen 15 and 22 (here it is a call with conditional promises) and will then lead through the Bible to the work of the Messiah.
4 tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”
5 sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the
6 sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.
7 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.
8 tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn The Hebrew term רִיב (riv) means “strife, conflict, quarreling.” In later texts it has the meaning of “legal controversy, dispute.” See B. Gemser, “The rîb – or Controversy – Pattern in Hebrew Mentality,” Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 120-37.
10 sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.
11 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced with the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), again provides critical information. It tells in part why the land cannot sustain these two bedouins, and it also hints of the danger of weakening the family by inner strife.
12 tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
13 tn Heb “And he said.”
14 sn I am the
15 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium
16 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
17 tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).
sn To your descendants I give this land. The
18 sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.
19 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
20 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
21 sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.
22 tn Heb “Sarah.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“she”) for stylistic reasons.
23 sn Mourn…weep. The description here is of standard mourning rites (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD3 149-50). They would have been carried out in the presence of the corpse, probably in Sarah’s tent. So Abraham came in to mourn; then he rose up to go and bury his dead (v. 3).
24 tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
25 sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).
26 sn Do not go down to Egypt. The words echo Gen 12:10, which reports that “Abram went down to Egypt,” but state the opposite.
27 tn Heb “say to you.”
28 tn Heb “a hundredfold.”
29 tn This final clause explains why Isaac had such a bountiful harvest.
30 tn Or perhaps “ancestors” (so NRSV), although the only “ancestors” Jacob had there were his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac.
31 sn I will be with you. Though Laban was no longer “with him,” the
32 tn Heb “in front of.”
33 tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
34 tn Heb “before you.”
35 tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”
36 tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.
sn Reuben’s act of having sexual relations with Bilhah probably had other purposes than merely satisfying his sexual desire. By having sex with Bilhah, Reuben (Leah’s oldest son) would have prevented Bilhah from succeeding Rachel as the favorite wife, and by sleeping with his father’s concubine he would also be attempting to take over leadership of the clan – something Absalom foolishly attempted later on in Israel’s history (2 Sam 16:21-22).
37 tc The Samaritan Pentateuch omits the name “Korah” (see v. 11 and 1 Chr 1:36).
38 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
39 tn Or perhaps “territories”; Heb “dwelling places.”
40 tn The verb גָּנַב (ganav) means “to steal,” but in the Piel/Pual stem “to steal away.” The idea of “kidnap” would be closer to the sense, meaning he was stolen and carried off. The preceding infinitive absolute underscores the point Joseph is making.
41 tn Heb “known.”
42 tn Or “heavy.”
43 tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.
44 tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
45 tn Heb “and let him set him.”
46 tn Heb “apart from you.”
47 tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.
48 tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.
49 tn Or “over the entire land”; Heb “over all the face of the earth.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal to the next clause.
50 tc The MT reads “he opened all that was in [or “among”] them.” The translation follows the reading of the LXX and Syriac versions.
51 tn Heb “in the midst of the coming ones.”
52 sn You are spies. Joseph wanted to see how his brothers would react if they were accused of spying.
53 tn Heb “to see the nakedness of the land you have come.”
54 tn Heb “the famine [has been] in the midst of.”
55 tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive here expresses instruction.
56 tn Heb “and his heart was numb.” Jacob was stunned by the unbelievable news and was unable to respond.
57 tn Heb “and they took their livestock and their possessions which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
58 sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis.
59 tn The pronouns translated “you,” “you,” and “your” in this verse are plural in the Hebrew text.
60 tn The verb forms in this verse (“sees,” “will bend,” and “[will] become”) are preterite; they is used in a rhetorical manner, describing the future as if it had already transpired.
61 sn The oracle shows that the tribe of Issachar will be willing to trade liberty for the material things of life. Issachar would work (become a slave laborer) for the Canaanites, a reversal of the oracle on Canaan. See C. M. Carmichael, “Some Sayings in Genesis 49,” JBL 88 (1969): 435-44; and S. Gevirtz, “The Issachar Oracle in the Testament of Jacob,” ErIsr 12 (1975): 104-12.