3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about 3 in the orchard at the breezy time 4 of the day, and they hid 5 from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard.
14:8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met 8
19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, 28 and the older daughter 29 came and had sexual relations with her father. 30 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 31
22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 35 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 36 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” 39
35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession 62 and the rings that were in their ears. 63 Jacob buried them 64 under the oak 65 near Shechem
44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.
48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. 91 Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.
48:16 the Angel 92 who has protected me 93
from all harm –
bless these boys.
May my name be named in them, 94
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.
May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”
50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay 95 us in full 96 for all the harm 97 we did to him?”
1 tn The text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh), often archaically translated “behold.” It is often used to express the dramatic present, the immediacy of an event – “Look, this is what I am doing!”
2 sn G. J. Wenham (Genesis [WBC], 1:34) points out that there is nothing in the passage that prohibits the man and the woman from eating meat. He suggests that eating meat came after the fall. Gen 9:3 may then ratify the postfall practice of eating meat rather than inaugurate the practice, as is often understood.
3 tn The Hitpael participle of הָלָךְ (halakh, “to walk, to go”) here has an iterative sense, “moving” or “going about.” While a translation of “walking about” is possible, it assumes a theophany, the presence of the
4 tn The expression is traditionally rendered “cool of the day,” because the Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruakh) can mean “wind.” U. Cassuto (Genesis: From Adam to Noah, 152-54) concludes after lengthy discussion that the expression refers to afternoon when it became hot and the sun was beginning to decline. J. J. Niehaus (God at Sinai [SOTBT], 155-57) offers a different interpretation of the phrase, relating יוֹם (yom, usually understood as “day”) to an Akkadian cognate umu (“storm”) and translates the phrase “in the wind of the storm.” If Niehaus is correct, then God is not pictured as taking an afternoon stroll through the orchard, but as coming in a powerful windstorm to confront the man and woman with their rebellion. In this case קוֹל יְהוָה (qol yÿhvah, “sound of the
5 tn The verb used here is the Hitpael, giving the reflexive idea (“they hid themselves”). In v. 10, when Adam answers the
6 tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”
8 tn Heb “against.”
9 tn Heb “Now the Valley of Siddim [was] pits, pits of tar.” This parenthetical disjunctive clause emphasizes the abundance of tar pits in the area through repetition of the noun “pits.”
sn The word for “tar” (or “bitumen”) occurs earlier in the story of the building of the tower in Babylon (see Gen 11:3).
10 tn Or “they were defeated there.” After a verb of motion the Hebrew particle שָׁם (sham) with the directional heh (שָׁמָּה, shammah) can mean “into it, therein” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָׁם).
11 tn Heb “the rest.”
12 sn The reference to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah must mean the kings along with their armies. Most of them were defeated in the valley, but some of them escaped to the hills.
13 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.
14 tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.
15 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”
16 tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.
17 tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.
18 tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
19 tn Or “an eternal.”
20 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
22 tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.
23 tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”
24 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “in the compassion of the
27 tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).
28 tn Heb “drink wine.”
29 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
30 tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.
31 tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”
32 tn Heb “drink wine.”
33 tn Heb “lied down with him.”
34 tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”
35 sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?
36 sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.
37 tn Heb “my oath” (twice in this verse). From the Hebrew perspective the oath belonged to the person to whom it was sworn (Abraham), although in contemporary English an oath is typically viewed as belonging to the person who swears it (the servant).
38 tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”
39 tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”
40 tn The Hebrew verb translated “quarreled” describes a conflict that often has legal ramifications.
41 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42 tn Heb “and he called the name of the well.”
43 sn The name Esek means “argument” in Hebrew. The following causal clause explains that Isaac gave the well this name as a reminder of the conflict its discovery had created. In the Hebrew text there is a wordplay, for the name is derived from the verb translated “argued.”
44 tn The words “about it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
45 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46 tn Heb “and he called its name.”
47 sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.
48 tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.
49 tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
50 tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.
51 tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).
52 tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”
53 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the shepherds) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
54 sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).
55 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
56 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
57 tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).
58 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
59 tn The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
60 tn Heb “a man his sword.”
61 tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.
62 tn Heb “in their hand.”
63 sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).
64 sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.
65 tn Or “terebinth.”
66 tn Heb “Ruling, will you rule over us, or reigning, will you reign over us?” The statement has a poetic style, with the two questions being in synonymous parallelism. Both verbs in this statement are preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Joseph’s brothers said, “You don’t really think you will rule over us, do you? You don’t really think you will have dominion over us, do you?”
67 tn This construction is identical to the one in Gen 37:5.
68 sn The response of Joseph’s brothers is understandable, given what has already been going on in the family. But here there is a hint of uneasiness – they hated him because of his dream and because of his words. The dream bothered them, as well as his telling them. And their words in the rhetorical question are ironic, for this is exactly what would happen. The dream was God’s way of revealing it.
69 tn Heb “they traveled from this place.”
70 tn Heb “the men of her place,” that is, who lived at the place where she had been.
71 sn The Hebrew noun translated “cult prostitute” is derived from a verb meaning “to be set apart; to be distinct.” Thus the term refers to a woman who did not marry, but was dedicated to temple service as a cult prostitute. The masculine form of this noun is used for male cult prostitutes. Judah thought he had gone to an ordinary prostitute (v. 15); but Hirah went looking for a cult prostitute, perhaps because it had been a sheep-shearing festival. For further discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, “Cultic Prostitution,” Orient and Occident (AOAT), 213-23.
72 tn Heb “she was being brought out and she sent.” The juxtaposition of two clauses, both of which place the subject before the predicate, indicates synchronic action.
73 tn Heb “who these to him.”
74 tn Or “ recognize; note.” This same Hebrew verb (נָכַר, nakhar) is used at the beginning of v. 26, where it is translated “recognized.”
75 tn Heb “And look.”
76 tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
77 tn Heb “are.” Another option is to translate, “There will be seven years of famine.”
78 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
79 tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”
80 tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).
81 tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”
82 tn Heb “today.”
83 tn Heb “and the one is not.”
84 tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”
85 tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.
86 tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
87 tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”
88 tn Heb “and they spoke to him all the words of Joseph which he had spoke to them.”
89 tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.
90 tn Heb “house.”
91 sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.
92 sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.
93 tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).
94 tn Or “be recalled through them.”
95 tn The imperfect tense could be a simple future; it could also have a desiderative nuance.
96 tn The infinitive absolute makes the statement emphatic, “repay in full.”
97 tn Or “evil.”
98 tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”
99 tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.