Genesis 1:8

1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” ¹  There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 3:9

3:9 But the Lord God called to ²  the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ³ 

Genesis 22:15

22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven

Genesis 28:19

28:19 He called that place Bethel, ⁴  although the former name of the town was Luz.

Genesis 33:20

33:20 There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.” ⁵ 

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¹ tn Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”

² tn The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call”) followed by the preposition אֶל־ or לְ (’el- or lÿ, “to, unto”) often carries the connotation of “summon.”

³ sn Where are you? The question is probably rhetorical (a figure of speech called erotesis) rather than literal, because it was spoken to the man, who answers it with an explanation of why he was hiding rather than a location. The question has more the force of “Why are you hiding?”

⁴ tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).

map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁵ tn Heb “God, the God of Israel.” Rather than translating the name, a number of modern translations merely transliterate it from the Hebrew as “El Elohe Israel” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB). It is not entirely clear how the name should be interpreted grammatically. One option is to supply an equative verb, as in the translation: “The God of Israel [is] God.” Another interpretive option is “the God of Israel [is] strong [or “mighty”].” Buying the land and settling down for a while was a momentous step for the patriarch, so the commemorative naming of the altar is significant.