1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place 1 and let dry ground appear.” 2 It was so.
16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 11 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 12
20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, 16 ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of 17 my wife.’
39:11 One day 33 he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants 34 were there in the house.
41:5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing 37 on one stalk, healthy 38 and good.
42:27 When one of them 52 opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, 53 he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 54
44:10 He replied, “You have suggested your own punishment! 57 The one who has it will become my slave, 58 but the rest of 59 you will go free.” 60
1 sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.
2 tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.
3 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
4 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
5 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).
6 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
7 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
8 tn Heb “And Abram said.”
9 tn The construction uses הֵן (hen) to introduce the foundational clause (“since…”), and וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) to introduce the main clause (“then look…”).
10 tn Heb “is inheriting me.”
11 tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).
12 tn Heb “after one who sees me.”
sn For a discussion of Hagar’s exclamation, see T. Booij, “Hagar’s Words in Genesis 16:13b,” VT 30 (1980): 1-7.
13 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”
14 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.
15 tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings upon”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.
16 tn Heb “Because I said.”
17 tn Heb “over the matter of.”
18 tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.
sn Because you have obeyed me. Abraham’s obedience brought God’s ratification of the earlier conditional promise (see Gen 12:2).
19 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
20 tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).
21 sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.
22 tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
23 tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”
24 tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.
sn Bridal week. An ancient Hebrew marriage ceremony included an entire week of festivities (cf. Judg 14:12).
25 tn Heb “this other one.”
26 tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”
sn In exchange for seven more years of work. See C. H. Gordon, “The Story of Jacob and Laban in the Light of the Nuzi Tablets,” BASOR 66 (1937): 25-27; and J. Van Seters, “Jacob’s Marriages and Ancient Near Eastern Customs: A Reassessment,” HTR 62 (1969): 377-95.
27 tn Heb “and Mizpah.”
28 sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the
29 tn Heb “between me and you.”
30 tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”
31 tn Heb “see.”
32 tn Heb “between me and you.”
33 tn Heb “and it was about this day.”
34 tn Heb “the men of the house.”
35 tn Heb “a dream we dreamed.”
36 tn The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
37 tn Heb “coming up.”
38 tn Heb “fat.”
39 tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”
40 tn Heb “there is no one interpreting.”
41 tn Heb “saying.”
42 tn Heb “you hear a dream to interpret it,” which may mean, “you only have to hear a dream to be able to interpret it.”
43 tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.
44 tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”
45 tn Heb “as discerning and wise.” The order has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
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 Heb “bound in the house of your prison.”
50 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal.
51 tn Heb “[for] the hunger of your households.”
52 tn Heb “and the one.” The article indicates that the individual is vivid in the mind of the narrator, yet it is not important to identify him by name.
53 tn Heb “at the lodging place.”
54 tn Heb “and look, it [was] in the mouth of his sack.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to look through the eyes of the character and thereby draws attention to the money.
55 tn Heb “concerning peace.”
56 tn Heb “The one with whom it is found from your servants.” Here “your servants” (a deferential way of referring to the brothers themselves) has been translated by the pronoun “us” to avoid confusion with Joseph’s servants.
57 tn Heb “Also now, according to your words, so it is.” As the next statement indicates, this does mean that he will do exactly as they say. He does agree with them the culprit should be punished, but not as harshly as they suggest. Furthermore, the innocent parties will not be punished.
58 tn Heb “The one with whom it is found will become my slave.”
59 tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
60 tn The Hebrew word נָקִי (naqi) means “acquitted,” that is, free of guilt and the responsibility for it.
sn The rest of you will be free. Joseph’s purpose was to single out Benjamin to see if the brothers would abandon him as they had abandoned Joseph. He wanted to see if they had changed.
61 tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”
62 sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.
63 tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).
64 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.
65 tn Heb “And, look, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth is the one speaking to you.”
66 tn Heb “to all of them he gave, to each one, changes of outer garments.”
67 tn Heb “changes of outer garments.”
68 tn The pronouns translated “your” and “you” in this verse are singular in the Hebrew text.
69 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).