Genesis 1:9

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.

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ³  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ⁴ 

Genesis 24:9

24:9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes. ⁵ 

Genesis 35:8

35:8 (Deborah, ⁶  Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named ⁷  Oak of Weeping.) ⁸ 

Genesis 48:6

48:6 Any children that you father ⁹  after them will be yours; they will be listed ¹⁰  under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. ¹¹ 

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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 Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”

⁶ sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.

⁷ tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.

⁸ tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.

⁹ tn Or “you fathered.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “called” or “named.”

¹¹ sn Listed under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. This means that any subsequent children of Joseph will be incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.