18:31 Abraham 7 said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
18:32 Finally Abraham 8 said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me 12 to this land? Must I then 13 take your son back to the land from which you came?”
30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, 23 for I have learned by divination 24 that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.”
30:31 So Laban asked, 25 “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” 26 Jacob replied, 27 “but if you agree to this one condition, 28 I will continue to care for 29 your flocks and protect them:
42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain 31 for your hungry households and go.
42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may 32 put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care 33 and I will bring him back to you.”
50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay 41 us in full 42 for all the harm 43 we did to him?”
1 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
2 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
3 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
4 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
6 tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “give.”
10 tn Heb “silver.”
11 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.
12 tn Heb “to go after me.”
13 tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.
14 tn Heb “ to go after you.”
15 sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.
16 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).
17 tn Heb “if you are making successful my way on which I am going.”
18 tn The words “may events unfold as follows” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
19 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
20 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
21 sn Asked the
22 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
23 tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
24 tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the
25 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.
27 tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
28 tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”
29 tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”
30 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.
31 tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
32 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.
33 tn Heb “my hand.”
34 tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.
35 sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.
36 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
37 tn Heb “release to you.” After the jussive this perfect verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) probably indicates logical consequence, as well as temporal sequence.
38 sn Several Jewish commentators suggest that the expression your other brother refers to Joseph. This would mean that Jacob prophesied unwittingly. However, it is much more likely that Simeon is the referent of the phrase “your other brother” (see Gen 42:24).
39 tn Heb “if I am bereaved I am bereaved.” With this fatalistic sounding statement Jacob resolves himself to the possibility of losing both Benjamin and Simeon.
40 tn Or “for.”
41 tn The imperfect tense could be a simple future; it could also have a desiderative nuance.
42 tn The infinitive absolute makes the statement emphatic, “repay in full.”
43 tn Or “evil.”