13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 7 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 8
20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.
26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. 18
26:34 When 19 Esau was forty years old, 20 he married 21 Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
1 tn Heb “say.”
2 sn Tell them you are my sister. Abram’s motives may not be as selfish as they appear. He is aware of the danger to the family. His method of dealing with it is deception with a half truth, for Sarai really was his sister – but the Egyptians would not know that. Abram presumably thought that there would be negotiations for a marriage by anyone interested (as Laban does later for his sister Rebekah), giving him time to react. But the plan backfires because Pharaoh does not take the time to negotiate. There is a good deal of literature on the wife-sister issue. See (among others) E. A. Speiser, “The Wife-Sister Motif in the Patriarchal Narratives,” Oriental and Biblical Studies, 62-81; C. J. Mullo-Weir, “The Alleged Hurrian Wife-Sister Motif in Genesis,” GOT 22 (1967-1970): 14-25.
3 tn The Hebrew verb translated “go well” can encompass a whole range of favorable treatment, but the following clause indicates it means here that Abram’s life will be spared.
4 tn Heb “and my life will live.”
5 sn He did treat Abram well. The construction of the parenthetical disjunctive clause, beginning with the conjunction on the prepositional phrase, draws attention to the irony of the story. Abram wanted Sarai to lie “so that it would go well” with him. Though he lost Sarai to Pharaoh, it did go well for him – he received a lavish bride price. See also G. W. Coats, “Despoiling the Egyptians,” VT 18 (1968): 450-57.
6 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
7 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
8 tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”
9 tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
10 tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
11 tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “well of water.”
13 tn Heb “at the time of evening.”
14 tn Heb “and she hurried and emptied.”
15 tn Heb “and I will turn to the right or to the left.” The expression apparently means that Abraham’s servant will know where he should go if there is no further business here.
16 tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the
17 tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”
18 tn Heb “and they said to him, ‘We have found water.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
19 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making this clause subordinate to the next.
20 tn Heb “the son of forty years.”
21 tn Heb “took as a wife.”
22 tn The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.
23 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Heb “went in also to Rachel.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
25 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”
27 tn Heb “but you have remembered me with you.” The perfect verbal form may be used rhetorically here to emphasize Joseph’s desire to be remembered. He speaks of the action as already being accomplished in order to make it clear that he expects it to be done. The form can be translated as volitional, expressing a plea or a request.
28 tn This perfect verbal form with the prefixed conjunction (and the two that immediately follow) carry the same force as the preceding perfect.
29 tn Heb “deal with me [in] kindness.”
30 tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) in the Hiphil stem means “to cause to remember, to make mention, to boast.” The implication is that Joseph would be pleased for them to tell his story and give him the credit due him so that Pharaoh would release him. Since Pharaoh had never met Joseph, the simple translation of “cause him to remember me” would mean little.
31 tn Heb “house.” The word “prison” has been substituted in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Heb “concerning peace.”