Genesis 12:8

12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel ¹  and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. ² 

Genesis 13:3

13:3 And he journeyed from place to place ³  from the Negev as far as Bethel. ⁴  He returned ⁵  to the place where he had pitched his tent ⁶  at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.

Genesis 18:2

18:2 Abraham ⁷  looked up ⁸  and saw ⁹  three men standing across ¹⁰  from him. When he saw them ¹¹  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹²  to the ground. ¹³ 

Genesis 18:10

18:10 One of them ¹⁴  said, “I will surely return ¹⁵  to you when the season comes round again, ¹⁶  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ¹⁷  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ¹⁸ 

Genesis 24:67

24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah ¹⁹  into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her ²⁰  as his wife and loved her. ²¹  So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. ²² 

Genesis 31:34

31:34 (Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle ²³  and sat on them.) ²⁴  Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. ²⁵ 

Genesis 33:19

33:19 Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it ²⁶  from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. ²⁷ 

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¹ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

² tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

³ tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.

⁴ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁵ tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “where his tent had been.”

⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

⁹ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

¹¹ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

¹² tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

¹³ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

¹⁵ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

sn I will surely return. If Abraham had not yet figured out who this was, this interchange would have made it clear. Otherwise, how would a return visit from this man mean Sarah would have a son?

¹⁶ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

¹⁷ tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

¹⁸ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

¹⁹ tn Heb “her”; the referent has been specified here in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn Heb “Rebekah”; here the proper name was replaced by the pronoun (“her”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²¹ tn Heb “and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her.”

²² tn Heb “after his mother.” This must refer to Sarah’s death.

²³ tn The “camel’s saddle” was probably some sort of basket-saddle, a cushioned saddle with a basket bound on. Cf. NAB “inside a camel cushion.”

²⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides another parenthetical statement necessary to the storyline.

²⁵ tn The word “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

²⁶ tn The words “he bought it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 19 is one long sentence.

²⁷ tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown. (However, cf. REB, which renders the term as “sheep”).