Genesis 15:2

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ¹  what will you give me since ²  I continue to be ³  childless, and my heir ⁴  is ⁵  Eliezer of Damascus?” ⁶ 

Genesis 18:27

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁷  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁸ 

Genesis 18:30-31

18:30 Then Abraham ⁹  said, “May the Lord not be angry ¹⁰  so that I may speak! ¹¹  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ¹²  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.”

Genesis 20:4

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ¹³  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ¹⁴ 

Genesis 23:15

23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth ¹⁵  400 pieces of silver, ¹⁶  but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

Genesis 32:5

32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent ¹⁷  this message ¹⁸  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Genesis 33:8

33:8 Esau ¹⁹  then asked, “What did you intend ²⁰  by sending all these herds to meet me?” ²¹  Jacob ²²  replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.”

Genesis 44:7

44:7 They answered him, “Why does my lord say such things? ²³  Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ²⁴ 

Genesis 44:22

44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ²⁵  will die.’ ²⁶ 

Genesis 47:25

47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ²⁷  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ²⁸ 

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¹ tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master, Lord”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “master”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Master, God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Master” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Master, Lord,” which is rendered here “sovereign Lord.”

² tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

³ tn Heb “I am going.”

⁴ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

sn For the custom of designating a member of the household as heir, see C. H. Gordon, “Biblical Customs and the Nuzu Tablets,” Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 2:21-33.

⁵ tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

⁶ sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.

⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

⁸ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

¹¹ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

¹⁴ tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.

¹⁵ tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁶ sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).

¹⁷ tn Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.

¹⁸ tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn Heb “Who to you?”

²¹ tn Heb “all this camp which I met.”

²² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²³ tn Heb “Why does my lord speak according to these words?”

²⁴ tn Heb “according to this thing.”

²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁶ tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.

²⁷ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

²⁸ sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.