Genesis 15:9

15:9 The Lord 1  said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Genesis 6:10

6:10 Noah had 2  three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 9:19

9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 3 

Genesis 42:17

42:17 He imprisoned 4  them all for three days.

1 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

2 tn Heb “fathered.”

3 tn Heb “was scattered.” The verb פָּצָה (patsah, “to scatter” [Niphal, “to be scattered”]) figures prominently in story of the dispersion of humankind in chap. 11.

4 sn The same Hebrew word is used for Joseph’s imprisonment in 40:3, 4, 7. There is some mirroring going on in the narrative. The Hebrew word used here (אָסַף, ’asaf, “to gather”) is not normally used in a context like this (for placing someone in prison), but it forms a wordplay on the name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yosoef) and keeps the comparison working.