Genesis 16:5

16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! ¹  I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, ²  but when she realized ³  that she was pregnant, she despised me. ⁴  May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁵ 

Genesis 37:10

37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? ⁶  Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” ⁷ 

Genesis 38:18

38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. ⁸  She became pregnant by him.

Genesis 48:19

48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude ⁹  of nations.”

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¹ tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”

² tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”

³ tn Heb “saw.”

⁴ tn Heb “I was despised in her eyes.” The passive verb has been translated as active for stylistic reasons. Sarai was made to feel supplanted and worthless by Hagar the servant girl.

⁵ tn Heb “me and you.”

sn May the Lord judge between you and me. Sarai blamed Abram for Hagar’s attitude, not the pregnancy. Here she expects to be vindicated by the Lord who will prove Abram responsible. A colloquial rendering might be, “God will get you for this.” It may mean that she thought Abram had encouraged the servant girl in her elevated status.

⁶ sn The question What is this dream that you had? expresses Jacob’s dismay at what he perceives to be Joseph’s audacity.

⁷ tn Heb “Coming, will we come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you to the ground?” The verb “come” is preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Jacob said, “You don’t really think we will come…to bow down…do you?”

⁸ tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

⁹ tn Heb “fullness.”