17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 1 as he said to himself, 2 “Can 3 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 4 Can Sarah 5 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 6
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. 7 He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out 8 for the place God had spoken to him about.
37:2 This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, 19 was taking care of 20 the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster 21 working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. 22 Joseph brought back a bad report about them 23 to their father.
38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, 24 “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” 25 So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
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 33 of nations.”
1 sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.
2 tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”
3 tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.
4 tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”
5 sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).
6 tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”
7 tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”
8 tn Heb “he arose and he went.”
9 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.
10 tn Heb “because you must not take.”
11 tn Or “the land of my birth.”
12 tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”
13 tn Or “his messenger.”
14 tn Heb “before you and you will take.”
15 tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the
16 tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.
17 tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.
18 tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.
19 tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”
20 tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”
21 tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.
22 tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”
23 tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.
sn Some interpreters portray Joseph as a tattletale for bringing back a bad report about them [i.e., his brothers], but the entire Joseph story has some of the characteristics of wisdom literature. Joseph is presented in a good light – not because he was perfect, but because the narrative is showing how wisdom rules. In light of that, this section portrays Joseph as faithful to his father in little things, even though unpopular – and so he will eventually be given authority over greater things.
24 tn Heb “said.”
25 tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”
sn I don’t want him to die like his brothers. This clause explains that Judah had no intention of giving Shelah to Tamar for the purpose of the levirate marriage. Judah apparently knew the nature of his sons, and feared that God would be angry with the third son and kill him as well.
26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.
28 sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.
29 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.
30 tn Heb “days.”
31 sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.
32 tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”
33 tn Heb “fullness.”