22:13 Abraham looked up 11 and saw 12 behind him 13 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 14 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up 22 and saw 23 a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. 24
43:29 When Joseph looked up 25 and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 26
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
3 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.
4 tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.
5 tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
6 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).
7 sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the
8 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
9 tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
10 tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”
sn It is hard to imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind, but this brief section in the narrative enables the reader to think about the human response to the judgment. Abraham had family in that area. He had rescued those people from the invasion. That was why he interceded. Yet he surely knew how wicked they were. That was why he got the number down to ten when he negotiated with God to save the city. But now he must have wondered, “What was the point?”
11 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
12 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.
13 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
14 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
15 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
16 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”
17 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”
sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the
18 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
20 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”
22 tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”
23 tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.
24 tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”
25 tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.