Genesis 19:5

19:5 They shouted to Lot, ¹  “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex ²  with them!”

Genesis 19:13

19:13 because we are about to destroy ³  it. The outcry against this place ⁴  is so great before the Lord that he ⁵  has sent us to destroy it.”

Genesis 24:23

24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. ⁶  “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

Genesis 24:33

24:33 When food was served, ⁷  he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” ⁸  “Tell us,” Laban said. ⁹ 

Genesis 24:55

24:55 But Rebekah’s ¹⁰  brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.”

Genesis 31:16

31:16 Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you.”

Genesis 31:49-50

31:49 It was also called Mizpah ¹¹  because he said, “May the Lord watch ¹²  between us ¹³  when we are out of sight of one another. ¹⁴  31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize ¹⁵  that God is witness to your actions.” ¹⁶ 

Genesis 32:18

32:18 then you must say, ¹⁷  ‘They belong ¹⁸  to your servant Jacob. ¹⁹  They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. ²⁰  In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’” ²¹ 

Genesis 34:10

34:10 You may live ²²  among us, and the land will be open to you. ²³  Live in it, travel freely in it, ²⁴  and acquire property in it.”

Genesis 34:14

34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give ²⁵  our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace ²⁶  to us.

Genesis 42:2

42:2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us ²⁷  so that we may live ²⁸  and not die.” ²⁹ 

Genesis 43:2-3

43:2 When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return, buy us a little more food.”

43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned ³⁰  us, ‘You will not see my face ³¹  unless your brother is with you.’

Genesis 43:22

43:22 We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks!”

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¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

² tn The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) is used here in the sense of “to lie with” or “to have sex with” (as in Gen 4:1). That this is indeed the meaning is clear from Lot’s warning that they not do so wickedly, and his willingness to give them his daughters instead.

sn The sin of the men of Sodom is debated. The fact that the sin involved a sexual act (see note on the phrase “have sex” in 19:5) precludes an association of the sin with inhospitality as is sometimes asserted (see W. Roth, “What of Sodom and Gomorrah? Homosexual Acts in the Old Testament,” Explor 1 [1974]: 7-14). The text at a minimum condemns forced sexual intercourse, i.e., rape. Other considerations, though, point to a condemnation of homosexual acts more generally. The narrator emphasizes the fact that the men of Sodom wanted to have sex with men: They demand that Lot release the angelic messengers (seen as men) to them for sex, and when Lot offers his daughters as a substitute they refuse them and attempt to take the angelic messengers by force. In addition the wider context of the Pentateuch condemns homosexual acts as sin (see, e.g., Lev 18:22). Thus a reading of this text within its narrative context, both immediate and broad, condemns not only the attempted rape but also the attempted homosexual act.

³ tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.

⁴ tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” The repetition of the divine name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn Heb “and food was placed before him.”

⁸ tn Heb “my words.”

⁹ tc Some ancient textual witnesses have a plural verb, “and they said.”

tn Heb “and he said, ‘Speak.’” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Rebekah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

¹² sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

¹³ tn Heb “between me and you.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “see.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “between me and you.”

¹⁷ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.

¹⁸ tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁹ tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”

²⁰ tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”

²¹ tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²² tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

²³ tn Heb “before you.”

²⁴ tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”

²⁵ tn Heb “we are not able to do this thing, to give.” The second infinitive is in apposition to the first, explaining what they are not able to do.

²⁶ tn The Hebrew word translated “disgrace” usually means “ridicule; taunt; reproach.” It can also refer to the reason the condition of shame or disgrace causes ridicule or a reproach.

²⁷ tn Heb “and buy for us from there.” The word “grain,” the direct object of “buy,” has been supplied for clarity, and the words “from there” have been omitted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁸ tn Following the imperatives, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav expresses purpose of result.

²⁹ tn The imperfect tense continues the nuance of the verb before it.

³⁰ tn The infinitive absolute with the finite verb stresses the point. The primary meaning of the verb is “to witness; to testify.” It alludes to Joseph’s oath, which was tantamount to a threat or warning.

³¹ tn The idiom “see my face” means “have an audience with me.”