Genesis 2:22

2:22 Then the Lord God made ¹  a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Genesis 3:23

3:23 So the Lord God expelled him ²  from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 12:15

12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife ³  was taken ⁴  into the household of Pharaoh, ⁵ 

Genesis 31:1

Jacob’s Flight from Laban

31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, ⁶  “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich ⁷  at our father’s expense!” ⁸ 

Genesis 42:24

42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ⁹  he had Simeon taken ¹⁰  from them and tied up ¹¹  before their eyes.

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¹ tn The Hebrew verb is בָּנָה (banah, “to make, to build, to construct”). The text states that the Lord God built the rib into a woman. Again, the passage gives no indication of precisely how this was done.

² tn The verb is the Piel preterite of שָׁלַח (shalakh), forming a wordplay with the use of the same verb (in the Qal stem) in v. 22: To prevent the man’s “sending out” his hand, the Lord “sends him out.”

³ tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.

⁵ tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.

⁶ tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”

⁷ sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).

⁸ tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”

⁹ tn Heb “and he turned to them and spoke to them.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “took Simeon.” This was probably done at Joseph’s command, however; the grand vizier of Egypt would not have personally seized a prisoner.

¹¹ tn Heb “and he bound him.” See the note on the preceding verb “taken.”