2:24 That is why 1 a man leaves 2 his father and mother and unites with 3 his wife, and they become a new family. 4
4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” 8 While they were in the field, Cain attacked 9 his brother 10 Abel and killed him.
5:3 When 11 Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth.
13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 13 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 14
27:14 So he went and got the goats 29 and brought them to his mother. She 30 prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it.
27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left 32 his father’s 33 presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 34
27:34 When Esau heard 35 his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. 36 He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”
29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. 37 When Jacob 38 completed Leah’s bridal week, 39 Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 40
31:25 Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too. 41
31:55 (32:1) 42 Early in the morning Laban kissed 43 his grandchildren 44 and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. 45
36:35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.
45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him.
46:1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. 56 When he came to Beer Sheba 57 he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
47:31 Jacob 58 said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” 59 So Joseph 60 gave him his word. 61 Then Israel bowed down 62 at the head of his bed. 63
1 tn This statement, introduced by the Hebrew phrase עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore” or “that is why”), is an editorial comment, not an extension of the quotation. The statement is describing what typically happens, not what will or should happen. It is saying, “This is why we do things the way we do.” It links a contemporary (with the narrator) practice with the historical event being narrated. The historical event narrated in v. 23 provides the basis for the contemporary practice described in v. 24. That is why the imperfect verb forms are translated with the present tense rather than future.
2 tn The imperfect verb form has a habitual or characteristic nuance. For other examples of עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore, that is why”) with the imperfect in a narrative framework, see Gen 10:9; 32:32 (the phrase “to this day” indicates characteristic behavior is in view); Num 21:14, 27; 1 Sam 5:5 (note “to this day”); 19:24 (perhaps the imperfect is customary here, “were saying”); 2 Sam 5:8. The verb translated “leave” (עָזָב, ’azab) normally means “to abandon, to forsake, to leave behind, to discard,” when used with human subject and object (see Josh 22:3; 1 Sam 30:13; Ps 27:10; Prov 2:17; Isa 54:6; 60:15; 62:4; Jer 49:11). Within the context of the ancient Israelite extended family structure, this cannot refer to emotional or geographical separation. The narrator is using hyperbole to emphasize the change in perspective that typically overtakes a young man when his thoughts turn to love and marriage.
3 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same habitual or characteristic nuance as the preceding imperfect. The verb is traditionally translated “cleaves [to]”; it has the basic idea of “stick with/to” (e.g., it is used of Ruth resolutely staying with her mother-in-law in Ruth 1:14). In this passage it describes the inseparable relationship between the man and the woman in marriage as God intended it.
4 tn Heb “and they become one flesh.” The perfect with vav consecutive carries the same habitual or characteristic nuance as the preceding verbs in the verse. The retention of the word “flesh” (בָּשָׂר, basar) in the translation often leads to improper or incomplete interpretations. The Hebrew word refers to more than just a sexual union. When they unite in marriage, the man and woman bring into being a new family unit (הָיָה + לְ, hayah + lamed preposition means “become”). The phrase “one flesh” occurs only here and must be interpreted in light of v. 23. There the man declares that the woman is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be related by blood to someone. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Laban and Jacob (Gen 29:14); Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17). The expression “one flesh” seems to indicate that they become, as it were, “kin,” at least legally (a new family unit is created) or metaphorically. In this first marriage in human history, the woman was literally formed from the man’s bone and flesh. Even though later marriages do not involve such a divine surgical operation, the first marriage sets the pattern for how later marriages are understood and explains why marriage supersedes the parent-child relationship.
5 tn Heb “But Abel brought, also he….” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) stresses the contrast between Cain’s offering and Abel’s.
6 tn Two prepositional phrases are used to qualify the kind of sacrifice that Abel brought: “from the firstborn” and “from the fattest of them.” These also could be interpreted as a hendiadys: “from the fattest of the firstborn of the flock.” Another option is to understand the second prepositional phrase as referring to the fat portions of the sacrificial sheep. In this case one may translate, “some of the firstborn of his flock, even some of their fat portions” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).
sn Here are two types of worshipers – one (Cain) merely discharges a duty at the proper time, while the other (Abel) goes out of his way to please God with the first and the best.
7 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah) simply means “to gaze at, to have regard for, to look on with favor [or “with devotion”].” The text does not indicate how this was communicated, but it indicates that Cain and Abel knew immediately. Either there was some manifestation of divine pleasure given to Abel and withheld from Cain (fire consuming the sacrifice?), or there was an inner awareness of divine response.
8 tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָּׂדֶה (basadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָּׂדֶה.
9 tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).
10 sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).
11 tn Heb “and Adam lived 130 years.” In the translation the verb is subordinated to the following verb, “and he fathered,” and rendered as a temporal clause.
12 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
13 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
14 tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”
15 tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
16 tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).
18 sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.
19 tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”
20 tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”
21 tn Heb “old and full.”
22 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
23 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
24 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.
sn The name Jacob is a play on the Hebrew word for “heel” (עָקֵב, ’aqev). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. It did not have a negative connotation until Esau redefined it. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. After receiving such an oracle, the parents would have preserved in memory almost every detail of the unusual births.
25 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
26 tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”
27 tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the
28 tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”
29 tn The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30 tn Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
31 tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
33 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
34 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
35 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
36 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
37 tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
38 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39 tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.
40 tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41 tn Heb “and Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban pitched with his brothers in the hill country of Gilead.” The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb in both clauses) indicates synchronism of action.
42 sn Beginning with 31:55, the verse numbers in the English Bible through 32:32 differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 31:55 ET = 32:1 HT, 32:1 ET = 32:2 HT, etc., through 32:32 ET = 32:33 HT. From 33:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
43 tn Heb “and Laban got up early in the morning and he kissed.”
44 tn Heb “his sons.”
45 tn Heb “to his place.”
46 tn The two disjunctive clauses in this verse (“Now Jacob heard…and his sons were”) are juxtaposed to indicate synchronic action.
47 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
48 sn The expected response would be anger or rage; but Jacob remained silent. He appears too indifferent or confused to act decisively. When the leader does not act decisively, the younger zealots will, and often with disastrous results.
49 tn Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.
50 sn For discussion of this episode, see A. M. Honeyman, “The Occasion of Joseph’s Temptation,” VT 2 (1952): 85-87.
51 tn Heb “apart from you.”
52 tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.
53 tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.
54 tn Heb “for his affection boiled up concerning his brother.” The same expression is used in 1 Kgs 3:26 for the mother’s feelings for her endangered child.
55 tn Heb “and he sought to weep.”
56 tn Heb “and Israel journeyed, and all that was his.”
57 sn Beer Sheba. See Gen 21:31; 28:10.
58 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
59 tn Heb “swear on oath to me.” The words “that you will do so” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
60 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
61 tn Heb “swore on oath to him.”
62 sn The Hebrew verb normally means “bow down,” especially in worship or prayer. Here it might simply mean “bend low,” perhaps from weakness or approaching death. The narrative is ambiguous at this point and remains open to all these interpretations.
63 tc The MT reads מִטָּה (mittah, “bed, couch”). The LXX reads the word as מַטֶּה (matteh, “staff, rod”) and interprets this to mean that Jacob bowed down in worship while leaning on the top of his staff. The LXX reading was used in turn by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:21).
64 tn Heb “my.”
65 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
66 tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the imperative.