20:14 So Abimelech gave 1 sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him.
24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with 2 the man. So Abraham’s servant 3 took Rebekah and left.
26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. 11
32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took 14 his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons 15 and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 16
33:1 Jacob looked up 17 and saw that Esau was coming 18 along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. 19
39:11 One day 20 he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants 21 were there in the house.
45:16 Now it was reported 24 in the household of Pharaoh, “Joseph’s brothers have arrived.” It pleased 25 Pharaoh and his servants.
47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s 26 brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” 27
1 tn Heb “took and gave.”
2 tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”
3 tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
5 tn Heb “possessions of sheep.”
6 tn Heb “possessions of cattle.”
7 tn The Hebrew verb translated “became jealous” refers here to intense jealousy or envy that leads to hostile action (see v. 15).
8 tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”
9 tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the
10 tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”
11 tn Heb “and they said to him, ‘We have found water.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.
13 tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 tn Heb “and he arose in that night and he took.” The first verb is adverbial, indicating that he carried out the crossing right away.
15 tn The Hebrew term used here is יֶלֶד (yeled) which typically describes male offspring. Some translations render the term “children” but this is a problem because by this time Jacob had twelve children in all, including one daughter, Dinah, born to Leah (Gen 30:21). Benjamin, his twelfth son and thirteenth child, was not born until later (Gen 35:16-19).
16 sn Hebrew narrative style often includes a summary statement of the whole passage followed by a more detailed report of the event. Here v. 22 is the summary statement, while v. 23 begins the detailed account.
17 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”
18 tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
19 sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.
20 tn Heb “and it was about this day.”
21 tn Heb “the men of the house.”
22 tn Heb “Why does my lord speak according to these words?”
23 tn Heb “according to this thing.”
24 tn Heb “and the sound was heard.”
25 tn Heb “was good in the eyes of.”
26 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”