21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 1 some food 2 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 3 and sent her away. So she went wandering 4 aimlessly through the wilderness 5 of Beer Sheba.
1 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
2 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
3 tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”
4 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
5 tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.
6 tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”
7 sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.
8 tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.