Genesis 3:20

3:20 The man 1  named his wife Eve, 2  because 3  she was the mother of all the living. 4 

Genesis 24:64

24:64 Rebekah looked up 5  and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel

Genesis 30:21

30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

Genesis 30:24

30:24 She named him Joseph, 6  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

Genesis 38:3

38:3 She became pregnant 7  and had a son. Judah named 8  him Er.

Genesis 38:19

38:19 She left immediately, 9  removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.

Genesis 39:16

39:16 So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home.

1 tn Or “Adam”; however, the Hebrew term has the definite article here.

2 sn The name Eve means “Living one” or “Life-giver” in Hebrew.

3 tn The explanatory clause gives the reason for the name. Where the one doing the naming gives the explanation, the text normally uses “saying”; where the narrator explains it, the explanatory clause is typically used.

4 tn The explanation of the name forms a sound play (paronomasia) with the name. “Eve” is חַוָּה (khavvah) and “living” is חַי (khay). The name preserves the archaic form of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) with the middle vav (ו) instead of yod (י). The form חַי (khay) is derived from the normal form חַיָּה (khayyah). Compare the name Yahweh (יְהוָה) explained from הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) rather than from הַוָה (havah). The biblical account stands in contrast to the pagan material that presents a serpent goddess hawwat who is the mother of life. See J. Heller, “Der Name Eva,” ArOr 26 (1958): 636-56; and A. F. Key, “The Giving of Proper Names in the OT,” JBL 83 (1964): 55-59.

5 tn Heb “lifted up her eyes.”

6 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.

7 tn Or “she conceived” (also in the following verse).

8 tc Some mss read this verb as feminine, “she called,” to match the pattern of the next two verses. But the MT, “he called,” should probably be retained as the more difficult reading.

tn Heb “and he called his name.” The referent (Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

9 tn Heb “and she arose and left,” the first verb in the pair emphasizing that she wasted no time.