Genesis 3:24

3:24 When he drove ¹  the man out, he placed on the eastern side ²  of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries ³  who used the flame of a whirling sword ⁴  to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 18:15

18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” ⁵ 

Genesis 18:29

18:29 Abraham ⁶  spoke to him again, ⁷  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

Genesis 32:11

32:11 Rescue me, ⁸  I pray, from the hand ⁹  of my brother Esau, ¹⁰  for I am afraid he will come ¹¹  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ¹² 

Genesis 32:32

32:32 That is why to this day ¹³  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck ¹⁴  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

---

¹ tn The verb with the vav (ו) consecutive is made subordinate to the next verb forming a temporal clause. This avoids any tautology with the previous verse that already stated that the Lord expelled the man.

² tn Or “placed in front.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

³ tn The Hebrew word is traditionally transliterated “the cherubim.”

sn Angelic sentries (Heb “cherubim”). The cherubim in the Bible seem to be a class of angels that are composite in appearance. Their main task seems to be guarding. Here they guard the way to the tree of life. The curtain in the tabernacle was to be embroidered with cherubim as well, symbolically guarding the way to God. (See in addition A. S. Kapelrud, “The Gates of Hell and the Guardian Angels of Paradise,” JAOS 70 [1950]: 151-56; and D. N. Freedman and M. P. O’Connor, TDOT 7:307-19.)

⁴ tn Heb “the flame of the sword that turns round and round.” The noun “flame” is qualified by the genitive of specification, “the sword,” which in turn is modified by the attributive participle “whirling.” The Hitpael of the verb “turn” has an iterative function here, indicating repeated action. The form is used in Job 37:12 of swirling clouds and in Judg 7:13 of a tumbling roll of bread. Verse 24 depicts the sword as moving from side to side to prevent anyone from passing or as whirling around, ready to cut to shreds anyone who tries to pass.

⁵ tn Heb “And he said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

⁸ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

⁹ tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

¹¹ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

¹² sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.

¹³ sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

¹⁴ tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.