Genesis 4:1
The Story of Cain and Abel
4:1 Now 1 the man had marital relations with 2 his wife Eve, and she became pregnant 3 and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created 4 a man just as the Lord did!” 5
Genesis 4:17
The Beginning of Civilization
4:17 Cain had marital relations 6 with his wife, and she became pregnant 7 and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after 8 his son Enoch.
Genesis 16:11
16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “You are now 9 pregnant
and are about to give birth 10 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 11
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 12
Genesis 25:22
25:22 But the children struggled 13 inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” 14 So she asked the Lord, 15
Genesis 29:32-35
29:32 So Leah became pregnant 16 and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, 17 for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. 18 Surely my husband will love me now.”
29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, 19 he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 20
29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, 21 because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. 22
29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. 23 Then she stopped having children.
Genesis 38:18
38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. 24 She became pregnant by him.
Genesis 38:24-25
38:24 After three months Judah was told, 25 “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, 26 and as a result she has become pregnant.” 27 Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”
38:25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word 28 to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” 29 Then she said, “Identify 30 the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.”
1 tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.
2 tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
3 tn Or “she conceived.”
4 tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.
5 tn Heb “with the Lord.” The particle אֶת־ (’et) is not the accusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancient versions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with the help of” (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer “along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (see Lev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; the latter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand אֶת־ as the accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man – the Lord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she had given birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise the Serpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionable allegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word “heel”).
sn Since Exod 6:3 seems to indicate that the name Yahweh (יְהוָה, yÿhvah, translated Lord) was first revealed to Moses (see also Exod 3:14), it is odd to see it used in quotations in Genesis by people who lived long before Moses. This problem has been resolved in various ways: (1) Source critics propose that Exod 6:3 is part of the “P” (or priestly) tradition, which is at odds with the “J” (or Yahwistic) tradition. (2) Many propose that “name” in Exod 6:3 does not refer to the divine name per se, but to the character suggested by the name. God appeared to the patriarchs primarily in the role of El Shaddai, the giver of fertility, not as Yahweh, the one who fulfills his promises. In this case the patriarchs knew the name Yahweh, but had not experienced the full significance of the name. In this regard it is possible that Exod 6:3b should not be translated as a statement of denial, but as an affirmation followed by a rhetorical question implying that the patriarchs did indeed know God by the name of Yahweh, just as they knew him as El Shaddai. D. A. Garrett, following the lead of F. Andersen, sees Exod 6:2-3 as displaying a paneled A/B parallelism and translates them as follows: (A) “I am Yahweh.” (B) “And I made myself known to Abraham…as El Shaddai.” (A') “And my name is Yahweh”; (B') “Did I not make myself known to them?” (D. A. Garrett, Rethinking Genesis, 21). However, even if one translates the text this way, the Lord’s words do not necessarily mean that he made the name Yahweh known to the fathers. God is simply affirming that he now wants to be called Yahweh (see Exod 3:14-16) and that he revealed himself in prior times as El Shaddai. If we stress the parallelism with B, the implied answer to the concluding question might be: “Yes, you did make yourself known to them – as El Shaddai!” The main point of the verse would be that El Shaddai, the God of the fathers, and the God who has just revealed himself to Moses as Yahweh are one and the same. (3) G. J. Wenham suggests that pre-Mosaic references to Yahweh are the product of the author/editor of Genesis, who wanted to be sure that Yahweh was identified with the God of the fathers. In this regard, note how Yahweh is joined with another divine name or title in Gen 9:26-27; 14:22; 15:2, 8; 24:3, 7, 12, 27, 42, 48; 27:20; 32:9. The angel uses the name Yahweh when instructing Hagar concerning her child’s name, but the actual name (Ishma-el, “El hears”) suggests that El, not Yahweh, originally appeared in the angel’s statement (16:11). In her response to the angel Hagar calls God El, not Yahweh (16:13). In 22:14 Abraham names the place of sacrifice “Yahweh Will Provide” (cf. v. 16), but in v. 8 he declares, “God will provide.” God uses the name Yahweh when speaking to Jacob at Bethel (28:13) and Jacob also uses the name when he awakens from the dream (28:16). Nevertheless he names the place Beth-el (“house of El”). In 31:49 Laban prays, “May Yahweh keep watch,” but in v. 50 he declares, “God is a witness between you and me.” Yahweh’s use of the name in 15:7 and 18:14 may reflect theological idiom, while the use in 18:19 is within a soliloquy. (Other uses of Yahweh in quotations occur in 16:2, 5; 24:31, 35, 40, 42, 44, 48, 50, 51, 56; 26:22, 28-29; 27:7, 27; 29:32-35; 30:24, 30; 49:18. In these cases there is no contextual indication that a different name was originally used.) For a fuller discussion of this proposal, see G. J. Wenham, “The Religion of the Patriarchs,” Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives, 189-93.
6 tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
7 tn Or “she conceived.”
8 tn Heb “according to the name of.”
9 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
10 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
11 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
12 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
sn This clause gives the explanation of the name Ishmael, using a wordplay. Ishmael’s name will be a reminder that “God hears” Hagar’s painful cries.
13 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
14 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
15 sn Asked the Lord. In other passages (e.g., 1 Sam 9:9) this expression refers to inquiring of a prophet, but no details are provided here.
16 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
17 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”
18 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”
sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the Lord has “looked” with pity on her oppressed condition. See further S. R. Driver, Genesis, 273.
19 tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.
20 sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.
21 tn Heb “will be joined to me.”
22 sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.
23 sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.
24 tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
25 tn Heb “it was told to Judah, saying.”
26 tn Or “has been sexually promiscuous.” The verb may refer here to loose or promiscuous activity, not necessarily prostitution.
27 tn Heb “and also look, she is with child by prostitution.”
28 tn Heb “she was being brought out and she sent.” The juxtaposition of two clauses, both of which place the subject before the predicate, indicates synchronic action.
29 tn Heb “who these to him.”
30 tn Or “ recognize; note.” This same Hebrew verb (נָכַר, nakhar) is used at the beginning of v. 26, where it is translated “recognized.”