Genesis 4:11

4:11 So now, you are banished ¹  from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

Genesis 13:16

13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. ² 

Genesis 43:12

43:12 Take double the money with you; ³  you must take back ⁴  the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight.

Genesis 48:11

48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected ⁵  to see you ⁶  again, but now God has allowed me to see your children ⁷  too.”

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¹ tn Heb “cursed are you from the ground.” As in Gen 3:14, the word “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as indicating source, then the idea is “cursed (i.e., punished) are you from [i.e., “through the agency of”] the ground” (see v. 12a). If the preposition is taken as separative, then the idea is “cursed and banished from the ground.” In this case the ground rejects Cain’s efforts in such a way that he is banished from the ground and forced to become a fugitive out in the earth (see vv. 12b, 14).

² tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

³ tn Heb “in your hand.”

⁴ tn Heb “take back in your hand.” The imperfect verbal form probably has an injunctive or obligatory force here, since Jacob is instructing his sons.

⁵ tn On the meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּלַל (palal) here, see E. A. Speiser, “The Stem pll in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6. Speiser argues that this verb means “to estimate” as in Exod 21:22.

⁶ tn Heb “your face.”

⁷ tn Heb “offspring.”