Genesis 4:14

4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land ¹  today, and I must hide from your presence. ²  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.”

Genesis 23:11

23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell ³  you both the field and the cave that is in it. ⁴  In the presence of my people ⁵  I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

Genesis 27:7

27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat ⁶  it and bless you ⁷  in the presence of the Lord ⁸  before I die.’

Genesis 31:32

31:32 Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! ⁹  In the presence of our relatives ¹⁰  identify whatever is yours and take it.” ¹¹  (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) ¹² 

Genesis 31:35

31:35 Rachel ¹³  said to her father, “Don’t be angry, ¹⁴  my lord. I cannot stand up ¹⁵  in your presence because I am having my period.” ¹⁶  So he searched thoroughly, ¹⁷  but did not find the idols.

Genesis 45:1

The Reconciliation of the Brothers

45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, ¹⁸  so he cried out, “Make everyone go out from my presence!” No one remained ¹⁹  with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

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¹ tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”

² sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the Lord as a result of sin also appears in Gen 3:8-10.

³ tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.

⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”

⁶ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

⁷ tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.

⁸ tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the Lord,” she stresses how serious this matter is.

⁹ tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹¹ tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”

¹² tn The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, it has been placed in parentheses in the translation.

¹³ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.

¹⁵ tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.

¹⁷ tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

¹⁸ tn Heb “all the ones standing beside him.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “stood.”