21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 5 some food 6 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 7 and sent her away. So she went wandering 8 aimlessly through the wilderness 9 of Beer Sheba.
30:35 So that day Laban 10 removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care 11 of his sons.
1 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”
2 sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
3 tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.
4 sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.
5 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
6 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
7 tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”
8 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
9 tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”
12 tn Heb “men of skill.”
13 tn Heb “make them rulers.”
sn Put them in charge of my livestock. Pharaoh is, in effect, offering Joseph’s brothers jobs as royal keepers of livestock, a position mentioned often in Egyptian inscriptions, because the Pharaohs owned huge herds of cattle.
14 tn Heb “days.”
15 sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.
16 tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”