Genesis 4:23

4:23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah! Listen to me!

You wives of Lamech, hear my words!

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man 1  for hurting me.

Genesis 23:6

23:6 “Listen, sir, 2  you are a mighty prince 3  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you 4  from burying your dead.”

Genesis 42:22

42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” 5 

1 tn The Hebrew term יֶלֶד (yeled) probably refers to a youthful warrior here, not a child.

2 tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

3 tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.

4 tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

5 tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.