Genesis 6:16

6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches 1  from the top. 2  Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

Genesis 17:20

17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 3  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 4  He will become the father of twelve princes; 5  I will make him into a great nation.

Genesis 48:4

48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful 6  and will multiply you. 7  I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants 8  as an everlasting possession.’ 9 

1 tn Heb “a cubit.”

2 tn Heb “to a cubit you shall finish it from above.” The idea is that Noah was to leave an 18-inch opening from the top for a window for light.

3 sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

4 tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

5 tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

6 tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following הִנֵּה (hinneh) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.

7 tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.

8 tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

9 tn The Hebrew word אֲחֻזָּה (’akhuzzah), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (אָחַז, ’akhaz) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).