Genesis 6:20

6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive.

Genesis 7:2

7:2 You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,

Genesis 15:10

15:10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.

Genesis 19:1

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

Genesis 19:12

19:12 Then the two visitors 10  said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? 11  Do you have 12  any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? 13  Get them out of this 14  place

Genesis 19:15-16

19:15 At dawn 15  the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, 16  or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” 17  19:16 When Lot 18  hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. 19  They led them away and placed them 20  outside the city.

Genesis 22:5-6

22:5 So he 21  said to his servants, “You two stay 22  here with the donkey while 23  the boy and I go up there. We will worship 24  and then return to you.” 25 

22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, 26  and the two of them walked on together.

Genesis 24:22

24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka 27  and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels 28  and gave them to her. 29 

Genesis 27:9

27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare 30  them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them.

Genesis 31:33

31:33 So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. 31  Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 32 

Genesis 31:37

31:37 When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? 33  Set it here before my relatives and yours, 34  and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! 35 

Genesis 31:41

31:41 This was my lot 36  for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave 37  for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!

Genesis 32:10

32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love 38  you have shown 39  your servant. With only my walking stick 40  I crossed the Jordan, 41  but now I have become two camps.

Genesis 34:25

34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword 42  and went to the unsuspecting city 43  and slaughtered every male.

Genesis 42:37

42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may 44  put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care 45  and I will bring him back to you.”

Genesis 48:5

48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. 46  Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.


tn Heb “to keep alive.”

tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.

tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans.

tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “in the middle.”

tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”

sn For discussion of this ritual see G. F. Hasel, “The Meaning of the Animal Rite in Genesis 15,” JSOT 19 (1981): 61-78.

tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

sn The expression sitting in the city’s gateway may mean that Lot was exercising some type of judicial function (see the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 19:8; Jer 26:10; 38:7; 39:3).

10 tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

11 tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”

12 tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

13 tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”

14 tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.

15 tn Heb “When dawn came up.”

16 tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.

17 tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

19 tn Heb “in the compassion of the Lord to them.”

20 tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).

21 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

22 tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.

23 tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.

24 tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”

25 sn It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will…return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17-19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.

26 sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.

27 sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).

28 sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).

29 tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

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

31 tn No direct object is specified for the verb “find” in the Hebrew text. The words “the idols” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

32 tn Heb “and he went out from the tent of Leah and went into the tent of Rachel.”

33 tn Heb “what did you find from all the goods of your house?”

34 tn Heb “your relatives.” The word “relatives” has not been repeated in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

35 tn Heb “that they may decide between us two.”

36 tn Heb “this to me.”

37 tn Heb “served you,” but in this accusatory context the meaning is more “worked like a slave.”

38 tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

39 tn Heb “you have done with.”

40 tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

41 tn Heb “this Jordan.”

42 tn Heb “a man his sword.”

43 tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.

44 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.

45 tn Heb “my hand.”

46 sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.