15:9 The Lord 5 said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take 6 three measures 7 of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” 8
31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” 12 Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought 13 you might take your daughters away from me by force. 14
47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s 29 brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” 30
1 tn The verb is a direct imperative: “And you, take for yourself.” The form stresses the immediate nature of the instruction; the pronoun underscores the directness.
2 tn Heb “from all food,” meaning “some of every kind of food.”
3 tn Or “will be eaten.”
4 tn Heb “and gather it to you.”
5 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the
6 tn The word “take” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the sentence lacks a verb other than the imperative “hurry.” The elliptical structure of the language reflects Abraham’s haste to get things ready quickly.
7 sn Three measures (Heb “three seahs”) was equivalent to about twenty quarts (twenty-two liters) of flour, which would make a lot of bread. The animal prepared for the meal was far more than the three visitors needed. This was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.
8 sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.
9 tn Following the imperatives, the jussive with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
10 tn Heb “as the
11 tn The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד (tsayid) following the marginal reading (Qere), or צֵידָה (tsedah) following the consonantal text (Kethib). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה (tsudah, “hunt down”).
12 tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid.’” This statement is a not a response to the question about Laban’s household gods that immediately precedes, but to the earlier question about Jacob’s motivation for leaving so quickly and secretly (see v. 27). For this reason the words “I left secretly” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection to Laban’s earlier question in v. 27. Additionally the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Heb “for I said.”
14 tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”
15 tn Heb “see.”
16 tn Heb “between me and you.”
17 tn Heb “bound in the house of your prison.”
18 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal.
19 tn Heb “[for] the hunger of your households.”
20 tn Heb “is not.”
21 tn Heb “is not.”
22 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.
23 tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”
24 sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.
25 tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).
26 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.
27 tn Heb “feeders of sheep.”
28 tn Heb “for men of livestock they are.”
29 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 tn Heb “both we and our fathers.”