11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.
19:9 “Out of our way!” 5 they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, 6 and now he dares to judge us! 7 We’ll do more harm 8 to you than to them!” They kept 9 pressing in on Lot until they were close enough 10 to break down the door.
19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. 11 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy 12 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. 13
37:2 This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, 21 was taking care of 22 the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster 23 working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. 24 Joseph brought back a bad report about them 25 to their father.
43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
1 tn The text simply has “from man to beast, to creatures, and to birds of the air.” The use of the prepositions עַד…מִן (min...’ad) stresses the extent of the judgment in creation.
2 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
4 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
5 tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”
6 tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”
7 tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”
8 tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.
9 tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”
10 tn Heb “and they drew near.”
11 sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.
12 tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.
13 tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.
14 tn Heb “your descendants.”
15 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
16 tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”
17 tn Heb “and Jacob said, ‘No, please.’” The words “take them” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
18 tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence.
19 tn The verbal form is the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive, indicating result here.
20 tn Heb “for therefore I have seen your face like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me.”
sn This is an allusion to the preceding episode (32:22-31) in which Jacob saw the face of God and realized his prayer was answered.
21 tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”
22 tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”
23 tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.
24 tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”
25 tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.
sn Some interpreters portray Joseph as a tattletale for bringing back a bad report about them [i.e., his brothers], but the entire Joseph story has some of the characteristics of wisdom literature. Joseph is presented in a good light – not because he was perfect, but because the narrative is showing how wisdom rules. In light of that, this section portrays Joseph as faithful to his father in little things, even though unpopular – and so he will eventually be given authority over greater things.
26 tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”
27 sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.
28 tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
29 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.
31 tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”
32 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.
33 sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”