Genesis 8:7-8

8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying ¹  back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

8:8 Then Noah ²  sent out a dove ³  to see if the waters had receded ⁴  from the surface of the ground.

Genesis 8:12

8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, ⁵  but it did not return to him this time. ⁶ 

Genesis 26:27

26:27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me ⁷  and sent me away from you.”

Genesis 31:4

31:4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah ⁸  to come to the field ⁹  where his flocks were. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 32:3

32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead ¹¹  to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region ¹²  of Edom.

Genesis 32:21

32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him ¹³  while he spent that night in the camp. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 46:28

46:28 Jacob ¹⁵  sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen. ¹⁶  So they came to the land of Goshen.

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¹ tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

⁴ tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.

⁵ tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8–11),” ExpTim 18 (1906/07): 377-78.

⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, expressing the reason for his question.

⁸ tn Heb “sent and called for Rachel and for Leah.” Jacob did not go in person, but probably sent a servant with a message for his wives to meet him in the field.

⁹ tn Heb “the field.” The word is an adverbial accusative, indicating that this is where Jacob wanted them to meet him. The words “to come to” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Heb “to his flock.”

¹¹ tn Heb “before him.”

¹² tn Heb “field.”

¹³ tn Heb “and the gift passed over upon his face.”

¹⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial/temporal.

¹⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Heb “to direct before him to Goshen.”