16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 11 servant is under your authority, 12 do to her whatever you think best.” 13 Then Sarai treated Hagar 14 harshly, 15 so she ran away from Sarai. 16
18:31 Abraham 17 said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
1 tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
2 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
3 tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
4 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
5 tn Heb “of the man.”
6 tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
7 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
8 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
sn The Hebrew expression translated have sexual relations with does not convey the intimacy of other expressions, such as “so and so knew his wife.” Sarai simply sees this as the social custom of having a child through a surrogate. For further discussion see C. F. Fensham, “The Son of a Handmaid in Northwest Semitic,” VT 19 (1969): 312-21.
9 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
10 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
sn Abram did what Sarai told him. This expression was first used in Gen 3:17 of Adam’s obeying his wife. In both cases the text highlights weak faith and how it jeopardized the plan of God.
11 tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”
12 tn Heb “in your hand.”
13 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
14 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”
16 tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “the day is great.”
20 tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.