Genesis 9:5

9:5 For your lifeblood ¹  I will surely exact punishment, ²  from ³  every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person ⁴  I will exact punishment for the life of the individual ⁵  since the man was his relative. ⁶ 

Genesis 18:10

18:10 One of them ⁷  said, “I will surely return ⁸  to you when the season comes round again, ⁹  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ¹⁰  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ¹¹ 

Genesis 28:22

28:22 Then this stone ¹²  that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely ¹³  give you back a tenth of everything you give me.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 29:32

29:32 So Leah became pregnant ¹⁵  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ¹⁶  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ¹⁷  Surely my husband will love me now.”

Genesis 50:24

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ¹⁸  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ¹⁹  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

---

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 “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

⁸ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

sn I will surely return. If Abraham had not yet figured out who this was, this interchange would have made it clear. Otherwise, how would a return visit from this man mean Sarah would have a son?

⁹ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

¹¹ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

¹² tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.

¹³ tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.

¹⁵ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

¹⁶ sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the Lord has “looked” with pity on her oppressed condition. See further S. R. Driver, Genesis, 273.

¹⁸ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”

¹⁹ tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.