¹ tn Heb “earth,” but here the term refers to the dry ground as opposed to the sea.

² sn The Letter to the Hebrews explains the difference between the brothers as one of faith – Abel by faith offered a better sacrifice. Cain’s offering as well as his reaction to God’s displeasure did not reflect faith. See further B. K. Waltke, “Cain and His Offering,” WTJ 48 (1986): 363-72.

³ tn Heb “and it was hot to Cain.” This Hebrew idiom means that Cain “burned” with anger.

⁴ tn Heb “And his face fell.” The idiom means that the inner anger is reflected in Cain’s facial expression. The fallen or downcast face expresses anger, dejection, or depression. Conversely, in Num 6 the high priestly blessing speaks of the Lord lifting up his face and giving peace.

⁵ tn Heb “father.” In this passage the word “father” means “founder,” referring to the first to establish such lifestyles and occupations.

⁶ tn The word “keep” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. Other words that might be supplied instead are “tend,” “raise” (NIV), or “have” (NRSV).

⁷ tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.

¹⁰ tn Heb “he knew.”

¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.

¹² tn Heb “blessed be.”

¹³ tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

¹⁵ tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.

¹⁶ tn Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

¹⁷ tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).

¹⁸ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

¹⁹ sn Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about its king. Though some have identified him with the preincarnate Christ or with Noah’s son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110 the Lord declares that the Davidic king is a royal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.

²⁰ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.

sn It is his royal priestly status that makes Melchizedek a type of Christ: He was identified with Jerusalem, superior to the ancestor of Israel, and both a king and a priest. Unlike the normal Canaanites, this man served “God Most High” (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן, ’el ’elyon) – one sovereign God, who was the creator of all the universe. Abram had in him a spiritual brother.

²¹ tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.

²² tn Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”

²³ tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.

²⁴ tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.

²⁵ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)

²⁶ tn Heb “and she saw that she was pregnant and her mistress was despised in her eyes.” The Hebrew verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to despise, to treat lightly, to treat with contempt.” In Hagar’s opinion Sarai had been demoted.

²⁷ tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

²⁸ tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

²⁹ tn Heb “And the Lord went.”

³⁰ tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”

³¹ tn Heb “to his place.”

³² tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.

³³ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”

³⁴ tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).

³⁵ tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

³⁷ tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.

³⁸ tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”

³⁹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴² sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

⁴³ tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

⁴⁴ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

⁴⁵ sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

⁴⁷ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.

⁴⁸ sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

⁴⁹ sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.

⁵⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵¹ sn Heb “the messenger of the Lord” (also in v. 15). Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, see the note on the phrase “the Lord’s angel” in Gen 16:7.

⁵² tn Heb “make it happen before me today.” Although a number of English translations understand this as a request for success in the task (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV) it is more likely that the servant is requesting an omen or sign from God (v. 14).

⁵³ tn Heb “act in loyal love with” or “show kindness to.”

⁵⁴ sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

⁵⁵ sn The name Shibah (שִׁבְעָה, shiv’ah) means (or at least sounds like) the word meaning “oath.” The name was a reminder of the oath sworn by Isaac and the Philistines to solidify their treaty.

⁵⁶ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of an oath” or “well of seven.” According to Gen 21:31 Abraham gave Beer Sheba its name when he made a treaty with the Philistines. Because of the parallels between this earlier story and the account in 26:26-33, some scholars see chaps. 21 and 26 as two versions (or doublets) of one original story. However, if one takes the text as it stands, it appears that Isaac made a later treaty agreement with the people of the land that was similar to his father’s. Abraham dug a well at the site and named the place Beer Sheba; Isaac dug another well there and named the well Shibah. Later generations then associated the name Beer Sheba with Isaac, even though Abraham gave the place its name at an earlier time.

⁵⁷ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵⁸ sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.

⁵⁹ tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”

⁶⁰ tn Heb “son.”

⁶¹ tn Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the translation several introductory clauses throughout this section have been placed after the direct discourse they introduce for stylistic reasons as well.

⁶² tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”

⁶³ tn Heb “and it happened in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her.”

sn His daughter Leah. Laban’s deception of Jacob by giving him the older daughter instead of the younger was God’s way of disciplining the deceiver who tricked his older brother. D. Kidner says this account is “the very embodiment of anti-climax, and this moment a miniature of man’s disillusion, experienced from Eden onwards” (Genesis [TOTC], 160). G. von Rad notes, “That Laban secretly gave the unloved Leah to the man in love was, to be sure, a monstrous blow, a masterpiece of shameless treachery…It was certainly a move by which he won for himself far and wide the coarsest laughter” (Genesis [OTL], 291).

⁶⁴ tn Heb “to him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶⁶ tn Heb “went in to her.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.

⁶⁷ tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.

⁶⁸ tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”

⁶⁹ tn Heb “remembered.”

⁷⁰ tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons

⁷¹ tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁷² tn Heb “and there were to him.”

⁷³ tn Heb “and Jacob saw the face of Laban, and look, he was not with him as formerly.” Jacob knew from the expression on Laban’s face that his attitude toward him had changed – Jacob had become persona non grata.

⁷⁴ tn Heb “and the gift passed over upon his face.”

⁷⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial/temporal.

⁷⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷⁷ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

⁷⁸ sn Some interpreters see Joseph as gloating over his brothers, but the text simply says he told his brothers about it (i.e., the dream). The text gives no warrant for interpreting his manner as arrogant or condescending. It seems normal that he would share a dream with the family.

⁷⁹ tn The construction uses a hendiadys, “they added to hate,” meaning they hated him even more.

⁸⁰ tn The imperative in this sentence has more of the nuance of a request than a command.

⁸¹ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸³ sn From their hands. The instigators of this plot may have been the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (see v. 2).

⁸⁴ tn Heb “and he said.”

⁸⁵ tn Heb “we must not strike him down [with respect to] life.”

⁸⁶ tn Heb “Joseph”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸⁷ tn Heb “and look, Joseph was not in the cistern.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the situation through Reuben’s eyes.

⁸⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸⁹ sn Perhaps the child was named Zerah because of the scarlet thread. Though the Hebrew word used for “scarlet thread” in v. 28 is not related to the name Zerah, there is a related root in Babylonian and western Aramaic that means “scarlet” or “scarlet thread.” In Hebrew the name appears to be derived from a root meaning “to shine.” The name could have originally meant something like “shining one” or “God has shined.” Zerah became the head of a tribe (Num 26:20) from whom Achan descended (Josh 7:1).

⁹⁰ tn Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).

⁹¹ tn Heb “and he was.”

⁹² tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹³ tn Heb “and when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying.”

⁹⁴ tn Heb “according to these words.”

⁹⁵ tn Heb “did to me.”

⁹⁶ tn Heb “his anger burned.”

⁹⁷ tn Heb “all which they were doing there, he was doing.” This probably means that Joseph was in charge of everything that went on in the prison.

⁹⁸ tn Heb “two years, days.”

⁹⁹ tn Heb “was dreaming.”

¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “it is the word that I spoke.”

¹⁰¹ sn The name Ephraim (אֶפְרַיִם, ’efrayim), a form of the Hebrew verb פָּרָה (parah), means “to bear fruit.” The theme of fruitfulness is connected with this line of the family from Rachel (30:2) on down (see Gen 49:22, Deut 33:13-17, and Hos 13:15). But there is some difficulty with the name “Ephraim” itself. It appears to be a dual, for which F. Delitzsch simply said it meant “double fruitfulness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:305). G. J. Spurrell suggested it was a diphthongal pronunciation of a name ending in -an or -am, often thought to be dual suffixes (Notes on the text of the book of Genesis, 334). Many, however, simply connect the name to the territory of Ephraim and interpret it to be “fertile land” (C. Fontinoy, “Les noms de lieux en -ayim dans la Bible,” UF 3 [1971]: 33-40). The dual would then be an old locative ending. There is no doubt that the name became attached to the land in which the tribe settled, and it is possible that is where the dual ending came from, but in this story it refers to Joseph’s God-given fruitfulness.

¹⁰² tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰³ tn Or “for.”

¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “saw.”

¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “Jacob.” Here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰⁶ sn Why are you looking at each other? The point of Jacob’s question is that his sons should be going to get grain rather than sitting around doing nothing. Jacob, as the patriarch, still makes the decisions for the whole clan.

¹⁰⁷ tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story.

¹⁰⁸ tn “was listening.” The brothers were not aware that Joseph could understand them as they spoke the preceding words in their native language.

¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “for [there was] an interpreter between them.” On the meaning of the word here translated “interpreter” see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ and M. A. Canney, “The Hebrew melis (Prov IX 12; Gen XLII 2-3),” AJSL 40 (1923/24): 135-37.

¹¹⁰ tn Heb “and they bowed low and they bowed down.” The use of synonyms here emphasizes the brothers’ humility.

¹¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the boy’s father, i.e., Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹² tn The last two verbs are perfect tenses with vav consecutive. The first is subordinated to the second as a conditional clause.

¹¹³ tn Heb “went forth from me.”

¹¹⁴ tn Heb “in visions of the night.” The plural form has the singular meaning, probably as a plural of intensity.

¹¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “with him” here. This is omitted in the translation because it is redundant in English style (note the same phrase earlier in the verse).