Discovery BoxGenesis 1:11-12 
Context1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: 1 plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, 2 and 3 trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so. 1:12 The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.
Genesis 4:14
Context4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land 4 today, and I must hide from your presence. 5 I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.”
Genesis 12:7
Context12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants 6 I will give this land.” So Abram 7 built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 13:6
Context13:6 But the land could 8 not support them while they were living side by side. 9 Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live 10 alongside one another.
Genesis 21:23
Context21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 11 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 12 Show me, and the land 13 where you are staying, 14 the same loyalty 15 that I have shown you.” 16
Genesis 22:2
Context22:2 God 17 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 18 – and go to the land of Moriah! 19 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 20 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 21 you.”
Genesis 26:1
Context26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred 22 in the days of Abraham. 23 Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
Genesis 26:3
Context26:3 Stay 24 in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, 25 for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, 26 and I will fulfill 27 the solemn promise I made 28 to your father Abraham.
Genesis 26:22
Context26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac 29 named it 30 Rehoboth, 31 saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”
Genesis 28:15
Context28:15 I am with you! 32 I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”
Genesis 31:18
Context31:18 He took 33 away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. 34
Genesis 32:9
Context32:9 Then Jacob prayed, 35 “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said 36 to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 37
Genesis 36:7
Context36:7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled 38 was not able to support them because of their livestock.
Genesis 36:17
Context36:17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons 39 of Esau’s wife Basemath.
Genesis 41:19
Context41:19 Then 40 seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows 41 as these in all the land of Egypt!
Genesis 41:43
Context41:43 Pharaoh 42 had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, 43 and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” 44 So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 41:45-46
Context41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. 45 He also gave him Asenath 46 daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, 47 to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of 48 all the land of Egypt.
41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old 49 when he began serving 50 Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by 51 Pharaoh and was in charge of 52 all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 41:48
Context41:48 Joseph 53 collected all the excess food 54 in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. 55 In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it.
Genesis 41:54-55
Context41:54 Then the seven years of famine began, 56 just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, 57 “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”
Genesis 42:13
Context42:13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. 58 We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, 59 and one is no longer alive.” 60
Genesis 42:32-34
Context42:32 We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. 61 One is no longer alive, 62 and the youngest is with our father at this time 63 in the land of Canaan.’
42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain 64 for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know 65 that you are honest men and not spies. 66 Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” 67
Genesis 44:8
Context44:8 Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?
Genesis 45:8
Context45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser 68 to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 45:19
Context45:19 You are also commanded to say, 69 ‘Do this: Take for yourselves wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives. Bring your father and come.
Genesis 46:31
Context46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, 70 ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.
Genesis 48:4-5
Context48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful 71 and will multiply you. 72 I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants 73 as an everlasting possession.’ 74
48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. 75 Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.
Genesis 50:7-8
Context50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers 76 of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.
Genesis 50:13
Context50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
1 tn The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created.
sn Vegetation. The Hebrew word translated “vegetation” (דֶּשֶׁא, deshe’) normally means “grass,” but here it probably refers more generally to vegetation that includes many of the plants and trees. In the verse the plants and the trees are qualified as self-perpetuating with seeds, but not the word “vegetation,” indicating it is the general term and the other two terms are sub-categories of it. Moreover, in vv. 29 and 30 the word vegetation/grass does not appear. The Samaritan Pentateuch adds an “and” before the fruit trees, indicating it saw the arrangement as bipartite (The Samaritan Pentateuch tends to eliminate asyndetic constructions).
2 sn After their kinds. The Hebrew word translated “kind” (מִין, min) indicates again that God was concerned with defining and dividing time, space, and species. The point is that creation was with order, as opposed to chaos. And what God created and distinguished with boundaries was not to be confused (see Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9-11).
3 tn The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.
4 tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”
5 sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the
6 tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
8 tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”
9 tn The infinitive construct לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, from יָשַׁב, yashav) explains what it was that the land could not support: “the land could not support them to live side by side.” See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning Yahad and Yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.
10 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.
11 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
12 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
13 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
14 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
15 tn Or “kindness.”
16 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
17 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.
19 sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.
20 sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.
21 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
22 tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”
23 sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.
24 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.
25 tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.
sn I will be with you and I will bless you. The promise of divine presence is a promise to intervene to protect and to bless.
26 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
sn To you and to your descendants. The Abrahamic blessing will pass to Isaac. Everything included in that blessing will now belong to the son, and in turn will be passed on to his sons. But there is a contingency involved: If they are to enjoy the full blessings, they will have to obey the word of the
27 tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.
28 tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”
sn The solemn promise I made. See Gen 15:18-20; 22:16-18.
29 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 tn Heb “and he called its name.”
31 sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.
32 tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).
33 tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.
34 tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”
35 tn Heb “said.”
36 tn Heb “the one who said.”
37 tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.
38 tn Heb “land of their settlements.”
39 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
40 tn Heb “And look.”
41 tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
42 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
43 tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”
44 tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).
45 sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD3 1262).
46 sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.
47 sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.
48 tn Heb “and he passed through.”
49 tn Heb “a son of thirty years.”
50 tn Heb “when he stood before.”
51 tn Heb “went out from before.”
52 tn Heb “and he passed through all the land of Egypt”; this phrase is interpreted by JPS to mean that Joseph “emerged in charge of the whole land.”
53 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
54 tn Heb “all the food.”
55 tn Heb “of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and placed food in the cities.”
56 tn Heb “began to arrive.”
57 tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.
58 tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”
59 tn Heb “today.”
60 tn Heb “and the one is not.”
61 tn Heb “twelve [were] we, brothers, sons of our father [are] we.”
62 tn Heb “the one is not.”
63 tn Heb “today.”
64 tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
65 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.
66 tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”
67 sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.
68 tn Heb “a father.” The term is used here figuratively of one who gives advice, as a father would to his children.
69 tn The words “to say” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
70 tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”
71 tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following הִנֵּה (hinneh) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.
72 tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.
73 tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
74 tn The Hebrew word אֲחֻזָּה (’akhuzzah), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (אָחַז, ’akhaz) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).
75 sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.
76 tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”
