1 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
2 tn Or “Babylon.”
3 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
4 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
5 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
6 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
7 tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
8 tn Heb “Asshur.”
9 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
10 sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
11 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
