Discovery BoxGenesis 12:15 
Context12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife 1 was taken 2 into the household of Pharaoh, 3
Genesis 16:3
Context16:3 So after Abram had lived 4 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 5 to her husband to be his wife. 6
Genesis 17:15
Context17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 7 Sarah 8 will be her name.
Genesis 24:53
Context24:53 Then he 9 brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.
Genesis 24:59
Context24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men.
Genesis 29:12
Context29:12 When Jacob explained 10 to Rachel that he was a relative of her father 11 and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father.
Genesis 30:3
Context30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with 12 her so that she can bear 13 children 14 for me 15 and I can have a family through her.” 16
Genesis 35:17
Context35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, 17 the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” 18
Genesis 38:2
Context38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man 19 named Shua. 20 Judah acquired her as a wife 21 and had marital relations with her. 22
Genesis 39:10
Context39:10 Even though she continued to speak 23 to Joseph day after day, he did not respond 24 to her invitation to have sex with her. 25
1 tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.
2 tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.
3 tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.
4 tn Heb “at the end of ten years, to live, Abram.” The prepositional phrase introduces the temporal clause, the infinitive construct serves as the verb, and the name “Abram” is the subject.
5 tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”
6 sn To be his wife. Hagar became a slave wife, not on equal standing with Sarai. However, if Hagar produced the heir, she would be the primary wife in the eyes of society. When this eventually happened, Hagar become insolent, prompting Sarai’s anger.
7 tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”
8 sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.
9 tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
10 tn Heb “declared.”
11 tn Heb “that he [was] the brother of her father.”
12 tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
13 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.
14 tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
15 tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.
16 tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).
17 tn The construction uses a Hiphil infinitive, which E. A. Speiser classifies as an elative Hiphil. The contrast is with the previous Piel: there “she had hard labor,” and here, “her labor was at its hardest.” Failure to see this, Speiser notes, has led to redundant translations and misunderstandings (Genesis [AB], 273).
18 sn Another son. The episode recalls and fulfills the prayer of Rachel at the birth of Joseph (Gen 30:24): “may he add” another son.
19 tn Heb “a man, a Canaanite.”
20 tn Heb “and his name was Shua.”
21 tn Heb “and he took her.”
22 tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
23 tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition כְּ (kÿ). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.
24 tn Heb “listen to.”
25 tn Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
