Discovery BoxGenesis 14:14 
Context14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew 1 had been taken captive, he mobilized 2 his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders 3 as far as Dan. 4
Genesis 18:2
Context18:2 Abraham 5 looked up 6 and saw 7 three men standing across 8 from him. When he saw them 9 he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low 10 to the ground. 11
Genesis 19:16
Context19:16 When Lot 12 hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. 13 They led them away and placed them 14 outside the city.
Genesis 24:32
Context24:32 So Abraham’s servant 15 went to the house and unloaded 16 the camels. Straw and feed were given 17 to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. 18
Genesis 24:54
Context24:54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. 19
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” 20
Genesis 26:10
Context26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? 21 One of the men 22 might easily have had sexual relations with 23 your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
Genesis 34:22
Context34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand 24 that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised.
Genesis 38:21
Context38:21 He asked the men who were there, 25 “Where is the cult prostitute 26 who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”
Genesis 41:8
Context41:8 In the morning he 27 was troubled, so he called for 28 all the diviner-priests 29 of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, 30 but no one could interpret 31 them for him. 32
Genesis 42:33-34
Context42:33 “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 33 for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know 34 that you are honest men and not spies. 35 Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” 36
Genesis 44:1
Context44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.
Genesis 44:4
Context44:4 They had not gone very far from the city 37 when Joseph said 38 to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! 39 When you overtake 40 them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?
Genesis 49:6
Context49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,
do not be united to their assembly, my heart, 41
for in their anger they have killed men,
and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.
1 tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).
2 tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.
3 tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
7 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.
8 tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.
9 tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
10 tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).
11 sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “in the compassion of the
14 tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).
15 tn Heb “the man”; the referent (Abraham’s servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Some translations (e.g., NEB, NASB, NRSV) understand Laban to be the subject of this and the following verbs or take the subject of this and the following verbs as indefinite (referring to an unnamed servant; e.g., NAB, NIV).
17 tn Heb “and [one] gave.” The verb without an expressed subject may be translated as passive.
18 tn Heb “and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”
19 tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”
20 tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”
21 tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
22 tn Heb “people.”
23 tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”
24 tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”
25 tn Heb “the men of her place,” that is, who lived at the place where she had been.
26 sn The Hebrew noun translated “cult prostitute” is derived from a verb meaning “to be set apart; to be distinct.” Thus the term refers to a woman who did not marry, but was dedicated to temple service as a cult prostitute. The masculine form of this noun is used for male cult prostitutes. Judah thought he had gone to an ordinary prostitute (v. 15); but Hirah went looking for a cult prostitute, perhaps because it had been a sheep-shearing festival. For further discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, “Cultic Prostitution,” Orient and Occident (AOAT), 213-23.
27 tn Heb “his spirit.”
28 tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.
29 tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.
30 tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).
31 tn “there was no interpreter.”
32 tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
33 tn The word “grain” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
34 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.
35 tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”
36 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.
37 tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”
38 tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.
39 tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
40 tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”
41 tn The Hebrew text reads “my glory,” but it is preferable to repoint the form and read “my liver.” The liver was sometimes viewed as the seat of the emotions and will (see HALOT 456 s.v. II כָּבֵד) for which the heart is the modern equivalent.
