Discovery BoxGenesis 14:5 
Context14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated 1 the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
Genesis 14:10
Context14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. 2 When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, 3 but some survivors 4 fled to the hills. 5
Genesis 17:16
Context17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. 6 Kings of countries 7 will come from her!”
Genesis 35:11
Context35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. 8 Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! 9
Genesis 39:20
Context39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, 10 the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. 11
1 tn The Hebrew verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to attack, to strike, to smite.” In this context it appears that the strike was successful, and so a translation of “defeated” is preferable.
2 tn Heb “Now the Valley of Siddim [was] pits, pits of tar.” This parenthetical disjunctive clause emphasizes the abundance of tar pits in the area through repetition of the noun “pits.”
sn The word for “tar” (or “bitumen”) occurs earlier in the story of the building of the tower in Babylon (see Gen 11:3).
3 tn Or “they were defeated there.” After a verb of motion the Hebrew particle שָׁם (sham) with the directional heh (שָׁמָּה, shammah) can mean “into it, therein” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָׁם).
4 tn Heb “the rest.”
5 sn The reference to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah must mean the kings along with their armies. Most of them were defeated in the valley, but some of them escaped to the hills.
6 tn Heb “she will become nations.”
7 tn Heb “peoples.”
8 tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. For a fuller discussion see the note on “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
9 tn Heb “A nation and a company of nations will be from you and kings from your loins will come out.”
sn A nation…will descend from you. The promise is rooted in the Abrahamic promise (see Gen 17). God confirms what Isaac told Jacob (see Gen 28:3-4). Here, though, for the first time Jacob is promised kings as descendants.
10 tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.
11 sn The story of Joseph is filled with cycles and repetition: He has two dreams (chap. 37), he interprets two dreams in prison (chap. 40) and the two dreams of Pharaoh (chap. 41), his brothers make two trips to see him (chaps. 42-43), and here, for the second time (see 37:24), he is imprisoned for no good reason, with only his coat being used as evidence. For further discussion see H. Jacobsen, “A Legal Note on Potiphar’s Wife,” HTR 69 (1976): 177.
