Discovery BoxGenesis 16:2 
Context16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 1 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 2 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 3 Abram did what 4 Sarai told him.
Genesis 16:6
Context16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 5 servant is under your authority, 6 do to her whatever you think best.” 7 Then Sarai treated Hagar 8 harshly, 9 so she ran away from Sarai. 10
Genesis 16:11
Context16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,
“You are now 11 pregnant
and are about to give birth 12 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 13
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 14
Genesis 19:33
Context19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, 15 and the older daughter 16 came and had sexual relations with her father. 17 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 18
Genesis 20:13
Context20:13 When God made me wander 19 from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: 20 Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
Genesis 21:10
Context21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish 21 that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
Genesis 24:22
Context24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka 22 and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels 23 and gave them to her. 24
Genesis 24:41
Context24:41 You will be free from your oath 25 if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’
Genesis 24:65
Context24:65 and asked 26 Abraham’s servant, 27 “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied. 28 So she took her veil and covered herself.
Genesis 25:22-23
Context25:22 But the children struggled 29 inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” 30 So she asked the Lord, 31 25:23 and the Lord said to her,
“Two nations 32 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
Genesis 26:9
Context26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really 33 your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.” 34
Genesis 31:34-35
Context31:34 (Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle 35 and sat on them.) 36 Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. 37 31:35 Rachel 38 said to her father, “Don’t be angry, 39 my lord. I cannot stand up 40 in your presence because I am having my period.” 41 So he searched thoroughly, 42 but did not find the idols.
Genesis 38:8
Context38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with 43 your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise 44 up a descendant for your brother.” 45
Genesis 38:20
Context38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah 46 the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, 47 but Hirah 48 could not find her.
Genesis 39:14
Context39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought 49 in a Hebrew man 50 to us to humiliate us. 51 He tried to have sex with me, 52 but I screamed loudly. 53
1 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
2 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
sn The Hebrew expression translated have sexual relations with does not convey the intimacy of other expressions, such as “so and so knew his wife.” Sarai simply sees this as the social custom of having a child through a surrogate. For further discussion see C. F. Fensham, “The Son of a Handmaid in Northwest Semitic,” VT 19 (1969): 312-21.
3 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
4 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
sn Abram did what Sarai told him. This expression was first used in Gen 3:17 of Adam’s obeying his wife. In both cases the text highlights weak faith and how it jeopardized the plan of God.
5 tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”
6 tn Heb “in your hand.”
7 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
8 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”
10 tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
12 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
13 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
14 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
sn This clause gives the explanation of the name Ishmael, using a wordplay. Ishmael’s name will be a reminder that “God hears” Hagar’s painful cries.
15 tn Heb “drink wine.”
16 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
17 tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.
18 tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”
19 tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”
20 tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”
21 tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.
22 sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).
23 sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).
24 tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
25 tn Heb “my oath” (twice in this verse). From the Hebrew perspective the oath belonged to the person to whom it was sworn (Abraham), although in contemporary English an oath is typically viewed as belonging to the person who swears it (the servant).
26 tn Heb “and she said to.”
27 tn Heb “the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Heb “and the servant said.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
29 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
30 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
31 sn Asked the
32 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
33 tn Heb “Surely, look!” See N. H. Snaith, “The meaning of Hebrew ‘ak,” VT 14 (1964): 221-25.
34 tn Heb “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” Since the verb “said” probably means “said to myself” (i.e., “thought”) here, the direct discourse in the Hebrew statement has been converted to indirect discourse in the translation. In addition the simple prepositional phrase “on account of her” has been clarified in the translation as “to get her” (cf. v. 7).
35 tn The “camel’s saddle” was probably some sort of basket-saddle, a cushioned saddle with a basket bound on. Cf. NAB “inside a camel cushion.”
36 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides another parenthetical statement necessary to the storyline.
37 tn The word “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
38 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39 tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.
40 tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”
41 tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.
42 tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
43 tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
44 tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.
45 sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.
46 tn Heb “sent by the hand of his friend.” Here the name of the friend (“Hirah”) has been included in the translation for clarity.
47 tn Heb “to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand.”
48 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Judah’s friend Hirah the Adullamite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
49 tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).
50 sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.
51 tn Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.
52 tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
53 tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”
