Discovery BoxGenesis 18:21 
Context18:21 that I must go down 1 and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. 2 If not, 3 I want to know.”
Genesis 24:19
Context24:19 When she had done so, 4 she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.”
Genesis 24:33
Context24:33 When food was served, 5 he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” 6 “Tell us,” Laban said. 7
Genesis 42:36
Context42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. 8 Simeon is gone. 9 And now you want to take 10 Benjamin! Everything is against me.”
1 tn The cohortative indicates the
sn I must go down. The descent to “see” Sodom is a bold anthropomorphism, stressing the careful judgment of God. The language is reminiscent of the
2 tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the
3 sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.
4 tn Heb “when she had finished giving him a drink.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “and food was placed before him.”
6 tn Heb “my words.”
7 tc Some ancient textual witnesses have a plural verb, “and they said.”
tn Heb “and he said, ‘Speak.’” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “is not.”
9 tn Heb “is not.”
10 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.
