Discovery BoxGenesis 19:1 
Context19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while 1 Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. 2 When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.
Genesis 21:16
Context21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot 3 away; for she thought, 4 “I refuse to watch the child die.” 5 So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. 6
Genesis 24:16
Context24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. 7 She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.
Genesis 24:45
Context24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, 8 along came Rebekah 9 with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
Genesis 24:48
Context24:48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter 10 of my master’s brother for his son.
Genesis 27:5
Context27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. 11 When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 12
Genesis 28:11-12
Context28:11 He reached a certain place 13 where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. 14 He took one of the stones 15 and placed it near his head. 16 Then he fell asleep 17 in that place 28:12 and had a dream. 18 He saw 19 a stairway 20 erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it
Genesis 37:7
Context37:7 There we were, 21 binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down 22 to it!”
Genesis 37:9-10
Context37:9 Then he had another dream, 23 and told it to his brothers. “Look,” 24 he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? 25 Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” 26
Genesis 39:1
Context39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 27 An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, 28 purchased him from 29 the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.
Genesis 41:43
Context41:43 Pharaoh 30 had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, 31 and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” 32 So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 42:6
Context42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. 33 Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down 34 before him with 35 their faces to the ground.
Genesis 43:5
Context43:5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
Genesis 44:31
Context44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, 36 he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave.
Genesis 45:9
Context45:9 Now go up to my father quickly 37 and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay!
Genesis 46:3
Context46:3 He said, “I am God, 38 the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
Genesis 49:9
Context49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches and lies down like a lion;
like a lioness – who will rouse him?
1 tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.
2 tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.
sn The expression sitting in the city’s gateway may mean that Lot was exercising some type of judicial function (see the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 19:8; Jer 26:10; 38:7; 39:3).
3 sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).
4 tn Heb “said.”
5 tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.
6 tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.
7 tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.
8 tn Heb “As for me, before I finished speaking to my heart.” The adverb טֶרֶם (terem) indicates the verb is a preterite; the infinitive that follows is the direct object.
9 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out.” As in 24:15, the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is used here for dramatic effect.
10 tn Heb “daughter.” Rebekah was actually the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. One can either translate the Hebrew term בַּת (bat) as “daughter,” in which case the term אָח (’akh) must be translated more generally as “relative” rather than “brother” (cf. NASB, NRSV) or one can translate בַּת as “granddaughter,” in which case אָח may be translated “brother” (cf. NIV).
11 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.
12 tc The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.
13 tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.
14 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
15 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
16 tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.
17 tn Heb “lay down.”
18 tn Heb “and dreamed.”
19 tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the
20 tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.
21 tn All three clauses in this dream report begin with וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), which lends vividness to the report. This is represented in the translation by the expression “there we were.”
22 tn The verb means “to bow down to the ground.” It is used to describe worship and obeisance to masters.
23 tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”
24 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.
25 sn The question What is this dream that you had? expresses Jacob’s dismay at what he perceives to be Joseph’s audacity.
26 tn Heb “Coming, will we come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you to the ground?” The verb “come” is preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Jacob said, “You don’t really think we will come…to bow down…do you?”
27 tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.
28 sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.
29 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
30 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”
32 tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).
33 tn The disjunctive clause either introduces a new episode in the unfolding drama or provides the reader with supplemental information necessary to understanding the story.
34 sn Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Here is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (see Gen 37). But it is not the complete fulfillment, since all his brothers and his parents must come. The point of the dream, of course, was not simply to get the family to bow to Joseph, but that Joseph would be placed in a position of rule and authority to save the family and the world (41:57).
35 tn The word “faces” is an adverbial accusative, so the preposition has been supplied in the translation.
36 tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”
37 tn Heb “hurry and go up.”
38 tn Heb “the God.”
