Discovery BoxGenesis 2:21 
Context2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, 1 and while he was asleep, 2 he took part of the man’s side 3 and closed up the place with flesh. 4
Genesis 14:10
Context14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. 5 When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, 6 but some survivors 7 fled to the hills. 8
Genesis 15:5
Context15:5 The Lord 9 took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
Genesis 17:20
Context17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 10 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 11 He will become the father of twelve princes; 12 I will make him into a great nation.
Genesis 24:67
Context24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah 13 into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her 14 as his wife and loved her. 15 So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. 16
Genesis 32:16
Context32:16 He entrusted them to 17 his servants, who divided them into herds. 18 He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.”
Genesis 37:20
Context37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild 19 animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!” 20
Genesis 39:8
Context39:8 But he refused, saying 21 to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought 22 to his household with me here, 23 and everything that he owns he has put into my care. 24
Genesis 39:20
Context39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, 25 the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. 26
Genesis 46:3
Context46:3 He said, “I am God, 27 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 47:14
Context47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment 28 for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. 29
Genesis 48:4
Context48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful 30 and will multiply you. 31 I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants 32 as an everlasting possession.’ 33
Genesis 48:16
Context48:16 the Angel 34 who has protected me 35
from all harm –
bless these boys.
May my name be named in them, 36
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.
May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”
Genesis 49:6
Context49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,
do not be united to their assembly, my heart, 37
for in their anger they have killed men,
and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.
1 tn Heb “And the
2 tn Heb “and he slept.” In the sequence the verb may be subordinated to the following verb to indicate a temporal clause (“while…”).
3 tn Traditionally translated “rib,” the Hebrew word actually means “side.” The Hebrew text reads, “and he took one from his sides,” which could be rendered “part of his sides.” That idea may fit better the explanation by the man that the woman is his flesh and bone.
4 tn Heb “closed up the flesh under it.”
5 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).
6 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).
7 tn Heb “the rest.”
8 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.
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
10 sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.
11 tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
12 tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.
13 tn Heb “her”; the referent has been specified here in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “Rebekah”; here the proper name was replaced by the pronoun (“her”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
15 tn Heb “and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her.”
16 tn Heb “after his mother.” This must refer to Sarah’s death.
17 tn Heb “and he put them in the hand of.”
18 tn Heb “a herd, a herd, by itself,” or “each herd by itself.” The distributive sense is expressed by repetition.
19 tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.
20 tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”
21 tn Heb “and he said.”
22 tn Heb “know.”
23 tn The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
24 tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
25 tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.
26 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.
27 tn Heb “the God.”
28 tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.
29 tn Heb “house.”
30 tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following הִנֵּה (hinneh) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.
31 tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.
32 tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
33 tn The Hebrew word אֲחֻזָּה (’akhuzzah), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (אָחַז, ’akhaz) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).
34 sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.
35 tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).
36 tn Or “be recalled through them.”
37 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.
