Discovery BoxGenesis 3:1 
Context3:1 Now 1 the serpent 2 was more shrewd 3
than any of the wild animals 4 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 5 God 6 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 7
Genesis 18:32
Context18:32 Finally Abraham 8 said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
Genesis 29:7
Context29:7 Then Jacob 9 said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, 10 it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” 11
Genesis 33:14
Context33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, 12 until I come to my lord at Seir.”
Genesis 34:19
Context34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked 13 because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah 14 badly. (Now he was more important 15 than anyone in his father’s household.) 16
Genesis 37:8
Context37:8 Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” 17 They hated him even more 18 because of his dream and because of what he said. 19
Genesis 38:26
Context38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright 20 than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her 21 again.
Genesis 40:13
Context40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you 22 and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before 23 when you were cupbearer.
Genesis 45:11
Context45:11 I will provide you with food 24 there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you.”’
1 tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.
2 sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”
3 tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.
sn There is a wordplay in Hebrew between the words “naked” (עֲרוּמִּים, ’arummim) in 2:25 and “shrewd” (עָרוּם, ’arum) in 3:1. The point seems to be that the integrity of the man and the woman is the focus of the serpent’s craftiness. At the beginning they are naked and he is shrewd; afterward, they will be covered and he will be cursed.
4 tn Heb “animals of the field.”
5 tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”
6 sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [
7 tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “the day is great.”
11 tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.
12 tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”
13 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
14 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).
16 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
17 tn Heb “Ruling, will you rule over us, or reigning, will you reign over us?” The statement has a poetic style, with the two questions being in synonymous parallelism. Both verbs in this statement are preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Joseph’s brothers said, “You don’t really think you will rule over us, do you? You don’t really think you will have dominion over us, do you?”
18 tn This construction is identical to the one in Gen 37:5.
19 sn The response of Joseph’s brothers is understandable, given what has already been going on in the family. But here there is a hint of uneasiness – they hated him because of his dream and because of his words. The dream bothered them, as well as his telling them. And their words in the rhetorical question are ironic, for this is exactly what would happen. The dream was God’s way of revealing it.
20 tn Traditionally “more righteous”; cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT “more in the right.”
sn She is more upright than I. Judah had been irresponsible and unfaithful to his duty to see that the family line continued through the levirate marriage of his son Shelah. Tamar fought for her right to be the mother of Judah’s line. When she was not given Shelah and Judah’s wife died, she took action on her own to ensure that the line did not die out. Though deceptive, it was a desperate and courageous act. For Tamar it was within her rights; she did nothing that the law did not entitle her to do. But for Judah it was wrong because he thought he was going to a prostitute. See also Susan Niditch, “The Wronged Woman Righted: An Analysis of Genesis 38,” HTR 72 (1979): 143-48.
21 tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
22 tn Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head.” This Hebrew idiom usually refers to restoring dignity, office, or power. It is comparable to the modern saying “someone can hold his head up high.”
23 tn Heb “according to the former custom.”
24 tn The verb כּוּל (kul) in the Pilpel stem means “to nourish, to support, to sustain.” As in 1 Kgs 20:27, it here means “to supply with food.”
