Discovery BoxGenesis 3:17 
Context“Because you obeyed 2 your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
cursed is the ground 3 thanks to you; 4
in painful toil you will eat 5 of it all the days of your life.
Genesis 18:5
Context18:5 And let me get 6 a bit of food 7 so that you may refresh yourselves 8 since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” 9 “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”
Genesis 20:7
Context20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed 10 he is a prophet 11 and he will pray for you; thus you will live. 12 But if you don’t give her back, 13 know that you will surely die 14 along with all who belong to you.”
1 tn Since there is no article on the word, the personal name is used, rather than the generic “the man” (cf. NRSV).
2 tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” often means “obey.” The man “obeyed” his wife and in the process disobeyed God.
3 sn For the ground to be cursed means that it will no longer yield its bounty as the blessing from God had promised. The whole creation, Paul writes in Rom 8:22, is still groaning under this curse, waiting for the day of redemption.
4 tn The Hebrew phrase בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ (ba’avurekha) is more literally translated “on your account” or “because of you.” The idiomatic “thanks to you” in the translation tries to capture the point of this expression.
5 sn In painful toil you will eat. The theme of eating is prominent throughout Gen 3. The prohibition was against eating from the tree of knowledge. The sin was in eating. The interrogation concerned the eating from the tree of knowledge. The serpent is condemned to eat the dust of the ground. The curse focuses on eating in a “measure for measure” justice. Because the man and the woman sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, God will forbid the ground to cooperate, and so it will be through painful toil that they will eat.
6 tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.
7 tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.
8 tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.
9 tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”
10 tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.
11 sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.
12 tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.
sn He will pray for you that you may live. Abraham was known as a man of God whose prayer would be effectual. Ironically and sadly, he was also known as a liar.
13 tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.
14 tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.
