Discovery BoxGenesis 3:22 
Context3:22 And the Lord God said, “Now 1 that the man has become like one of us, 2 knowing 3 good and evil, he must not be allowed 4 to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
Genesis 8:9
Context8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered 5 the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah 6 in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, 7 and brought it back into the ark. 8
Genesis 17:17
Context17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 9 as he said to himself, 10 “Can 11 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 12 Can Sarah 13 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 14
Genesis 23:9
Context23:9 if he will sell 15 me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly 16 for the full price, 17 so that I may own it as a burial site.”
Genesis 24:7
Context24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, 18 promised me with a solemn oath, 19 ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel 20 before you so that you may find 21 a wife for my son from there.
Genesis 24:40
Context24:40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, 22 will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.
Genesis 26:7
Context26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” 23 He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, 24 “The men of this place will kill me to get 25 Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”
Genesis 30:35
Context30:35 So that day Laban 26 removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care 27 of his sons.
Genesis 37:22
Context37:22 Reuben continued, 28 “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” 29 (Reuben said this 30 so he could rescue Joseph 31 from them 32 and take him back to his father.)
Genesis 38:16
Context38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” 33 (He did not realize 34 it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” 35
Genesis 42:7
Context42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger 36 to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, 37 “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” 38
Genesis 42:38
Context42:38 But Jacob 39 replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. 40 If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair 41 in sorrow to the grave.” 42
Genesis 43:32
Context43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, 43 and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting 44 to do so.) 45
Genesis 47:29
Context47:29 The time 46 for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh 47 and show me kindness and faithfulness. 48 Do not bury me in Egypt,
Genesis 49:26
Context49:26 The blessings of your father are greater
than 49 the blessings of the eternal mountains 50
or the desirable things of the age-old hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph
and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. 51
1 tn The particle הֵן (hen) introduces a foundational clause, usually beginning with “since, because, now.”
2 sn The man has become like one of us. See the notes on Gen 1:26 and 3:5.
3 tn The infinitive explains in what way the man had become like God: “knowing good and evil.”
4 tn Heb “and now, lest he stretch forth.” Following the foundational clause, this clause forms the main point. It is introduced with the particle פֶּן (pen) which normally introduces a negative purpose, “lest….” The construction is elliptical; something must be done lest the man stretch forth his hand. The translation interprets the point intended.
5 tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”
9 sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.
10 tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”
11 tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.
12 tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”
13 sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).
14 tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”
15 tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.
16 tn Heb “in your presence.”
17 tn Heb “silver.”
18 tn Or “the land of my birth.”
19 tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”
20 tn Or “his messenger.”
21 tn Heb “before you and you will take.”
22 tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the
23 sn Rebekah, unlike Sarah, was not actually her husband’s sister.
24 tn Heb “lest.” The words “for he thought to himself” are supplied because the next clause is written with a first person pronoun, showing that Isaac was saying or thinking this.
25 tn Heb “kill me on account of.”
26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”
28 tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”
29 sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.
30 tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
31 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.
33 tn Heb “I will go to you.” The imperfect verbal form probably indicates his desire here. The expression “go to” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
34 tn Heb “for he did not know that.”
35 tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
36 sn But pretended to be a stranger. Joseph intends to test his brothers to see if they have changed and have the integrity to be patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He will do this by putting them in the same situations that they and he were in before. The first test will be to awaken their conscience.
37 tn Heb “said.”
38 tn The verb is denominative, meaning “to buy grain”; the word “food” could simply be the direct object, but may also be an adverbial accusative.
39 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
40 sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.
41 sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.
42 tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.
43 tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44 tn Or “disgraceful.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 46:34 and Exod 8:22.
45 tn Heb “and they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not able to eat food with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination for the Egyptians.” The imperfect verbal form in the explanatory clause is taken as habitual in force, indicating a practice that was still in effect in the narrator’s time.
sn That the Egyptians found eating with foreigners disgusting is well-attested in extra-biblical literature by writers like Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo.
46 tn Heb “days.”
47 sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.
48 tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”
49 tn Heb “have prevailed over.”
50 tn One could interpret the phrase הוֹרַי (horay) to mean “my progenitors” (literally, “the ones who conceived me”), but the masculine form argues against this. It is better to emend the text to הַרֲרֵי (harare, “mountains of”) because it forms a better parallel with the next clause. In this case the final yod (י) on the form is a construct plural marker, not a pronominal suffix.
51 tn For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.
