Discovery BoxGenesis 3:3 
Context3:3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, 1 or else you will die.’” 2
Genesis 4:7
Context4:7 Is it not true 3 that if you do what is right, you will be fine? 4 But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching 5 at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” 6
Genesis 13:6
Context13:6 But the land could 7 not support them while they were living side by side. 8 Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live 9 alongside one another.
Genesis 18:30
Context18:30 Then Abraham 10 said, “May the Lord not be angry 11 so that I may speak! 12 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
Genesis 18:32
Context18:32 Finally Abraham 13 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 24:8
Context24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, 14 you will be free 15 from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”
Genesis 26:29
Context26:29 so that 16 you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed 17 you, but have always treated you well 18 before sending you away 19 in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” 20
Genesis 31:52
Context31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. 21
Genesis 38:9
Context38:9 But Onan knew that the child 22 would not be considered his. 23 So whenever 24 he had sexual relations with 25 his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely 26 so as not to give his brother a descendant.
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 47:22
Context47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
Genesis 49:6
Context49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,
do not be united to their assembly, my heart, 27
for in their anger they have killed men,
and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.
1 sn And you must not touch it. The woman adds to God’s prohibition, making it say more than God expressed. G. von Rad observes that it is as though she wanted to set a law for herself by means of this exaggeration (Genesis [OTL], 86).
2 tn The Hebrew construction is פֶּן (pen) with the imperfect tense, which conveys a negative purpose: “lest you die” = “in order that you not die.” By stating the warning in this way, the woman omits the emphatic infinitive used by God (“you shall surely die,” see 2:17).
3 tn The introduction of the conditional clause with an interrogative particle prods the answer from Cain, as if he should have known this. It is not a condemnation, but an encouragement to do what is right.
4 tn The Hebrew text is difficult, because only one word occurs, שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et), which appears to be the infinitive construct from the verb “to lift up” (נָאָשׂ, na’as). The sentence reads: “If you do well, uplifting.” On the surface it seems to be the opposite of the fallen face. Everything will be changed if he does well. God will show him favor, he will not be angry, and his face will reflect that. But more may be intended since the second half of the verse forms the contrast: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching….” Not doing well leads to sinful attack; doing well leads to victory and God’s blessing.
5 tn The Hebrew term translated “crouching” (רֹבֵץ, rovets) is an active participle. Sin is portrayed with animal imagery here as a beast crouching and ready to pounce (a figure of speech known as zoomorphism). An Akkadian cognate refers to a type of demon; in this case perhaps one could translate, “Sin is the demon at the door” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 29, 32-33).
6 tn Heb “and toward you [is] its desire, but you must rule over it.” As in Gen 3:16, the Hebrew noun “desire” refers to an urge to control or dominate. Here the desire is that which sin has for Cain, a desire to control for the sake of evil, but Cain must have mastery over it. The imperfect is understood as having an obligatory sense. Another option is to understand it as expressing potential (“you can have [or “are capable of having”] mastery over it.”). It will be a struggle, but sin can be defeated by righteousness. In addition to this connection to Gen 3, other linguistic and thematic links between chaps. 3 and 4 are discussed by A. J. Hauser, “Linguistic and Thematic Links Between Genesis 4:1-6 and Genesis 2–3,” JETS 23 (1980): 297-306.
7 tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”
8 tn The infinitive construct לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, from יָשַׁב, yashav) explains what it was that the land could not support: “the land could not support them to live side by side.” See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning Yahad and Yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.
9 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “let it not be hot to the
12 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “ to go after you.”
15 sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.
16 tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”
17 tn Heb “touched.”
18 tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”
19 tn Heb “and we sent you away.”
20 tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).
21 tn Heb “This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness, if I go past this pile to you and if you go past this pile and this pillar to me for harm.”
22 tn Heb “offspring.”
23 tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.
24 tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.
sn The text makes it clear that the purpose of the custom was to produce an heir for the deceased brother. Onan had no intention of doing that. But he would have sex with the girl as much as he wished. He was willing to use the law to gratify his desires, but was not willing to do the responsible thing.
25 tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
26 tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.
27 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.
