¹ tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”

² sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the Lord as a result of sin also appears in Gen 3:8-10.

³ sn On the divine style utilized here, see R. Lapointe, “The Divine Monologue as a Channel of Revelation,” CBQ 32 (1970): 161-81.

⁴ tn Heb “the end of all flesh is coming [or “has come”] before me.” (The verb form is either a perfect or a participle.) The phrase “end of all flesh” occurs only here. The term “end” refers here to the end of “life,” as v. 3 and the following context (which describes how God destroys all flesh) make clear. The statement “the end has come” occurs in Ezek 7:2, 6, where it is used of divine judgment. The phrase “come before” occurs in Exod 28:30, 35; 34:34; Lev 15:14; Num 27:17; 1 Sam 18:13, 16; 2 Sam 19:8; 20:8; 1 Kgs 1:23, 28, 32; Ezek 46:9; Pss 79:11 (groans come before God); 88:3 (a prayer comes before God); 100:2; 119:170 (prayer comes before God); Lam 1:22 (evil doing comes before God); Esth 1:19; 8:1; 9:25; 1 Chr 16:29. The expression often means “have an audience with” or “appear before.” But when used metaphorically, it can mean “get the attention of” or “prompt a response.” This is probably the sense in Gen 6:13. The necessity of ending the life of all flesh on earth is an issue that has gotten the attention of God. The term “end” may even be a metonymy for that which has prompted it – violence (see the following clause).

⁵ tn The participle, especially after הִנֵּה (hinneh) has an imminent future nuance. The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) here has the sense “to destroy” (in judgment). Note the wordplay involving this verb in vv. 11-13: The earth is “ruined” because all flesh has acted in a morally “corrupt” manner. Consequently, God will “destroy” all flesh (the referent of the suffix “them”) along with the ruined earth. They had ruined themselves and the earth with violence, and now God would ruin them with judgment. For other cases where “earth” occurs as the object of the Hiphil of שָׁחָת, see 1 Sam 6:5; 1 Chr 20:1; Jer 36:29; 51:25.

⁶ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

⁷ tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

⁸ tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings on”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

⁹ tn The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: “…if I take.” It is as if Abram says, “[May the Lord deal with me] if I take,” meaning, “I will surely not take.” The positive oath would add the negative adverb and be the reverse: “[God will deal with me] if I do not take,” meaning, “I certainly will.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun (“I”) to the verb form for emphasis.

¹¹ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

¹² tn Or “as an eternal.”

¹³ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

¹⁴ tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

¹⁵ tn Or “as an eternal.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “peoples.”

¹⁸ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

¹⁹ tn Heb “because of five.”

²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²² tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.

²³ tn Heb “in your eyes.”

²⁴ tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”

²⁵ sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.

²⁶ tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.

²⁷ tn Heb “lest.”

²⁸ tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.

²⁹ tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.

³⁰ tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.

³¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

³² tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”

³³ tn Heb “give.”

³⁴ tn Heb “silver.”

³⁵ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

³⁶ tn Heb “if you are making successful my way on which I am going.”

³⁷ tn The words “may events unfold as follows” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

³⁸ tn Heb “the spring of water.”

³⁹ tn Heb “and it will be.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “As for me, before I finished speaking to my heart.” The adverb טֶרֶם (terem) indicates the verb is a preterite; the infinitive that follows is the direct object.

⁴¹ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out.” As in 24:15, the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is used here for dramatic effect.

⁴² tn Heb “whom Milcah bore to him.” The referent (Nahor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴³ tn Heb “daughter.” Rebekah was actually the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. One can either translate the Hebrew term בַּת (bat) as “daughter,” in which case the term אָח (’akh) must be translated more generally as “relative” rather than “brother” (cf. NASB, NRSV) or one can translate בַּת as “granddaughter,” in which case אָח may be translated “brother” (cf. NIV).

⁴⁴ tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.

⁴⁶ sn Asked the Lord. In other passages (e.g., 1 Sam 9:9) this expression refers to inquiring of a prophet, but no details are provided here.

⁴⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

⁴⁸ tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.

⁴⁹ tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the Lord,” she stresses how serious this matter is.

⁵⁰ tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.

⁵¹ tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.

⁵² tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.

⁵³ tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”

⁵⁴ tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.

⁵⁵ tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.

⁵⁶ tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.

⁵⁷ tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.

⁵⁸ tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.

⁵⁹ tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

⁶⁰ tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the Lord has blessed me” (cf. NEB). See J. Finkelstein, “An Old Babylonian Herding Contract and Genesis 31:38f.,” JAOS 88 (1968): 34, n. 19.

⁶¹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶² tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

⁶³ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶⁴ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

⁶⁵ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

⁶⁶ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶⁷ tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.

⁶⁸ tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”

⁶⁹ tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.

⁷⁰ tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

⁷¹ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates that this was a customary or typical action.

⁷² tn Heb “from my hand you exacted it.” The imperfect verbal form again indicates that this was a customary or typical action. The words “for every missing animal” are supplied in the translation for clarity; the following clause in Hebrew, “stolen by day or stolen by night,” probably means “stolen by wild beasts” and refers to the same animals “torn by wild beasts” in the previous clause, although it may refer to animals stolen by people. The translation used here, “missing,” is ambiguous enough to cover either eventuality.

⁷³ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

⁷⁴ tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

⁷⁵ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

⁷⁶ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

⁷⁷ sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.

⁷⁸ tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

⁷⁹ tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”

⁸⁰ tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.

⁸¹ tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”

⁸² tn Heb “I will see his face.”

⁸³ tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.

⁸⁴ tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier.

⁸⁵ tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity.

⁸⁶ tn Heb “all.”

⁸⁷ tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity.

⁸⁸ 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.”

⁸⁹ tn Heb “Make very great upon me the bride price and gift.” The imperatives are used in a rhetorical manner. Shechem’s point is that he will pay the price, no matter how expensive it might be.

⁹⁰ tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.

⁹¹ tn Heb “say.”

⁹² tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

⁹³ tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

⁹⁴ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

⁹⁵ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

⁹⁶ 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.

⁹⁷ tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

⁹⁸ tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.

⁹⁹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose/result.

¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “that you are not spies, that you are honest men.”

¹⁰¹ sn Joseph’s brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph (Leave one of your brothers with me) instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack.

¹⁰² tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.

¹⁰³ tn Heb “my hand.”

¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “release to you.” After the jussive this perfect verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) probably indicates logical consequence, as well as temporal sequence.

¹⁰⁶ sn Several Jewish commentators suggest that the expression your other brother refers to Joseph. This would mean that Jacob prophesied unwittingly. However, it is much more likely that Simeon is the referent of the phrase “your other brother” (see Gen 42:24).

¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “if I am bereaved I am bereaved.” With this fatalistic sounding statement Jacob resolves himself to the possibility of losing both Benjamin and Simeon.

¹⁰⁸ tn Or “for.”

¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “the God.”