Discovery BoxGenesis 4:2 
Context4:2 Then she gave birth 1 to his brother Abel. 2 Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3
Genesis 4:21
Context4:21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute.
Genesis 10:21
Context10:21 And sons were also born 4 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 5 the father of all the sons of Eber.
Genesis 22:23
Context22:23 (Now 6 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
Genesis 24:29
Context24:29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) 7 Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring.
Genesis 27:11
Context27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 8
Genesis 27:43
Context27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. 9 Run away immediately 10 to my brother Laban in Haran.
Genesis 32:3
Context32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead 11 to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region 12 of Edom.
Genesis 37:26
Context37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Genesis 38:30
Context38:30 Afterward his brother came out – the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand – and he was named Zerah. 13
Genesis 43:4
Context43:4 If you send 14 our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy food for you.
Genesis 43:6
Context43:6 Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble 15 on me by telling 16 the man you had one more brother?”
Genesis 45:14
Context45:14 Then he threw himself on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
1 tn Heb “And she again gave birth.”
2 sn The name Abel is not defined here in the text, but the tone is ominous. Abel’s name, the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hevel), means “breath, vapor, vanity,” foreshadowing Abel’s untimely and premature death.
3 tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (ro’eh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (’oved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.
4 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
5 tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.
6 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).
7 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause introduces the audience to Laban, who will eventually play an important role in the unfolding story.
8 tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn Heb “listen to my voice.”
10 tn Heb “arise, flee.”
11 tn Heb “before him.”
12 tn Heb “field.”
13 sn Perhaps the child was named Zerah because of the scarlet thread. Though the Hebrew word used for “scarlet thread” in v. 28 is not related to the name Zerah, there is a related root in Babylonian and western Aramaic that means “scarlet” or “scarlet thread.” In Hebrew the name appears to be derived from a root meaning “to shine.” The name could have originally meant something like “shining one” or “God has shined.” Zerah became the head of a tribe (Num 26:20) from whom Achan descended (Josh 7:1).
14 tn Heb “if there is you sending,” that is, “if you send.”
15 tn The verb may even have a moral connotation here, “Why did you do evil to me?”
16 tn The infinitive construct here explains how they brought trouble on Jacob.
