Discovery BoxGenesis 4:26 
Context4:26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people 1 began to worship 2 the Lord.
Genesis 5:3
Context5:3 When 3 Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth.
Genesis 10:25
Context10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, 4 and his brother’s name was Joktan.
Genesis 16:1
Context16:1 Now Sarai, 5 Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, 6 but she had an Egyptian servant 7 named Hagar. 8
Genesis 16:13
Context16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 9 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 10
Genesis 19:37-38
Context19:37 The older daughter 11 gave birth to a son and named him Moab. 12 He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. 13 He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.
Genesis 25:26
Context25:26 When his brother came out with 14 his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. 15 Isaac was sixty years old 16 when they were born.
Genesis 30:6
Context30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer 17 and given me a son.” That is why 18 she named him Dan. 19
Genesis 30:8
Context30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” 20 So she named him Naphtali. 21
Genesis 30:18
Context30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward 22 because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” 23 So she named him Issachar. 24
Genesis 30:20
Context30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 25
Genesis 35:7-8
Context35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel 26 because there God had revealed himself 27 to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, 28 Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named 29 Oak of Weeping.) 30
Genesis 35:10
Context35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name.” So God named him Israel. 31
Genesis 38:2
Context38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man 32 named Shua. 33 Judah acquired her as a wife 34 and had marital relations with her. 35
Genesis 41:51
Context41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, 36 saying, 37 “Certainly 38 God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”
1 tn The word “people” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. The construction uses a passive verb without an expressed subject. “To call was begun” can be interpreted to mean that people began to call.
2 tn Heb “call in the name.” The expression refers to worshiping the
3 tn Heb “and Adam lived 130 years.” In the translation the verb is subordinated to the following verb, “and he fathered,” and rendered as a temporal clause.
4 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
5 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.
6 sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.
7 tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.
8 sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)
9 tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).
10 tn Heb “after one who sees me.”
sn For a discussion of Hagar’s exclamation, see T. Booij, “Hagar’s Words in Genesis 16:13b,” VT 30 (1980): 1-7.
11 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
12 sn The meaning of the name Moab is not certain. The name sounds like the Hebrew phrase “from our father” (מֵאָבִינוּ, me’avinu) which the daughters used twice (vv. 32, 34). This account is probably included in the narrative in order to portray the Moabites, who later became enemies of God’s people, in a negative light.
13 sn The name Ben-Ammi means “son of my people.” Like the account of Moab’s birth, this story is probably included in the narrative to portray the Ammonites, another perennial enemy of Israel, in a negative light.
14 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
15 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.
sn The name Jacob is a play on the Hebrew word for “heel” (עָקֵב, ’aqev). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. It did not have a negative connotation until Esau redefined it. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. After receiving such an oracle, the parents would have preserved in memory almost every detail of the unusual births.
16 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
17 tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.
18 tn Or “therefore.”
19 sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.
20 tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.
21 sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”
22 tn Heb “God has given my reward.”
23 tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).
sn Leah seems to regard the act of giving her servant Zilpah to her husband as a sacrifice, for which (she believes) God is now rewarding her with the birth of a son.
24 sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.
25 sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.
26 sn The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”
27 tn Heb “revealed themselves.” The verb נִגְלוּ (niglu), translated “revealed himself,” is plural, even though one expects the singular form with the plural of majesty. Perhaps אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a numerical plural, referring both to God and the angelic beings that appeared to Jacob. See the note on the word “know” in Gen 3:5.
28 sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.
29 tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.
30 tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.
31 tn Heb “and he called his name Israel.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
sn The name Israel means “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). See Gen 32:28.
32 tn Heb “a man, a Canaanite.”
33 tn Heb “and his name was Shua.”
34 tn Heb “and he took her.”
35 tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
36 sn The name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh) describes God’s activity on behalf of Joseph, explaining in general the significance of his change of fortune. The name is a Piel participle, suggesting the meaning “he who brings about forgetfulness.” The Hebrew verb נַשַּׁנִי (nashani) may have been used instead of the normal נִשַּׁנִי (nishani) to provide a closer sound play with the name. The giving of this Hebrew name to his son shows that Joseph retained his heritage and faith; and it shows that a brighter future was in store for him.
37 tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
38 tn Or “for.”
