Discovery BoxGenesis 5:2 
Context5:2 He created them male and female; when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind.” 1
Genesis 6:1
Context6:1 When humankind 2 began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born 3 to them, 4
Genesis 6:12
Context6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed 5 it was ruined, 6 for all living creatures 7 on the earth were sinful. 8
Genesis 7:16
Context7:16 Those that entered were male and female, 9 just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
Genesis 7:19
Context7:19 The waters completely inundated 10 the earth so that even 11 all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.
Genesis 8:2
Context8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, 12 and the rain stopped falling from the sky.
Genesis 9:22
Context9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 13 saw his father’s nakedness 14 and told his two brothers who were outside.
Genesis 10:10
Context10:10 The primary regions 15 of his kingdom were Babel, 16 Erech, 17 Akkad, 18 and Calneh 19 in the land of Shinar. 20
Genesis 10:21
Context10:21 And sons were also born 21 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 22 the father of all the sons of Eber.
Genesis 20:8
Context20:8 Early in the morning 23 Abimelech summoned 24 all his servants. When he told them about all these things, 25 they 26 were terrified.
Genesis 22:23
Context22:23 (Now 27 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
Genesis 25:3
Context25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. 28 The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.
Genesis 31:4
Context31:4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah 29 to come to the field 30 where his flocks were. 31
Genesis 32:21
Context32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him 32 while he spent that night in the camp. 33
Genesis 35:6
Context35:6 Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) 34 in the land of Canaan. 35
Genesis 35:23
Context35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Genesis 36:21
Context36:21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants 36 of Seir in the land of Edom.
Genesis 36:31
Context36:31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites: 37
Genesis 39:22
Context39:22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing. 38
Genesis 40:10
Context40:10 On the vine there were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.
Genesis 41:2
Context41:2 seven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, 39 and they grazed in the reeds.
Genesis 41:6
Context41:6 Then 40 seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them.
Genesis 41:23
Context41:23 Then 41 seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them.
Genesis 41:50
Context41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. 42 Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. 43
Genesis 46:17
Context46:17 The sons of Asher:
Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister.
The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.
Genesis 47:28
Context47:28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years 44 of Jacob’s life were 147 in all.
1 tn The Hebrew word used here is אָדָם (’adam).
2 tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”
3 tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.
4 tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.
5 tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”
6 tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.
7 tn Heb “flesh.” Since moral corruption is in view here, most modern western interpreters understand the referent to be humankind. However, the phrase “all flesh” is used consistently of humankind and the animals in Gen 6-9 (6:17, 19; 7:15-16, 21; 8:17; 9:11, 15-17), suggesting that the author intends to picture all living creatures, humankind and animals, as guilty of moral failure. This would explain why the animals, not just humankind, are victims of the ensuing divine judgment. The OT sometimes views animals as morally culpable (Gen 9:5; Exod 21:28-29; Jonah 3:7-8). The OT also teaches that a person’s sin can contaminate others (people and animals) in the sinful person’s sphere (see the story of Achan, especially Josh 7:10). So the animals could be viewed here as morally contaminated because of their association with sinful humankind.
8 tn Heb “had corrupted its way.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “way” refers to the collective “all flesh.” The construction “corrupt one’s way” occurs only here (though Ezek 16:47 uses the Hiphil in an intransitive sense with the preposition בְּ [bet, “in”] followed by “ways”). The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) means “to ruin, to destroy, to corrupt,” often as here in a moral/ethical sense. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to behavior or moral character, a sense that it frequently carries (see BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a).
9 tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”
10 tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.
11 tn Heb “and.”
12 tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.
13 sn For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.
14 tn Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6-11, 15-19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24-28).
sn Saw the nakedness. It is hard for modern people to appreciate why seeing another’s nakedness was such an abomination, because nakedness is so prevalent today. In the ancient world, especially in a patriarchal society, seeing another’s nakedness was a major offense. (See the account in Herodotus, Histories 1.8-13, where a general saw the nakedness of his master’s wife, and one of the two had to be put to death.) Besides, Ham was not a little boy wandering into his father’s bedroom; he was over a hundred years old by this time. For fuller discussion see A. P. Ross, “The Curse of Canaan,” BSac 137 (1980): 223-40.
15 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
16 tn Or “Babylon.”
17 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
18 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
19 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
20 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
21 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
22 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.
23 tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”
24 tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”
25 tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”
26 tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
27 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).
28 sn The names Sheba and Dedan appear in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Ham through Cush and Raamah. Since these two names are usually interpreted to be place names, one plausible suggestion is that some of Abraham’s descendants lived in those regions and took names linked with it.
29 tn Heb “sent and called for Rachel and for Leah.” Jacob did not go in person, but probably sent a servant with a message for his wives to meet him in the field.
30 tn Heb “the field.” The word is an adverbial accusative, indicating that this is where Jacob wanted them to meet him. The words “to come to” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
31 tn Heb “to his flock.”
32 tn Heb “and the gift passed over upon his face.”
33 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial/temporal.
34 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
35 tn Heb “and Jacob came to Luz which is in the land of Canaan – it is Bethel – he and all the people who were with him.”
36 tn Or “sons.”
37 tn Or perhaps “before any Israelite king ruled over [them].”
38 tn Heb “all which they were doing there, he was doing.” This probably means that Joseph was in charge of everything that went on in the prison.
39 tn Heb “And look, he was standing by the Nile, and look, from the Nile were coming up seven cows, attractive of appearance and fat of flesh.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to see the dream through Pharaoh’s eyes.
40 tn Heb “And look.”
41 tn Heb “And look.”
42 tn Heb “before the year of the famine came.”
43 tn Heb “gave birth for him.”
44 tn Heb “the days of the years.”
