Discovery BoxGenesis 6:1 
Context6:1 When humankind 1 began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born 2 to them, 3
Genesis 9:1
Context9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Genesis 11:8
Context11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building 4 the city.
Genesis 20:8
Context20:8 Early in the morning 5 Abimelech summoned 6 all his servants. When he told them about all these things, 7 they 8 were terrified.
Genesis 21:31
Context21:31 That is why he named that place 9 Beer Sheba, 10 because the two of them swore 11 an oath there.
Genesis 26:27
Context26:27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me 12 and sent me away from you.”
Genesis 29:5
Context29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson 13 of Nahor?” “We know him,” 14 they said.
Genesis 31:9
Context31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
Genesis 32:2
Context32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, 15 “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. 16
Genesis 37:18
Context37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers 17 saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
Genesis 41:6
Context41:6 Then 18 seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them.
Genesis 41:23
Context41:23 Then 19 seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them.
Genesis 42:18
Context42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say 20 and you will live, 21 for I fear God. 22
Genesis 42:23
Context42:23 (Now 23 they did not know that Joseph could understand them, 24 for he was speaking through an interpreter.) 25
Genesis 48:12
Context48:12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees 26 and bowed down with his face to the ground.
1 tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”
2 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.
3 tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.
4 tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
5 tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”
6 tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”
7 tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”
8 tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”
10 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.
11 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
12 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, expressing the reason for his question.
13 tn Heb “son.”
14 tn Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the translation several introductory clauses throughout this section have been placed after the direct discourse they introduce for stylistic reasons as well.
15 tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”
16 sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.
17 tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Heb “And look.”
19 tn Heb “And look.”
20 tn Heb “Do this.”
21 tn After the preceding imperative, the imperative with vav (ו) can, as here, indicate logical sequence.
22 sn For I fear God. Joseph brings God into the picture to awaken his brothers’ consciences. The godly person cares about the welfare of people, whether they live or die. So he will send grain back, but keep one of them in Egypt. This action contrasts with their crime of selling their brother into slavery.
23 tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
24 tn “was listening.” The brothers were not aware that Joseph could understand them as they spoke the preceding words in their native language.
25 tn Heb “for [there was] an interpreter between them.” On the meaning of the word here translated “interpreter” see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ and M. A. Canney, “The Hebrew melis (Prov IX 12; Gen XLII 2-3),” AJSL 40 (1923/24): 135-37.
26 tn Heb “and Joseph brought them out from with his knees.” The two boys had probably been standing by Israel’s knees when being adopted and blessed. The referent of the pronoun “his” (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
