¹ tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”

² tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.

³ tn Heb “was going.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.

⁵ tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.

⁶ tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

⁷ tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” The description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form a hendiadys: “wicked and sinners” means “wicked sinners,” the first word becoming adjectival. The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause pain for others. Then to this phrase is added “against the Lord,” stressing their violation of the laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “exceedingly,” translated here as “extremely”).

⁸ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.

⁹ tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds, “for Abram.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is somewhat redundant given the three occurrences of Abram’s name in this and the previous verse.

¹¹ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).

¹² tn Heb “days.”

¹³ tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

¹⁴ tn The disjunctive clause switches the audience’s attention to Isaac and signals a new episode in the story.

¹⁵ tn Heb “from the way of.”

¹⁶ sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” See Gen 16:14.

¹⁷ tn This disjunctive clause is explanatory.

¹⁸ tn Or “the South [country].”

sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ tn Heb “and to Laban [there were] two daughters.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a prepositional phrase) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, vv. 16-17 have been set in parentheses in the translation.

²⁰ tn Heb “we could have returned.”