² sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

¹ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

¹ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

¹ tn Grk “in the loins of his father” (a reference to Abraham). The name “Abraham” has been repeated in the translation at this point (cf. v. 9) in order to clarify the referent (i.e., what ancestor was in view).

¹ tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.

⁴ tn Grk “in his bosom,” the same phrase used in 16:22. This idiom refers to heaven and/or participation in the eschatological banquet. An appropriate modern equivalent is “at Abraham’s side.”

¹ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.

¹ tn Heb “and these are the days of the years of the lifetime of Abraham that he lived.” The normal genealogical formula is expanded here due to the importance of the life of Abraham.

¹ tn Heb “and I will turn to the right or to the left.” The expression apparently means that Abraham’s servant will know where he should go if there is no further business here.

¹ sn See G. M. Tucker, “The Legal Background of Genesis 23, ” JBL 85 (1966):77-84; and M. R. Lehmann, “Abraham’s Purchase of Machpelah and Hittite Law,” BASOR 129 (1953): 15-18.

³ tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” This reading is problematic because the phrase “standing before” typically indicates intercession, but the Lord would certainly not be interceding before Abraham.