² tn This is taken as a circumstantial clause; the clause begins with the conjunction vav.

¹ sn Judah and his brothers. The narrative is already beginning to bring Judah to the forefront.

² tn Heb “in the beginning” (see the note on the phrase “last time” in v. 18).

² tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

² tn The active participle indicates the action was in progress or about to begin.

¹ tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator, “and it happened at the time of.”

¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

¹ tn The particle הֵן (hen) introduces a foundational clause, usually beginning with “since, because, now.”

¹ tn The translation assumes that the form translated “beginning” is in the absolute state rather than the construct (“in the beginning of,” or “when God created”). In other words, the clause in v. 1 is a main clause, v. 2 has three clauses that are descriptive and supply background information, and v. 3 begins the narrative sequence proper. The referent of the word “beginning” has to be defined from the context since there is no beginning or ending with God.

² tn Or “self-centered.” The first two traits in 2 Tim 3:2 and the last two in 3:4 are Greek words beginning with the root “lovers of,” and so bracket the list at beginning and end.

¹ tn This verb is future indicative, and thus not subordinate to “grant” (διατίθεμαι, diatithemai) as part of the result clause beginning with ἵνα ἔσθητε (hina esthēte) at the beginning of v. 30. It is better understood as a predictive future.

⁴ tn The second half begins with הוֹכִיחַ (hokhiakh), the Hiphil infinitive construct. This parallels the imperfect tense beginning the first half; it forms a temporal or conditional clause as well, so that the main verb is “he will understand.”

¹ tn The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.

³ tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) on the noun, signaling either a circumstantial clause or a new beginning. It could be rendered, “Although the Egyptians…Yahweh…” or “as the Egyptians….”

³ tn The words “blessed are” are repeated from the beginning of this verse for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

² tn The two ὅτι (hoti) clauses are epexegetical to the phrase ἐν τούτῳ (en toutō) which begins the verse.

¹ tn “Thus” is supplied to indicate the resultative nature of the Greek conjunction καί (kai) at the beginning of v. 4.

³ tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

¹ tn Grk “if anyone is blameless…” as a continuation of v. 5b, beginning to describe the elder’s character.