Genesis 18:1--23:20

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ¹  by the oaks ²  of Mamre while ³  he was sitting at the entrance ⁴  to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham ⁵  looked up ⁶  and saw ⁷  three men standing across ⁸  from him. When he saw them ⁹  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹⁰  to the ground. ¹¹ 

18:3 He said, “My lord, ¹²  if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ¹³  18:4 Let a little water be brought so that ¹⁴  you may all ¹⁵  wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get ¹⁶  a bit of food ¹⁷  so that you may refresh yourselves ¹⁸  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ¹⁹  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take ²⁰  three measures ²¹  of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” ²²  18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, ²³  who quickly prepared it. ²⁴  18:8 Abraham ²⁵  then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food ²⁶  before them. They ate while ²⁷  he was standing near them under a tree.

18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, ²⁸  in the tent.” 18:10 One of them ²⁹  said, “I will surely return ³⁰  to you when the season comes round again, ³¹  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ³²  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ³³  18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; ³⁴  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) ³⁵  18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ³⁶  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, ³⁷  especially when my husband is old too?” ³⁸ 

18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why ³⁹  did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really ⁴⁰  have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible ⁴¹  for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” ⁴²  18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” ⁴³ 

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

18:16 When the men got up to leave, ⁴⁴  they looked out over ⁴⁵  Sodom. (Now ⁴⁶  Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) ⁴⁷  18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ⁴⁸  18:18 After all, Abraham ⁴⁹  will surely become ⁵⁰  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁵¹  using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him ⁵²  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ⁵³  the way of the Lord by doing ⁵⁴  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁵⁵  to Abraham what he promised ⁵⁶  him.”

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ⁵⁷  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ⁵⁸  18:21 that I must go down ⁵⁹  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ⁶⁰  If not, ⁶¹  I want to know.”

18:22 The two men turned ⁶²  and headed ⁶³  toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ⁶⁴  18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ⁶⁵  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ⁶⁶  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁶⁷ 

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁶⁸  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁶⁹  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁷⁰  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁷¹  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ⁷²  spoke to him again, ⁷³  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ⁷⁴  said, “May the Lord not be angry ⁷⁵  so that I may speak! ⁷⁶  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ⁷⁷  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ⁷⁸  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

18:33 The Lord went on his way ⁷⁹  when he had finished speaking ⁸⁰  to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. ⁸¹ 

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ⁸²  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ⁸³  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ⁸⁴  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ⁸⁵  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ⁸⁶ 

19:3 But he urged ⁸⁷  them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, ⁸⁸  all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. ⁸⁹  19:5 They shouted to Lot, ⁹⁰  “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex ⁹¹  with them!”

19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! ⁹²  19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ⁹³  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ⁹⁴  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ⁹⁵  of my roof.” ⁹⁶ 

19:9 “Out of our way!” ⁹⁷  they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, ⁹⁸  and now he dares to judge us! ⁹⁹  We’ll do more harm ¹⁰⁰  to you than to them!” They kept ¹⁰¹  pressing in on Lot until they were close enough ¹⁰²  to break down the door.

19:10 So the men inside ¹⁰³  reached out ¹⁰⁴  and pulled Lot back into the house ¹⁰⁵  as they shut the door. 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, ¹⁰⁶  with blindness. The men outside ¹⁰⁷  wore themselves out trying to find the door. 19:12 Then the two visitors ¹⁰⁸  said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? ¹⁰⁹  Do you have ¹¹⁰  any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? ¹¹¹  Get them out of this ¹¹²  place 19:13 because we are about to destroy ¹¹³  it. The outcry against this place ¹¹⁴  is so great before the Lord that he ¹¹⁵  has sent us to destroy it.”

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ¹¹⁶  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ¹¹⁷  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ¹¹⁸ 

19:15 At dawn ¹¹⁹  the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, ¹²⁰  or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” ¹²¹  19:16 When Lot ¹²²  hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. ¹²³  They led them away and placed them ¹²⁴  outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they ¹²⁵  said, “Run ¹²⁶  for your lives! Don’t look ¹²⁷  behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! ¹²⁸  Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord! ¹²⁹  19:19 Your ¹³⁰  servant has found favor with you, ¹³¹  and you have shown me great ¹³²  kindness ¹³³  by sparing ¹³⁴  my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because ¹³⁵  this disaster will overtake ¹³⁶  me and I’ll die. ¹³⁷  19:20 Look, this town ¹³⁸  over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. ¹³⁹  Let me go there. ¹⁴⁰  It’s just a little place, isn’t it? ¹⁴¹  Then I’ll survive.” ¹⁴² 

19:21 “Very well,” he replied, ¹⁴³  “I will grant this request too ¹⁴⁴  and will not overthrow ¹⁴⁵  the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly, ¹⁴⁶  for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) ¹⁴⁷ 

19:23 The sun had just risen ¹⁴⁸  over the land as Lot reached Zoar. ¹⁴⁹  19:24 Then the Lord rained down ¹⁵⁰  sulfur and fire ¹⁵¹  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ¹⁵²  19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ¹⁵³  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ¹⁵⁴  from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s ¹⁵⁵  wife looked back longingly ¹⁵⁶  and was turned into a pillar of salt.

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went ¹⁵⁷  to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward ¹⁵⁸  Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. ¹⁵⁹  As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. ¹⁶⁰ 

19:29 So when God destroyed ¹⁶¹  the cities of the region, ¹⁶²  God honored ¹⁶³  Abraham’s request. He removed Lot ¹⁶⁴  from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed ¹⁶⁵  the cities Lot had lived in.

19:30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31 Later the older daughter said ¹⁶⁶  to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby ¹⁶⁷  to have sexual relations with us, ¹⁶⁸  according to the way of all the world. 19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine ¹⁶⁹  so we can have sexual relations ¹⁷⁰  with him and preserve ¹⁷¹  our family line through our father.” ¹⁷² 

19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, ¹⁷³  and the older daughter ¹⁷⁴  came and had sexual relations with her father. ¹⁷⁵  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ¹⁷⁶  19:34 So in the morning the older daughter ¹⁷⁷  said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. ¹⁷⁸  Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ¹⁷⁹  19:35 So they made their father drunk ¹⁸⁰  that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. ¹⁸¹  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ¹⁸² 

19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 19:37 The older daughter ¹⁸³  gave birth to a son and named him Moab. ¹⁸⁴  He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. ¹⁸⁵  He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ¹⁸⁶  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ¹⁸⁷  in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

20:3 But God appeared ¹⁸⁸  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ¹⁸⁹  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ¹⁹⁰ 

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ¹⁹¹  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ¹⁹²  20:5 Did Abraham ¹⁹³  not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ¹⁹⁴  ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience ¹⁹⁵  and with innocent hands!”

20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. ¹⁹⁶  That is why I have kept you ¹⁹⁷  from sinning against me and why ¹⁹⁸  I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ¹⁹⁹  he is a prophet ²⁰⁰  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ²⁰¹  But if you don’t give her back, ²⁰²  know that you will surely die ²⁰³  along with all who belong to you.”

20:8 Early in the morning ²⁰⁴  Abimelech summoned ²⁰⁵  all his servants. When he told them about all these things, ²⁰⁶  they ²⁰⁷  were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ²⁰⁸  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ²⁰⁹  20:10 Then Abimelech asked ²¹⁰  Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” ²¹¹ 

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ²¹²  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ²¹³  my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, ²¹⁴  she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander ²¹⁵  from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: ²¹⁶  Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

20:14 So Abimelech gave ²¹⁷  sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” ²¹⁸ 

20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver ²¹⁹  to your ‘brother.’ ²²⁰  This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” ²²¹ 

20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Lord ²²²  had caused infertility to strike every woman ²²³  in the household of Abimelech because he took ²²⁴  Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ²²⁵  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²²⁶  for Sarah what he had promised. ²²⁷  21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ²²⁸  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. ²²⁹  21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, ²³⁰  Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. ²³¹  21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) ²³² 

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ²³³  Everyone who hears about this ²³⁴  will laugh ²³⁵  with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, ²³⁶  “Who would ²³⁷  have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared ²³⁸  a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ²³⁹  21:9 But Sarah noticed ²⁴⁰  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ²⁴¹  21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ²⁴²  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. ²⁴³  21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ²⁴⁴  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ²⁴⁵  all that Sarah is telling ²⁴⁶  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ²⁴⁷  21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ²⁴⁸  some food ²⁴⁹  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ²⁵⁰  and sent her away. So she went wandering ²⁵¹  aimlessly through the wilderness ²⁵²  of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ²⁵³  the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ²⁵⁴  away; for she thought, ²⁵⁵  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ²⁵⁶  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ²⁵⁷ 

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ²⁵⁸  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ²⁵⁹  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ²⁶⁰  the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. ²⁶¹  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ²⁶²  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ²⁶³ 

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ²⁶⁴  in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ²⁶⁵  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ²⁶⁶  Show me, and the land ²⁶⁷  where you are staying, ²⁶⁸  the same loyalty ²⁶⁹  that I have shown you.” ²⁷⁰ 

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” ²⁷¹  21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint ²⁷²  against Abimelech concerning a well ²⁷³  that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ²⁷⁴  21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, ²⁷⁵  you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. ²⁷⁶  21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these ²⁷⁷  seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof ²⁷⁸  that I dug this well.” ²⁷⁹  21:31 That is why he named that place ²⁸⁰  Beer Sheba, ²⁸¹  because the two of them swore ²⁸²  an oath there.

21:32 So they made a treaty ²⁸³  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ²⁸⁴  to the land of the Philistines. ²⁸⁵  21:33 Abraham ²⁸⁶  planted a tamarisk tree ²⁸⁷  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ²⁸⁸  the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. ²⁸⁹ 

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things God tested ²⁹⁰  Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham ²⁹¹  replied. 22:2 God ²⁹²  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ²⁹³  – and go to the land of Moriah! ²⁹⁴  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ²⁹⁵  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ²⁹⁶  you.”

22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. ²⁹⁷  He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out ²⁹⁸  for the place God had spoken to him about.

22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of ²⁹⁹  the place in the distance. 22:5 So he ³⁰⁰  said to his servants, “You two stay ³⁰¹  here with the donkey while ³⁰²  the boy and I go up there. We will worship ³⁰³  and then return to you.” ³⁰⁴ 

22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, ³⁰⁵  and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, ³⁰⁶  “My father?” “What is it, ³⁰⁷  my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, ³⁰⁸  “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide ³⁰⁹  for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there ³¹⁰  and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up ³¹¹  his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter ³¹²  his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel ³¹³  called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ³¹⁴  the angel said. ³¹⁵  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ³¹⁶  that you fear ³¹⁷  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

22:13 Abraham looked up ³¹⁸  and saw ³¹⁹  behind him ³²⁰  a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he ³²¹  went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” ³²²  It is said to this day, ³²³  “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” ³²⁴ 

22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ³²⁵  decrees the Lord, ³²⁶  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, ³²⁷  and I will greatly multiply ³²⁸  your descendants ³²⁹  so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession ³³⁰  of the strongholds ³³¹  of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ³³²  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ³³³  using the name of your descendants.’”

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together ³³⁴  for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. ³³⁵ 

22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah ³³⁶  also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ³³⁷  22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now ³³⁸  Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

The Death of Sarah

23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. ³³⁹  23:2 Then she ³⁴⁰  died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³⁴¹ 

23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife ³⁴²  and said to the sons of Heth, ³⁴³  23:4 “I am a temporary settler ³⁴⁴  among you. Grant ³⁴⁵  me ownership ³⁴⁶  of a burial site among you so that I may ³⁴⁷  bury my dead.” ³⁴⁸ 

23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, ³⁴⁹  23:6 “Listen, sir, ³⁵⁰  you are a mighty prince ³⁵¹  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you ³⁵²  from burying your dead.”

23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, ³⁵³  the sons of Heth. 23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree ³⁵⁴  that I may bury my dead, ³⁵⁵  then hear me out. ³⁵⁶  Ask ³⁵⁷  Ephron the son of Zohar 23:9 if he will sell ³⁵⁸  me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly ³⁵⁹  for the full price, ³⁶⁰  so that I may own it as a burial site.”

23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite ³⁶¹  replied to Abraham in the hearing ³⁶²  of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate ³⁶³  of his city – 23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell ³⁶⁴  you both the field and the cave that is in it. ³⁶⁵  In the presence of my people ³⁶⁶  I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people 23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ³⁶⁷  to you the price ³⁶⁸  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ³⁶⁹  bury my dead there.”

23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth ³⁷⁰  400 pieces of silver, ³⁷¹  but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price ³⁷²  and weighed ³⁷³  out for him ³⁷⁴  the price ³⁷⁵  that Ephron had quoted ³⁷⁶  in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. ³⁷⁷ 

23:17 So Abraham secured ³⁷⁸  Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border, 23:18 as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city. ³⁷⁹ 

23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 23:20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site ³⁸⁰  from the sons of Heth.

Genesis 28:1-22

28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! ³⁸¹  28:2 Leave immediately ³⁸²  for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the sovereign God ³⁸³  bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! ³⁸⁴  Then you will become ³⁸⁵  a large nation. ³⁸⁶  28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham ³⁸⁷  so that you may possess the land ³⁸⁸  God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” ³⁸⁹  28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. ³⁹⁰  As he blessed him, ³⁹¹  Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” ³⁹²  28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized ³⁹³  that the Canaanite women ³⁹⁴  were displeasing to ³⁹⁵  his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married ³⁹⁶  Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place ³⁹⁷  where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. ³⁹⁸  He took one of the stones ³⁹⁹  and placed it near his head. ⁴⁰⁰  Then he fell asleep ⁴⁰¹  in that place 28:12 and had a dream. ⁴⁰²  He saw ⁴⁰³  a stairway ⁴⁰⁴  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 28:13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. ⁴⁰⁵  I will give you and your descendants the ground ⁴⁰⁶  you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, ⁴⁰⁷  and you will spread out ⁴⁰⁸  to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁴⁰⁹  using your name and that of your descendants. ⁴¹⁰  28:15 I am with you! ⁴¹¹  I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

28:16 Then Jacob woke up ⁴¹²  and thought, ⁴¹³  “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

28:18 Early ⁴¹⁴  in the morning Jacob ⁴¹⁵  took the stone he had placed near his head ⁴¹⁶  and set it up as a sacred stone. ⁴¹⁷  Then he poured oil on top of it. 28:19 He called that place Bethel, ⁴¹⁸  although the former name of the town was Luz. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ⁴¹⁹  to eat and clothing to wear, 28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home, ⁴²⁰  then the Lord will become my God. 28:22 Then this stone ⁴²¹  that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely ⁴²²  give you back a tenth of everything you give me.” ⁴²³ 

Genesis 12:1

The Obedience of Abram

12:1 Now the Lord said ⁴²⁴  to Abram, ⁴²⁵ 

“Go out ⁴²⁶  from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you. ⁴²⁷ 

Genesis 17:24

17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁴²⁸  when he was circumcised; ⁴²⁹ 

Matthew 25:32-34

25:32 All ⁴³⁰  the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 25:33 He ⁴³¹  will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 25:34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Acts 1:11

1:11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here ⁴³²  looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven ⁴³³  will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

Acts 7:59-60

7:59 They ⁴³⁴  continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 7:60 Then he fell ⁴³⁵  to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” ⁴³⁶  When ⁴³⁷  he had said this, he died. ⁴³⁸ 

Romans 8:17

8:17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) ⁴³⁹  – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ⁴⁴⁰  in Christ Jesus has set you ⁴⁴¹  free from the law of sin and death.

Colossians 1:6-8

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ⁴⁴²  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ⁴⁴³  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. 1:7 You learned the gospel ⁴⁴⁴  from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave ⁴⁴⁵  – a ⁴⁴⁶  faithful minister of Christ on our ⁴⁴⁷  behalf – 1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Philippians 1:23

1:23 I feel torn between the two, ⁴⁴⁸  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

Philippians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul ⁴⁴⁹  and Timothy, slaves ⁴⁵⁰  of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, ⁴⁵¹  with the overseers ⁴⁵²  and deacons.

Philippians 4:16-17

4:16 For even in Thessalonica ⁴⁵³  on more than one occasion ⁴⁵⁴  you sent something for my need. 4:17 I do not say this because I am seeking a gift. ⁴⁵⁵  Rather, I seek the credit that abounds to your account.

Philippians 4:2

4:2 I appeal to Euodia and to Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

Philippians 1:12

Ministry as a Prisoner

1:12 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, ⁴⁵⁶  that my situation has actually turned out to advance the gospel: ⁴⁵⁷ 

Philippians 2:1-2

Christian Unity and Christ’s Humility

2:1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, ⁴⁵⁸  any affection or mercy, ⁴⁵⁹  2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, ⁴⁶⁰  by having the same love, being united in spirit, ⁴⁶¹  and having one purpose.

Philippians 2:12

Lights in the World

2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ⁴⁶² 

Hebrews 9:28

9:28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, ⁴⁶³  to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin ⁴⁶⁴  but to bring salvation. ⁴⁶⁵ 

Hebrews 9:1

The Arrangement and Ritual of the Earthly Sanctuary

9:1 Now the first covenant, ⁴⁶⁶  in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary.

Hebrews 3:2-3

3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s ⁴⁶⁷  house. ⁴⁶⁸  3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!

Revelation 3:21

3:21 I will grant the one ⁴⁶⁹  who conquers ⁴⁷⁰  permission ⁴⁷¹  to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered ⁴⁷²  and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Revelation 21:22-23

21:22 Now ⁴⁷³  I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God – the All-Powerful ⁴⁷⁴  – and the Lamb are its temple. 21:23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 22:3-5

22:3 And there will no longer be any curse, ⁴⁷⁵  and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. ⁴⁷⁶  His ⁴⁷⁷  servants ⁴⁷⁸  will worship ⁴⁷⁹  him, 22:4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 22:5 Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.

[18:1]  ¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ² tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[18:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ⁹ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ¹¹ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[18:3]  ¹² tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

[18:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

[18:4]  ¹⁴ tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.

[18:4]  ¹⁵ tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.

[18:5]  ¹⁶ tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.

[18:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.

[18:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.

[18:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”

[18:6]  ²⁰ tn The word “take” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the sentence lacks a verb other than the imperative “hurry.” The elliptical structure of the language reflects Abraham’s haste to get things ready quickly.

[18:6]  ²¹ sn Three measures (Heb “three seahs”) was equivalent to about twenty quarts (twenty-two liters) of flour, which would make a lot of bread. The animal prepared for the meal was far more than the three visitors needed. This was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.

[18:6]  ²² sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.

[18:7]  ²³ tn Heb “the young man.”

[18:7]  ²⁴ tn The construction uses the Piel preterite, “he hurried,” followed by the infinitive construct; the two probably form a verbal hendiadys: “he quickly prepared.”

[18:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:8]  ²⁶ tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:8]  ²⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.

[18:9]  ²⁸ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) often accompanies a gesture of pointing or a focused gaze.

[18:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

[18:10]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

[18:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

[18:10]  ³² tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

[18:10]  ³³ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

[18:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “days.”

[18:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”

[18:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “saying.”

[18:12]  ³⁷ tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.

[18:12]  ³⁸ tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the Lord’s amazement: “Why on earth did Sarah laugh?”

[18:13]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”

[18:14]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew verb פָּלָא (pala’) means “to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, to be surpassing, to be amazing.”

[18:14]  ⁴² sn Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the Lord fixed an exact date for the birth of the child, the promise became rather overwhelming to Abraham and Sarah. But then this was the Lord of creation, the one they had come to trust. The point of these narratives is that the creation of Abraham’s offspring, which eventually became Israel, is no less a miraculous work of creation than the creation of the world itself.

[18:15]  ⁴³ tn Heb “And he said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”

[18:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “toward the face of.”

[18:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.

[18:16]  ⁴⁷ tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.

[18:17]  ⁴⁸ tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.

[18:18]  ⁴⁹ 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?”

[18:18]  ⁵⁰ tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.

[18:18]  ⁵¹ tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings upon”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[18:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “For I have known him.” The verb יָדַע (yada’) here means “to recognize and treat in a special manner, to choose” (see Amos 3:2). It indicates that Abraham stood in a special covenantal relationship with the Lord.

[18:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and they will keep.” The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the subjective nuance of the preceding imperfect verbal form (translated “so that he may command”).

[18:19]  ⁵⁴ tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the Lord.

[18:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) indicates result here.

[18:19]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “spoke to.”

[18:20]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.

[18:20]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “heavy.”

[18:21]  ⁵⁹ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ⁶¹ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[18:22]  ⁶² tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the Lord was the third visitor, who remained behind with Abraham here. The words “from there” are not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:22]  ⁶³ tn Heb “went.”

[18:22]  ⁶⁴ 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.

[18:24]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).

[18:25]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ⁶⁷ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[18:27]  ⁶⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁶⁹ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[18:28]  ⁷⁰ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ⁷² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ⁷³ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ⁷⁶ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:33]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “And the Lord went.”

[18:33]  ⁸⁰ tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”

[18:33]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “to his place.”

[19:1]  ⁸² tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ⁸³ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ⁸⁴ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ⁸⁵ tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ⁸⁶ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:3]  ⁸⁷ tn The Hebrew verb פָּצַר (patsar, “to press, to insist”) ironically foreshadows the hostile actions of the men of the city (see v. 9, where the verb also appears). The repetition of the word serves to contrast Lot to his world.

[19:4]  ⁸⁸ tn The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) means “to lie down, to recline,” that is, “to go to bed.” Here what appears to be an imperfect is a preterite after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem). The nuance of potential (perfect) fits well.

[19:4]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young to the old, all the people from the end [of the city].” The repetition of the phrase “men of” stresses all kinds of men.

[19:5]  ⁹⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:5]  ⁹¹ tn The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) is used here in the sense of “to lie with” or “to have sex with” (as in Gen 4:1). That this is indeed the meaning is clear from Lot’s warning that they not do so wickedly, and his willingness to give them his daughters instead.

[19:7]  ⁹² tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”

[19:8]  ⁹³ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ⁹⁶ sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[19:9]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”

[19:9]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”

[19:9]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”

[19:9]  ¹⁰⁰ tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.

[19:9]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”

[19:9]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “and they drew near.”

[19:10]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “inside” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:10]  ¹⁰⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “their hand.” These words have not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:10]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “to them into the house.”

[19:11]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”

[19:11]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:12]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:12]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”

[19:12]  ¹¹⁰ tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:12]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”

[19:12]  ¹¹² tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.

[19:13]  ¹¹³ tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.

[19:13]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:13]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” The repetition of the divine name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

[19:14]  ¹¹⁶ sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.

[19:14]  ¹¹⁷ tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.

[19:15]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “When dawn came up.”

[19:15]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.

[19:15]  ¹²¹ tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[19:16]  ¹²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:16]  ¹²³ tn Heb “in the compassion of the Lord to them.”

[19:16]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).

[19:17]  ¹²⁵ tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.

[19:17]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “escape.”

[19:17]  ¹²⁷ tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.

[19:17]  ¹²⁸ tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:18]  ¹²⁹ tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[19:19]  ¹³⁰ tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.

[19:19]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “in your eyes.”

[19:19]  ¹³² tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”

[19:19]  ¹³³ sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.

[19:19]  ¹³⁴ tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.

[19:19]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “lest.”

[19:19]  ¹³⁶ tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.

[19:19]  ¹³⁷ tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.

[19:20]  ¹³⁸ tn The Hebrew word עִיר (’ir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”

[19:20]  ¹³⁹ tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”

[19:20]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.

[19:20]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “Is it not little?”

[19:20]  ¹⁴² tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.

[19:21]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.

[19:21]  ¹⁴⁴ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”

[19:21]  ¹⁴⁵ tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).

[19:22]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.

[19:22]  ¹⁴⁷ tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tso’ar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mits’ar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).

[19:23]  ¹⁴⁸ sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).

[19:23]  ¹⁴⁹ tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.

[19:24]  ¹⁵⁰ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ¹⁵¹ tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ¹⁵² tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:25]  ¹⁵³ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:25]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”

[19:26]  ¹⁵⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:26]  ¹⁵⁶ tn The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5).

[19:27]  ¹⁵⁷ tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:28]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[19:28]  ¹⁵⁹ tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:28]  ¹⁶⁰ tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

[19:29]  ¹⁶¹ tn The construction is a temporal clause comprised of the temporal indicator, an infinitive construct with a preposition, and the subjective genitive.

[19:29]  ¹⁶² tn Or “of the plain”; Heb “of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:29]  ¹⁶³ tn Heb “remembered,” but this means more than mental recollection here. Abraham’s request (Gen 18:23-32) was that the Lord not destroy the righteous with the wicked. While the requisite minimum number of righteous people (ten, v. 32) needed for God to spare the cities was not found, God nevertheless rescued the righteous before destroying the wicked.

[19:29]  ¹⁶⁴ sn God’s removal of Lot before the judgment is paradigmatic. He typically delivers the godly before destroying their world.

[19:29]  ¹⁶⁵ tn Heb “the overthrow when [he] overthrew.”

[19:31]  ¹⁶⁶ tn Heb “and the firstborn said.”

[19:31]  ¹⁶⁷ tn Or perhaps “on earth,” in which case the statement would be hyperbolic; presumably there had been some men living in the town of Zoar to which Lot and his daughters had initially fled.

[19:31]  ¹⁶⁸ tn Heb “to enter upon us.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[19:32]  ¹⁶⁹ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:32]  ¹⁷⁰ tn Heb “and we will lie down.” The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive is subordinated to the preceding cohortative and indicates purpose/result.

[19:32]  ¹⁷¹ tn Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.

[19:32]  ¹⁷² tn Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:33]  ¹⁷³ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:33]  ¹⁷⁴ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:33]  ¹⁷⁵ tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[19:33]  ¹⁷⁶ tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”

[19:34]  ¹⁷⁷ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:34]  ¹⁷⁸ tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”

[19:34]  ¹⁷⁹ tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:35]  ¹⁸⁰ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:35]  ¹⁸¹ tn Heb “lied down with him.”

[19:35]  ¹⁸² tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”

[19:37]  ¹⁸³ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:37]  ¹⁸⁴ sn The meaning of the name Moab is not certain. The name sounds like the Hebrew phrase “from our father” (מֵאָבִינוּ, me’avinu) which the daughters used twice (vv. 32, 34). This account is probably included in the narrative in order to portray the Moabites, who later became enemies of God’s people, in a negative light.

[19:38]  ¹⁸⁵ sn The name Ben-Ammi means “son of my people.” Like the account of Moab’s birth, this story is probably included in the narrative to portray the Ammonites, another perennial enemy of Israel, in a negative light.

[20:1]  ¹⁸⁶ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ¹⁸⁷ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[20:3]  ¹⁸⁸ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ¹⁸⁹ tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.

[20:3]  ¹⁹⁰ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[20:4]  ¹⁹¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[20:4]  ¹⁹² tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.

[20:5]  ¹⁹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ¹⁹⁴ tn Heb “and she, even she.”

[20:5]  ¹⁹⁵ tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”

[20:6]  ¹⁹⁶ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ¹⁹⁷ tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ¹⁹⁸ tn Heb “therefore.”

[20:7]  ¹⁹⁹ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ²⁰⁰ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ²⁰¹ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  ²⁰² tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ²⁰³ tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[20:8]  ²⁰⁴ tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”

[20:8]  ²⁰⁵ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”

[20:8]  ²⁰⁶ tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”

[20:8]  ²⁰⁷ tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:9]  ²⁰⁸ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ²⁰⁹ tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[20:10]  ²¹⁰ tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”

[20:10]  ²¹¹ tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.

[20:11]  ²¹² tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ²¹³ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[20:12]  ²¹⁴ tn Heb “but also.”

[20:13]  ²¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”

[20:13]  ²¹⁶ tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”

[20:14]  ²¹⁷ tn Heb “took and gave.”

[20:15]  ²¹⁸ tn Heb “In the [place that is] good in your eyes live!”

[20:16]  ²¹⁹ sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).

[20:16]  ²²⁰ sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).

[20:16]  ²²¹ tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).

[20:18]  ²²² tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”

[20:18]  ²²³ tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:18]  ²²⁴ tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[21:1]  ²²⁵ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ²²⁶ tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ²²⁷ tn Heb “spoken.”

[21:2]  ²²⁸ tn Or “she conceived.”

[21:3]  ²²⁹ tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.

[21:4]  ²³⁰ tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

[21:4]  ²³¹ sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).

[21:5]  ²³² 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).

[21:6]  ²³³ tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ²³⁴ tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ²³⁵ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[21:7]  ²³⁶ tn Heb “said.”

[21:7]  ²³⁷ tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.

[21:8]  ²³⁸ tn Heb “made.”

[21:8]  ²³⁹ sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.

[21:9]  ²⁴⁰ tn Heb “saw.”

[21:9]  ²⁴¹ tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.

[21:10]  ²⁴² tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.

[21:11]  ²⁴³ tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.

[21:12]  ²⁴⁴ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ²⁴⁵ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ²⁴⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ²⁴⁷ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[21:14]  ²⁴⁸ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ²⁴⁹ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ²⁵⁰ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ²⁵¹ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ²⁵² tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[21:15]  ²⁵³ tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.

[21:16]  ²⁵⁴ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ²⁵⁵ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ²⁵⁶ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ²⁵⁷ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

[21:17]  ²⁵⁸ sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.

[21:17]  ²⁵⁹ tn Heb “What to you?”

[21:17]  ²⁶⁰ sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.

[21:19]  ²⁶¹ tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ²⁶² sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

[21:21]  ²⁶³ tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

[21:22]  ²⁶⁴ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

[21:23]  ²⁶⁵ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ²⁶⁶ tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ²⁶⁷ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ²⁶⁸ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ²⁶⁹ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ²⁷⁰ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[21:24]  ²⁷¹ tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.

[21:25]  ²⁷² tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.

[21:25]  ²⁷³ tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”

[21:25]  ²⁷⁴ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.

[21:26]  ²⁷⁵ tn Heb “and also.”

[21:27]  ²⁷⁶ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:29]  ²⁷⁷ tn Heb “What are these?”

[21:30]  ²⁷⁸ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

[21:30]  ²⁷⁹ 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.

[21:31]  ²⁸⁰ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

[21:31]  ²⁸¹ 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.

[21:31]  ²⁸² sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

[21:32]  ²⁸³ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ²⁸⁴ tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ²⁸⁵ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[21:33]  ²⁸⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:33]  ²⁸⁷ sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.

[21:33]  ²⁸⁸ tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[21:34]  ²⁸⁹ tn Heb “many days.”

[22:1]  ²⁹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.

[22:1]  ²⁹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ²⁹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ²⁹³ sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

[22:2]  ²⁹⁴ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

[22:2]  ²⁹⁵ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

[22:2]  ²⁹⁶ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[22:3]  ²⁹⁷ tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”

[22:3]  ²⁹⁸ tn Heb “he arose and he went.”

[22:4]  ²⁹⁹ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”

[22:5]  ³⁰⁰ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[22:5]  ³⁰¹ tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.

[22:5]  ³⁰² tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.

[22:5]  ³⁰³ tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”

[22:5]  ³⁰⁴ sn It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will…return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17-19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.

[22:6]  ³⁰⁵ sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.

[22:7]  ³⁰⁶ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[22:7]  ³⁰⁷ tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).

[22:7]  ³⁰⁸ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:8]  ³⁰⁹ tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”

[22:9]  ³¹⁰ sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?

[22:9]  ³¹¹ sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.

[22:10]  ³¹² tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”

[22:11]  ³¹³ sn Heb “the messenger of the Lord” (also in v. 15). Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, see the note on the phrase “the Lord’s angel” in Gen 16:7.

[22:12]  ³¹⁴ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ³¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:12]  ³¹⁶ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ³¹⁷ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[22:13]  ³¹⁸ tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”

[22:13]  ³¹⁹ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.

[22:13]  ³²⁰ tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac, and Samaritan Pentateuch read “one” (אֶחָד, ’ekhad) instead of “behind him” (אַחַר, ’akhar).

[22:13]  ³²¹ tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:14]  ³²² tn Heb “the Lord sees” (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, yÿhvah yir’eh, traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.

[22:14]  ³²³ sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

[22:14]  ³²⁴ sn The saying connected with these events has some ambiguity, which was probably intended. The Niphal verb could be translated (1) “in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen/provided” or (2) “in the mountain the Lord will appear.” If the temple later stood here (see the note on “Moriah” in Gen 22:2), the latter interpretation might find support, for the people went to the temple to appear before the Lord, who “appeared” to them by providing for them his power and blessings. See S. R. Driver, Genesis, 219.

[22:16]  ³²⁵ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ³²⁶ tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[22:17]  ³²⁷ tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.

[22:17]  ³²⁸ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ³²⁹ tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[22:17]  ³³⁰ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ³³¹ tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).

[22:18]  ³³² tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.

[22:18]  ³³³ tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)

[22:19]  ³³⁴ tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”

[22:19]  ³³⁵ tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.

[22:20]  ³³⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.

[22:21]  ³³⁷ sn This parenthetical note about Kemuel’s descendant is probably a later insertion by the author/compiler of Genesis and not part of the original announcement.

[22:23]  ³³⁸ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).

[23:1]  ³³⁹ tn Heb “And the years of Sarah were one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.”

[23:2]  ³⁴⁰ tn Heb “Sarah.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“she”) for stylistic reasons.

[23:2]  ³⁴¹ sn Mourn…weep. The description here is of standard mourning rites (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 149-50). They would have been carried out in the presence of the corpse, probably in Sarah’s tent. So Abraham came in to mourn; then he rose up to go and bury his dead (v. 3).

[23:3]  ³⁴² tn Heb “And Abraham arose from upon the face of his dead.”

[23:3]  ³⁴³ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (also in vv. 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[23:4]  ³⁴⁴ tn Heb “a resident alien and a settler.”

[23:4]  ³⁴⁵ tn Heb “give,” which is used here as an idiom for “sell” (see v. 9). The idiom reflects the polite bartering that was done in the culture at the time.

[23:4]  ³⁴⁶ tn Or “possession.”

[23:4]  ³⁴⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose.

[23:4]  ³⁴⁸ tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:5]  ³⁴⁹ tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”

[23:6]  ³⁵⁰ tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

[23:6]  ³⁵¹ tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.

[23:6]  ³⁵² tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:7]  ³⁵³ tn Heb “to the people of the land” (also in v. 12).

[23:8]  ³⁵⁴ tn Heb “If it is with your purpose.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here has the nuance “purpose” or perhaps “desire” (see BDB 661 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ).

[23:8]  ³⁵⁵ tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:8]  ³⁵⁶ tn Or “hear me.”

[23:8]  ³⁵⁷ tn Heb “intercede for me with.”

[23:9]  ³⁵⁸ tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.

[23:9]  ³⁵⁹ tn Heb “in your presence.”

[23:9]  ³⁶⁰ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:10]  ³⁶¹ tn Or perhaps “Hittite,” but see the note on the name “Heth” in v. 3.

[23:10]  ³⁶² tn Heb “ears.” By metonymy the “ears” stand for the presence or proximity (i.e., within earshot) of the persons named.

[23:10]  ³⁶³ sn On the expression all who entered the gate see E. A. Speiser, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956): 20-23; and G. Evans, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate: A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958): 28-33.

[23:11]  ³⁶⁴ tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.

[23:11]  ³⁶⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[23:11]  ³⁶⁶ tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”

[23:13]  ³⁶⁷ tn Heb “give.”

[23:13]  ³⁶⁸ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:13]  ³⁶⁹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

[23:15]  ³⁷⁰ tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:15]  ³⁷¹ sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).

[23:16]  ³⁷² tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”

[23:16]  ³⁷³ tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”

[23:16]  ³⁷⁴ tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ³⁷⁵ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:16]  ³⁷⁶ tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ³⁷⁷ tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.

[23:17]  ³⁷⁸ tn Heb “And it was conveyed.” The recipient, Abraham (mentioned in the Hebrew text at the beginning of v. 18) has been placed here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:18]  ³⁷⁹ tn Heb “his city”; the referent (Ephron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:20]  ³⁸⁰ tn Heb “possession of a grave.”

[28:1]  ³⁸¹ tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”

[28:2]  ³⁸² tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.

[28:3]  ³⁸³ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[28:3]  ³⁸⁴ tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.

[28:3]  ³⁸⁵ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”

[28:3]  ³⁸⁶ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[28:4]  ³⁸⁷ tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.

[28:4]  ³⁸⁸ tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ³⁸⁹ tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.

[28:6]  ³⁹⁰ tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”

[28:6]  ³⁹¹ tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.

[28:6]  ³⁹² tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”

[28:8]  ³⁹³ tn Heb “saw.”

[28:8]  ³⁹⁴ tn Heb “the daughters of Canaan.”

[28:8]  ³⁹⁵ tn Heb “evil in the eyes of.”

[28:9]  ³⁹⁶ tn Heb “took for a wife.”

[28:11]  ³⁹⁷ tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.

[28:11]  ³⁹⁸ tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”

[28:11]  ³⁹⁹ tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).

[28:11]  ⁴⁰⁰ tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.

[28:11]  ⁴⁰¹ tn Heb “lay down.”

[28:12]  ⁴⁰² tn Heb “and dreamed.”

[28:12]  ⁴⁰³ tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).

[28:12]  ⁴⁰⁴ tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.

[28:13]  ⁴⁰⁵ tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.

[28:13]  ⁴⁰⁶ tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.

[28:14]  ⁴⁰⁷ tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.

[28:14]  ⁴⁰⁸ tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.

[28:14]  ⁴⁰⁹ tn Theoretically the Niphal stem can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Jacob were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in other formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless (i.e., pronounce blessings upon) themselves/one another.” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 28:14 predicts that Jacob will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae (see Gen 12:2 and 18:18 as well, where Abram/Abraham receives this promise). For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[28:14]  ⁴¹⁰ tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”

[28:15]  ⁴¹¹ tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).

[28:16]  ⁴¹² tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[28:16]  ⁴¹³ tn Heb “said.”

[28:18]  ⁴¹⁴ tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”

[28:18]  ⁴¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:18]  ⁴¹⁶ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.

[28:18]  ⁴¹⁷ tn Heb “standing stone.”

[28:19]  ⁴¹⁸ tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).

[28:20]  ⁴¹⁹ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[28:21]  ⁴²⁰ tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”

[28:22]  ⁴²¹ tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.

[28:22]  ⁴²² tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.

[28:22]  ⁴²³ tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.

[12:1]  ⁴²⁴ sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2); but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.

[12:1]  ⁴²⁵ tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.

[12:1]  ⁴²⁶ tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”

[12:1]  ⁴²⁷ sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.

[17:24]  ⁴²⁸ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁴²⁹ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[25:32]  ⁴³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[25:33]  ⁴³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[1:11]  ⁴³² tn The word “here” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[1:11]  ⁴³³ tc Codex Bezae (D) and several other witnesses lack the words εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν (ei" ton ouranon, “into heaven”) here, most likely by way of accidental deletion. In any event, it is hardly correct to suppose that the Western text has intentionally suppressed references to the ascension of Christ here, for the phrase is solidly attested in the final clause of the verse.

[7:59]  ⁴³⁴ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[7:60]  ⁴³⁵ tn Grk “Then falling to his knees he cried out.” The participle θείς (qeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[7:60]  ⁴³⁶ sn The remarks Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and Lord, do not hold this sin against them recall statements Jesus made on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46).

[7:60]  ⁴³⁷ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

[7:60]  ⁴³⁸ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[8:17]  ⁴³⁹ tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs – that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.

[8:2]  ⁴⁴⁰ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ⁴⁴¹ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[1:6]  ⁴⁴² tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ⁴⁴³ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[1:7]  ⁴⁴⁴ tn Or “learned it.” The Greek text simply has “you learned” without the reference to “the gospel,” but “the gospel” is supplied to clarify the sense of the clause. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[1:7]  ⁴⁴⁵ tn The Greek word translated “fellow slave” is σύνδουλος (sundoulo"); the σύν- prefix here denotes association. Though δοῦλος is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:7]  ⁴⁴⁶ tn The Greek text has “who (ὅς, Jos) is a faithful minister.” The above translation conveys the antecedent of the relative pronoun quite well and avoids the redundancy with the following substantival participle of v. 8, namely, “who told” (ὁ δηλώσας, Jo dhlwsa").

[1:7]  ⁴⁴⁷ tc ‡ Judging by the superior witnesses for the first person pronoun ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א* A B D* F G 326* 1505 al) vs. the second person pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “you”; found in א² C D¹ Ψ 075 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co), ἡμῶν should be regarded as original. Although it is possible that ἡμῶν was an early alteration of ὑμῶν (either unintentionally, as dittography, since it comes seventeen letters after the previous ἡμῶν; or intentionally, to conform to the surrounding first person pronouns), this supposition is difficult to maintain in light of the varied and valuable witnesses for this reading. Further, the second person is both embedded in the verb ἐμάθετε (emaqete) and is explicit in v. 8 (ὑμῶν). Hence, the motivation to change to the first person pronoun is counterbalanced by such evidence. The second person pronoun may have been introduced unintentionally via homoioarcton with the ὑπέρ (Juper) that immediately precedes it. As well, the second person reading is somewhat harder for it seems to address Epaphras’ role only in relation to Paul and his colleagues, rather than in relation to the Colossians. Nevertheless, the decision must be based ultimately on external evidence (because the internal evidence can be variously interpreted), and this strongly supports ἡμῶν.

[1:23]  ⁴⁴⁸ tn Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.

[1:1]  ⁴⁴⁹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁴⁵⁰ tn Traditionally, “servants” or “bondservants.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ⁴⁵¹ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[1:1]  ⁴⁵² sn The overseers (or “church leaders,” L&N 53.71) is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in Titus 1:6-7 and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between Titus 1:6-7 and 1 Tim 3:1-7.

[4:16]  ⁴⁵³ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[4:16]  ⁴⁵⁴ tn Or “several times”; Grk, “both once and twice.” The literal expression “once and twice” is frequently used as a Greek idiom referring to an indefinite low number, but more than once (“several times”); see L&N 60.70.

[4:17]  ⁴⁵⁵ tn Grk “Not that I am seeking the gift.” The phrase “I do not say this…” has been supplied in the translation to complete the thought for the modern reader.

[1:12]  ⁴⁵⁶ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:12]  ⁴⁵⁷ tn Grk “for the advance of the gospel.” The genitive εὐαγγελίου (euangeliou) is taken as objective.

[2:1]  ⁴⁵⁸ tn Or “spiritual fellowship” if πνεύματος (pneumato") is an attributive genitive; or “fellowship brought about by the Spirit” if πνεύματος is a genitive of source or production.

[2:1]  ⁴⁵⁹ tn Grk “and any affection and mercy.” The Greek idea, however, is best expressed by “or” in English.

[2:2]  ⁴⁶⁰ tn Or “and feel the same way,” “and think the same thoughts.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated “and be of the same mind” to reflect its epexegetical force to the imperative “complete my joy.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁶¹ tn The Greek word here is σύμψυχοι (sumyucoi, literally “fellow souled”).

[2:12]  ⁴⁶² tn Grk “with fear and trembling.” The Greek words φόβος and τρόμος both imply fear in a negative sense (L&N 25.251 and 16.6 respectively) while the former can also refer to respect and awe for deity (L&N 53.59). Paul’s use of the terms in other contexts refers to “awe and reverence in the presence of God” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 284; see discussion on 282-84). The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.

[9:28]  ⁴⁶³ sn An allusion to Isa 53:12.

[9:28]  ⁴⁶⁴ tn Grk “without sin,” but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.

[9:28]  ⁴⁶⁵ tn Grk “for salvation.” This may be construed with the verb “await” (those who wait for him to bring them salvation), but the connection with “appear” (as in the translation) is more likely.

[9:1]  ⁴⁶⁶ tn Grk “the first” (referring to the covenant described in Heb 8:7, 13). In the translation the referent (covenant) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁴⁶⁷ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁴⁶⁸ tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (Ì^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ ({olw, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁷ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:21]  ⁴⁶⁹ tn Grk “The one who conquers, to him I will grant.”

[3:21]  ⁴⁷⁰ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”

[3:21]  ⁴⁷¹ tn Grk “I will give [grant] to him.”

[3:21]  ⁴⁷² tn Or “have been victorious”; traditionally, “have overcome.”

[21:22]  ⁴⁷³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Every verse from here to the end of this chapter begins with καί in Greek, but due to differences between Greek and contemporary English style, these have not been translated.

[21:22]  ⁴⁷⁴ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”

[22:3]  ⁴⁷⁵ tn Or “be anything accursed” (L&N 33.474).

[22:3]  ⁴⁷⁶ tn Grk “in it”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:3]  ⁴⁷⁷ tn Grk “city, and his.” Although this is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, a new sentence was started here in the translation because of the introduction of the Lamb’s followers.

[22:3]  ⁴⁷⁸ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[22:3]  ⁴⁷⁹ tn Or “will serve.”