Genesis 22:1-24

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things God tested ¹  Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham ²  replied. 22:2 God ³  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ⁴  – and go to the land of Moriah! ⁵  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ⁶  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ⁷  you.”

22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. ⁸  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 ⁹  for the place God had spoken to him about.

22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of ¹⁰  the place in the distance. 22:5 So he ¹¹  said to his servants, “You two stay ¹²  here with the donkey while ¹³  the boy and I go up there. We will worship ¹⁴  and then return to you.” ¹⁵ 

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, ¹⁶  and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, ¹⁷  “My father?” “What is it, ¹⁸  my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, ¹⁹  “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide ²⁰  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 ²¹  and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up ²²  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 ²³  his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel ²⁴  called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ²⁵  the angel said. ²⁶  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ²⁷  that you fear ²⁸  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

22:13 Abraham looked up ²⁹  and saw ³⁰  behind him ³¹  a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he ³²  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.” ³³  It is said to this day, ³⁴  “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” ³⁵ 

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,’ ³⁶  decrees the Lord, ³⁷  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, ³⁸  and I will greatly multiply ³⁹  your descendants ⁴⁰  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 ⁴¹  of the strongholds ⁴²  of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ⁴³  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁴⁴  using the name of your descendants.’”

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together ⁴⁵  for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. ⁴⁶ 

22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah ⁴⁷  also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ⁴⁸  22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now ⁴⁹  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.

Genesis 8:17

8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out ⁵⁰  every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase ⁵¹  and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” ⁵² 

Genesis 9:1

God’s Covenant with Humankind through Noah

9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:7

9:7 But as for you, ⁵³  be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”

Genesis 17:16

17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ⁵⁴  Kings of countries ⁵⁵  will come from her!”

Genesis 17:20

17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ⁵⁶  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ⁵⁷  He will become the father of twelve princes; ⁵⁸  I will make him into a great nation.

Genesis 22:17-18

22:17 I will indeed bless you, ⁵⁹  and I will greatly multiply ⁶⁰  your descendants ⁶¹  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 ⁶²  of the strongholds ⁶³  of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ⁶⁴  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁶⁵  using the name of your descendants.’”

Genesis 24:60

24:60 They blessed Rebekah with these words: ⁶⁶ 

“Our sister, may you become the mother ⁶⁷  of thousands of ten thousands!

May your descendants possess the strongholds ⁶⁸  of their enemies.”

Genesis 26:3-4

26:3 Stay ⁶⁹  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ⁷⁰  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ⁷¹  and I will fulfill ⁷²  the solemn promise I made ⁷³  to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ⁷⁴  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ⁷⁵ 

Genesis 26:24

26:24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

Genesis 33:5

33:5 When Esau ⁷⁶  looked up ⁷⁷  and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob ⁷⁸  replied, “The children whom God has graciously given ⁷⁹  your servant.”

Genesis 49:25

49:25 because of the God of your father,

who will help you, ⁸⁰ 

because of the sovereign God, ⁸¹ 

who will bless you ⁸² 

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb. ⁸³ 

Leviticus 26:9

26:9 I will turn to you, make you fruitful, multiply you, and maintain ⁸⁴  my covenant with you.

Leviticus 26:1

Exhortation to Obedience

26:1 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols, ⁸⁵  so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before ⁸⁶  it, for I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 4:10

4:10 – just as it is taken from the ox of the peace offering sacrifice ⁸⁷  – and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.

Leviticus 26:5

26:5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes, ⁸⁸  and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so ⁸⁹  you will eat your bread until you are satisfied, ⁹⁰  and you will live securely in your land.

Job 42:12

42:12 So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

Psalms 107:38

107:38 He blessed ⁹¹  them so that they became very numerous.

He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number. ⁹² 

Psalms 127:1-5

Psalm 127 ⁹³ 

A song of ascents, ⁹⁴  by Solomon.

127:1 If the Lord does not build a house, ⁹⁵ 

then those who build it work in vain.

If the Lord does not guard a city, ⁹⁶ 

then the watchman stands guard in vain.

127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,

and work so hard for your food. ⁹⁷ 

Yes, ⁹⁸  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ⁹⁹ 

127:3 Yes, ¹⁰⁰  sons ¹⁰¹  are a gift from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

127:4 Sons born during one’s youth

are like arrows in a warrior’s hand. ¹⁰² 

127:5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

They will not be put to shame ¹⁰³  when they confront ¹⁰⁴  enemies at the city gate.

Psalms 128:3-4

128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine ¹⁰⁵ 

in the inner rooms of your house;

your children ¹⁰⁶  will be like olive branches,

as they sit all around your table.

128:4 Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord

will be blessed in this way. ¹⁰⁷ 

Isaiah 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ¹⁰⁸ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ¹⁰⁹ 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Isaiah 45:1

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹¹⁰  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ¹¹¹ 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ¹¹² 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

Isaiah 4:3

4:3 Those remaining in Zion, ¹¹³  those left in Jerusalem, ¹¹⁴ 

will be called “holy,” ¹¹⁵ 

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. ¹¹⁶ 

[22:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[22:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”

[22:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “he arose and he went.”

[22:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”

[22:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[22:5]  ¹² tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.

[22:5]  ¹³ tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.

[22:5]  ¹⁴ tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”

[22:5]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.

[22:7]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[22:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).

[22:7]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”

[22:9]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”

[22:11]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ²⁸ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[22:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”

[22:13]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:14]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[22:17]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”

[22:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.

[22:20]  ⁴⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.

[22:21]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).

[8:17]  ⁵⁰ tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:17]  ⁵¹ tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.

[8:17]  ⁵² tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

[9:7]  ⁵³ sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).

[17:16]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “peoples.”

[17:20]  ⁵⁶ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ⁵⁸ tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[22:17]  ⁵⁹ 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]  ⁶⁰ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ⁶¹ 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]  ⁶² tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ⁶³ 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]  ⁶⁴ 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]  ⁶⁵ 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.)

[24:60]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “and said to her.”

[24:60]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”

[24:60]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.

[26:3]  ⁶⁹ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.

[26:3]  ⁷⁰ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

[26:3]  ⁷¹ 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.

[26:3]  ⁷² tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.

[26:3]  ⁷³ tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

[26:4]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ⁷⁵ 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 22:18). 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.)

[33:5]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[33:5]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ⁷⁹ tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”

[49:25]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “and he will help you.”

[49:25]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “Shaddai.” See the note on the title “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1. The preposition אֵת (’et) in the Hebrew text should probably be emended to אֵל (’el, “God”).

[49:25]  ⁸² tn Heb “and he will bless you.”

[49:25]  ⁸³ sn Jacob envisions God imparting both agricultural (blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below) and human fertility (blessings of the breasts and womb) to Joseph and his family.

[26:9]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “cause to arise,” but probably used here for the Lord’s intention of confirming or maintaining the covenant commitment made at Sinai. Cf. KJV “establish”; NASB “will confirm”; NAB “carry out”; NIV “will keep.”

[26:1]  ⁸⁵ sn For the literature regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִם, ’elilim), see the literature cited in the note on Lev 19:4. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (’el, “god, God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless, weak, powerless, nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”

[26:1]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “on.” The “sculpted stone” appears to be some sort of stone with images carved into (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 181, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 449).

[4:10]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “taken up from”; KJV, ASV “taken off from”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “removed.” See the notes on Lev 3:3-4 above (cf. also 3:9-10, 14-15).

[26:5]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “will reach for you the vintage season.”

[26:5]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[26:5]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV, NASB “to the full.”

[107:38]  ⁹¹ tn “Bless” here carries the nuance “endue with sexual potency, make fertile.” See Gen 1:28, where the statement “he blessed them” directly precedes the command “be fruitful and populate the earth” (see also 1:22). The verb “bless” carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).

[107:38]  ⁹² tn The verbal form in this line appears to be an imperfect, which may be taken as customary (drawing attention to typical action in a past time frame) or as generalizing (in which case one should use the English present tense, understanding a move from narrative to present reality).

[127:1]  ⁹³ sn Psalm 127. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist teaches that one does not find security by one’s own efforts, for God alone gives stability and security.

[127:1]  ⁹⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[127:1]  ⁹⁵ sn The expression build a house may have a double meaning here. It may refer on the surface level to a literal physical structure in which a family lives, but at a deeper, metaphorical level it refers to building, perpetuating, and maintaining a family line. See Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 11:38; 1 Chr 17:10, 25. Having a family line provided security in ancient Israel.

[127:1]  ⁹⁶ sn The city symbolizes community security, which is the necessary framework for family security.

[127:2]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).

[127:2]  ⁹⁸ tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.

[127:3]  ¹⁰⁰ tn or “look.”

[127:3]  ¹⁰¹ tn Some prefer to translate this term with the gender neutral “children,” but “sons” are plainly in view here, as the following verses make clear. Daughters are certainly wonderful additions to a family, but in ancient Israelite culture sons were the “arrows” that gave a man security in his old age, for they could defend the family interests at the city gate, where the legal and economic issues of the community were settled.

[127:4]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so [are] sons of youth.” Arrows are used in combat to defend oneself against enemies; sons are viewed here as providing social security and protection (see v. 5). The phrase “sons of youth” is elliptical, meaning “sons [born during the father’s] youth.” Such sons will have grown up to be mature adults and will have children of their own by the time the father reaches old age and becomes vulnerable to enemies. Contrast the phrase “son of old age” in Gen 37:3 (see also 44:20), which refers to Jacob’s age when Joseph was born.

[127:5]  ¹⁰³ tn Being “put to shame” is here metonymic for being defeated, probably in a legal context, as the reference to the city gate suggests. One could be humiliated (Ps 69:12) or deprived of justice (Amos 5:12) at the gate, but with strong sons to defend the family interests this was less likely to happen.

[127:5]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “speak with.”

[128:3]  ¹⁰⁵ sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).

[128:3]  ¹⁰⁶ tn One could translate “sons” (see Ps 127:3 and the note on the word “sons” there), but here the term seems to refer more generally to children of both genders.

[128:4]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the Lord, be blessed.”

[45:18]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.

[45:1]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ¹¹¹ sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ¹¹² tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[4:3]  ¹¹³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[4:3]  ¹¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3]  ¹¹⁵ tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”

[4:3]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “all who are written down for life in Jerusalem.” A city register is envisioned; everyone whose name appears on the roll will be spared. This group comprises the remnant of the city referred to earlier in the verse.