Genesis 14:15

14:15 Then, during the night, ¹  Abram ²  divided his forces ³  against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north ⁴  of Damascus.

Genesis 14:2

14:2 went to war ⁵  against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ⁶ 

Genesis 8:7

8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying ⁷  back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

Acts 9:2-3

9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues ⁸  in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, ⁹  either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners ¹⁰  to Jerusalem. ¹¹  9:3 As he was going along, approaching ¹²  Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed ¹³  around him.

¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”

⁴ tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

⁵ tn Heb “made war.”

⁶ sn On the geographical background of vv. 1-2 see J. P. Harland, “Sodom and Gomorrah,” The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 1:41-75; and D. N. Freedman, “The Real Story of the Ebla Tablets, Ebla and the Cities of the Plain,” BA 41 (1978): 143-64.

⁷ tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.

⁸ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

⁹ sn The expression “the way” in ancient religious literature refers at times to “the whole way of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint” (BDAG 692 s.v. ὁδός 3.c), and it has been so used of Christianity and its teachings in the book of Acts (see also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It is a variation of Judaism’s idea of two ways, the true and the false, where “the Way” is the true one (1 En. 91:18; 2 En. 30:15).

¹⁰ tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

¹¹ sn From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into Syria.

¹² tn Grk “As he was going along, it happened that when he was approaching.” The phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹³ tn Or “shone” (BDAG 799 s.v. περιαστράπτω). The light was more brilliant than the sun according to Acts 26:13.