Genesis 3:9-11

3:9 But the Lord God called to ¹  the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ²  3:10 The man replied, ³  “I heard you moving about ⁴  in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the Lord God ⁵  said, “Who told you that you were naked? ⁶  Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ⁷ 

Genesis 4:9

4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” ⁸  And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” ⁹ 

Genesis 16:8

16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from ¹⁰  my mistress, Sarai.”

Exodus 4:2

4:2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” ¹¹ 

Exodus 4:2

4:2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” ¹² 

Exodus 20:14-15

20:14 “You shall not commit adultery. ¹³ 

20:15 “You shall not steal. ¹⁴ 

¹ tn The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call”) followed by the preposition אֶל־ or לְ (’el- or lÿ, “to, unto”) often carries the connotation of “summon.”

² sn Where are you? The question is probably rhetorical (a figure of speech called erotesis) rather than literal, because it was spoken to the man, who answers it with an explanation of why he was hiding rather than a location. The question has more the force of “Why are you hiding?”

³ tn Heb “and he said.”

⁴ tn Heb “your sound.” If one sees a storm theophany here (see the note on the word “time” in v. 8), then one could translate, “your powerful voice.”

⁵ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (the Lord God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ sn Who told you that you were naked? This is another rhetorical question, asking more than what it appears to ask. The second question in the verse reveals the Lord God’s real concern.

⁷ sn The Hebrew word order (“Did you from the tree – which I commanded you not to eat from it – eat?”) is arranged to emphasize that the man’s and the woman’s eating of the fruit was an act of disobedience. The relative clause inserted immediately after the reference to the tree brings out this point very well.

⁸ sn Where is Abel your brother? Again the Lord confronts a guilty sinner with a rhetorical question (see Gen 3:9-13), asking for an explanation of what has happened.

⁹ tn Heb “The one guarding my brother [am] I?”

¹⁰ tn Heb “from the presence of.”

¹¹ tn Or “rod” (KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “walking stick”; NLT “shepherd’s staff.”

¹² tn Or “rod” (KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “walking stick”; NLT “shepherd’s staff.”

¹³ sn This is a sin against the marriage of a fellow citizen – it destroys the home. The Law distinguished between adultery (which had a death penalty) and sexual contact with a young woman (which carried a monetary fine and usually marriage if the father was willing). So it distinguished fornication and adultery. Both were sins, but the significance of each was different. In the ancient world this sin is often referred to as “the great sin.”

¹⁴ sn This law protected the property of the Israelite citizen. See D. Little, “Exodus 20,15: ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’,” Int 34 (1980): 399-405.