43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. 9
25:1 Abraham had taken 10 another 11 wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
16:1 Now Sarai, 12 Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, 13 but she had an Egyptian servant 14 named Hagar. 15 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 16 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 17 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 18 Abram did what 19 Sarai told him.
16:3 So after Abram had lived 20 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 21 to her husband to be his wife. 22 16:4 He had sexual relations with 23 Hagar, and she became pregnant. 24 Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 25
7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; 26
government officials and judges take bribes, 27
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. 28
1 tn Heb “and Jacob said, ‘No, please.’” The words “take them” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
2 tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence.
3 tn The verbal form is the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive, indicating result here.
4 tn Heb “for therefore I have seen your face like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me.”
5 tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier.
6 tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity.
7 tn Heb “all.”
8 tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity.
9 tn The disjunctive clause gives supplemental information that is important to the storyline.
10 tn Or “took.”
11 tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”
12 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.
13 sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.
14 tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.
15 sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)
16 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
17 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
18 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
19 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
20 tn Heb “at the end of ten years, to live, Abram.” The prepositional phrase introduces the temporal clause, the infinitive construct serves as the verb, and the name “Abram” is the subject.
21 tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”
22 sn To be his wife. Hagar became a slave wife, not on equal standing with Sarai. However, if Hagar produced the heir, she would be the primary wife in the eyes of society. When this eventually happened, Hagar become insolent, prompting Sarai’s anger.
23 tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.
24 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)
25 tn Heb “and she saw that she was pregnant and her mistress was despised in her eyes.” The Hebrew verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to despise, to treat lightly, to treat with contempt.” In Hagar’s opinion Sarai had been demoted.
26 tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”
27 tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”
28 tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.