36:14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter 10 of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.
1 sn Two great lights. The text goes to great length to discuss the creation of these lights, suggesting that the subject was very important to the ancients. Since these “lights” were considered deities in the ancient world, the section serves as a strong polemic (see G. Hasel, “The Polemical Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,” EvQ 46 [1974]: 81-102). The Book of Genesis is affirming they are created entities, not deities. To underscore this the text does not even give them names. If used here, the usual names for the sun and moon [Shemesh and Yarih, respectively] might have carried pagan connotations, so they are simply described as greater and lesser lights. Moreover, they serve in the capacity that God gives them, which would not be the normal function the pagans ascribed to them. They merely divide, govern, and give light in God’s creation.
2 tn Heb “and the stars.” Now the term “stars” is added as a third object of the verb “made.” Perhaps the language is phenomenological, meaning that the stars appeared in the sky from this time forward.
3 tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
4 tn Heb “Asshur.”
5 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
6 sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
7 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
5 tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
6 tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”
7 tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.
9 tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express Joseph’s instructions.
10 tn Heb “and he did according to the word of Joseph which he spoke.”