Genesis 1:8

1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” ¹  There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 7:17

7:17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth.

Genesis 8:3

8:3 The waters kept receding steadily ²  from the earth, so that they ³  had gone down ⁴  by the end of the 150 days.

Genesis 8:6

8:6 At the end of forty days, ⁵  Noah opened the window he had made in the ark ⁶ 

Genesis 21:4

21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, ⁷  Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. ⁸ 

Genesis 35:20

35:20 Jacob set up a marker ⁹  over her grave; it is ¹⁰  the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.

Genesis 40:12

40:12 “This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent ¹¹  three days.

Genesis 40:18

40:18 Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent ¹²  three days.

Genesis 42:18

42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say ¹³  and you will live, ¹⁴  for I fear God. ¹⁵ 

¹ tn Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”

² tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”

³ tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.

³ tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.

⁴ tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.

⁴ tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

⁵ sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).

⁵ tn Heb “standing stone.”

⁶ tn Or perhaps “it is known as” (cf. NEB).

⁶ tn Heb “the three branches [are].”

⁷ tn Heb “the three baskets [are].”

⁸ tn Heb “Do this.”

⁹ tn After the preceding imperative, the imperative with vav (ו) can, as here, indicate logical sequence.

¹⁰ sn For I fear God. Joseph brings God into the picture to awaken his brothers’ consciences. The godly person cares about the welfare of people, whether they live or die. So he will send grain back, but keep one of them in Egypt. This action contrasts with their crime of selling their brother into slavery.