16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit 1 to her authority.
44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers.
49:25 because of the God of your father,
who will help you, 20
because of the sovereign God, 21
who will bless you 22
with blessings from the sky above,
blessings from the deep that lies below,
and blessings of the breasts and womb. 23
4:25 And Adam had marital relations 24 with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given 25 me another child 26 in place of Abel because Cain killed him.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 27 and saw 28 behind him 29 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 30 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession 34 and the rings that were in their ears. 35 Jacob buried them 36 under the oak 37 near Shechem
1 tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.
2 tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.
3 tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.
3 tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.
4 tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.
5 tn Heb “and.”
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
7 tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.
6 tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).
7 sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.
7 tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”
8 sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.
9 tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.
10 tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.
9 tn Heb “all the food.”
10 tn Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”
11 tn Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.
12 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.
10 tn Heb “and he will help you.”
11 tn Heb “Shaddai.” See the note on the title “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1. The preposition אֵת (’et) in the Hebrew text should probably be emended to אֵל (’el, “God”).
12 tn Heb “and he will bless you.”
13 sn Jacob envisions God imparting both agricultural (blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below) and human fertility (blessings of the breasts and womb) to Joseph and his family.
11 tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
12 sn The name Seth probably means something like “placed”; “appointed”; “set”; “granted,” assuming it is actually related to the verb that is used in the sentiment. At any rate, the name שֵׁת (shet) and the verb שָׁת (shat, “to place, to appoint, to set, to grant”) form a wordplay (paronomasia).
13 tn Heb “offspring.”
12 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
13 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.
14 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
15 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “therefore.”
15 tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
14 tn Heb “in their hand.”
15 sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).
16 sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.
17 tn Or “terebinth.”
15 tn Heb “they left the city, they were not far,” meaning “they had not gone very far.”
16 tn Heb “and Joseph said.” This clause, like the first one in the verse, has the subject before the verb, indicating synchronic action.
17 tn Heb “arise, chase after the men.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
18 tn After the imperative this perfect verbal form with vav consecutive has the same nuance of instruction. In the translation it is subordinated to the verbal form that follows (also a perfect with vav consecutive): “and overtake them and say,” becomes “when you overtake them, say.”
16 tn Heb “days.”
17 sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.
18 tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”