18:30 Then Abraham 6 said, “May the Lord not be angry 7 so that I may speak! 8 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
18:31 Abraham 9 said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, 10 and the older daughter 11 came and had sexual relations with her father. 12 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 13
37:9 Then he had another dream, 14 and told it to his brothers. “Look,” 15 he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may 25 put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care 26 and I will bring him back to you.”
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the
2 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.
3 tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.
4 tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”
5 tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “let it not be hot to the
8 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “drink wine.”
17 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
18 tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.
19 tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”
21 tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”
22 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.
26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “see.”
28 tn Heb “peace.”
29 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Heb “Look, his brother came out.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through the midwife’s eyes. The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
32 tn Heb “How you have made a breach for yourself!” The Hebrew verb translated “make a breach” frequently occurs, as here, with a cognate accusative. The event provided the meaningful name Perez, “he who breaks through.”
33 sn The name Perez means “he who breaks through,” referring to Perez reaching out his hand at birth before his brother was born. The naming signified the completion of Tamar’s struggle and also depicted the destiny of the tribe of Perez who later became dominant (Gen 46:12 and Num 26:20). Judah and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, thinking they could thwart God’s plan that the elder brothers should serve the younger. God demonstrated that principle through these births in Judah’s own family, affirming that the elder will serve the younger, and that Joseph’s leadership could not so easily be set aside. See J. Goldin, “The Youngest Son; or, Where Does Genesis 38 Belong?” JBL 96 (1977): 27-44.
36 tn Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head.” This Hebrew idiom usually refers to restoring dignity, office, or power. It is comparable to the modern saying “someone can hold his head up high.”
37 tn Heb “according to the former custom.”
41 tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.
42 tn Heb “my hand.”
46 tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
47 tn Heb “go down.”
51 tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.
52 tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.