Genesis 18:12

18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?”

Genesis 24:18

24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly lowering her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink.

Genesis 24:35

24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Genesis 31:35

31:35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord. I cannot stand up in your presence because I am having my period.” 10  So he searched thoroughly, 11  but did not find the idols.

Genesis 32:4-5

32:4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant 12  Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. 32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent 13  this message 14  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Genesis 32:18

32:18 then you must say, 15  ‘They belong 16  to your servant Jacob. 17  They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. 18  In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’” 19 

Genesis 42:10

42:10 But they exclaimed, 20  “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy grain for food!

Genesis 44:5

44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup 21  and use it for divination? 22  You have done wrong!’” 23 

Genesis 44:8

44:8 Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

Exodus 32:22

32:22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; 24  you know these people, that they tend to evil. 25 

Ruth 2:13

2:13 She said, “You really are being kind to me, 26  sir, 27  for you have reassured 28  and encouraged 29  me, your servant, 30  even though I am 31  not one of your servants!” 32 


tn Heb “saying.”

tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.

tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

tn Heb “and she hurried and lowered.”

tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.

tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.

tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”

10 tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.

11 tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

12 sn Your servant. The narrative recounts Jacob’s groveling in fear before Esau as he calls his brother his “lord,” as if to minimize what had been done twenty years ago.

13 tn Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.

14 tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

15 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.

16 tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

17 tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”

18 tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”

19 tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

20 tn Heb “and they said to him.” In context this is best understood as an exclamation.

21 tn Heb “Is this not what my master drinks from.” The word “cup” is not in the Hebrew text, but is obviously the referent of “this,” and so has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

22 tn Heb “and he, divining, divines with it.” The infinitive absolute is emphatic, stressing the importance of the cup to Joseph.

23 tn Heb “you have caused to be evil what you have done.”

24 sn “My lord” refers to Moses.

25 tn Heb “that on evil it is.”

26 tn Heb “I am finding favor in your eyes.” In v. 10, where Ruth uses the perfect, she simply states the fact that Boaz is kind. Here the Hebrew text switches to the imperfect, thus emphasizing the ongoing attitude of kindness displayed by Boaz. Many English versions treat this as a request: KJV “Let me find favour in thy sight”; NAB “May I prove worthy of your kindness”; NIV “May I continue to find favor in your eyes.”

27 tn Heb “my master”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “my lord.”

28 tn Or “comforted” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

29 tn Heb “spoken to the heart of.” As F. W. Bush points out, the idiom here means “to reassure, encourage” (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124).

30 tn Ruth here uses a word (שִׁפְחָה, shifkhah) that describes the lowest level of female servant (see 1 Sam 25:41). Note Ruth 3:9 where she uses the word אָמָה (’amah), which refers to a higher class of servant.

31 tn The imperfect verbal form of הָיָה (hayah) is used here. F. W. Bush shows from usage elsewhere that the form should be taken as future (Ruth, Esther [WBC], 124-25).

32 tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern vav [ו] + subject + verb) is circumstantial (or concessive) here (“even though”).