Genesis 21:14

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ¹  some food ²  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ³  and sent her away. So she went wandering ⁴  aimlessly through the wilderness ⁵  of Beer Sheba.

Genesis 28:20

28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ⁶  to eat and clothing to wear,

Genesis 37:25

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ⁷  and saw ⁸  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ⁹ 

Genesis 43:32

43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ¹⁰  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ¹¹  to do so.) ¹² 

Genesis 47:15

47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ¹³  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ¹⁴  before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

Genesis 47:17

47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. ¹⁵  He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock.

Genesis 48:7

48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow ¹⁶  – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

² tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

³ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

⁴ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

⁵ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

⁶ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

¹¹ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

¹² tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.

¹³ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Or “disgraceful.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 46:34 and Exod 8:22.

¹⁸ tn Heb “and they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not able to eat food with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination for the Egyptians.” The imperfect verbal form in the explanatory clause is taken as habitual in force, indicating a practice that was still in effect in the narrator’s time.

²¹ tn Heb “all Egypt.” The expression is a metonymy and refers to all the people of Egypt.

²² tn The imperfect verbal form has a deliberative force here.

²⁶ tn The definite article is translated here as a possessive pronoun.

³¹ tn Heb “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”

³² map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.