Genesis 24:16

24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. ¹  She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.

Genesis 24:46

24:46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.

Genesis 28:12

28:12 and had a dream. ²  He saw ³  a stairway ⁴  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it

Genesis 37:35

37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by ⁵  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ⁶  So Joseph’s ⁷  father wept for him.

Genesis 38:1

Judah and Tamar

38:1 At that time Judah left ⁸  his brothers and stayed ⁹  with an Adullamite man ¹⁰  named Hirah.

Genesis 42:2

42:2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us ¹¹  so that we may live ¹²  and not die.” ¹³ 

Genesis 43:5

43:5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

Genesis 43:15

43:15 So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt ¹⁴  and stood before Joseph.

Genesis 44:23

44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’

Genesis 44:29

44:29 If you take ¹⁵  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹⁶  in tragedy ¹⁷  to the grave.’ ¹⁸ 

Genesis 44:31

44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹⁹  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave.

Genesis 45:13

45:13 So tell ²⁰  my father about all my honor in Egypt and about everything you have seen. But bring my father down here quickly!” ²¹ 

Genesis 46:3-4

46:3 He said, “I am God, ²²  the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. ²³  Joseph will close your eyes.” ²⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.

² tn Heb “and dreamed.”

³ tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the Lord himself” (Narrative Art in Genesis [SSN], 51-52).

⁴ tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.

³ tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.

⁴ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Indeed I will go down to my son mourning to Sheol.’” Sheol was viewed as the place where departed spirits went after death.

⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “went down from.”

⁵ tn Heb “and he turned aside unto.”

⁶ tn Heb “a man, an Adullamite.”

⁵ tn Heb “and buy for us from there.” The word “grain,” the direct object of “buy,” has been supplied for clarity, and the words “from there” have been omitted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Following the imperatives, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav expresses purpose of result.

⁷ tn The imperfect tense continues the nuance of the verb before it.

⁶ tn Heb “they arose and went down to Egypt.” The first verb has an adverbial function and emphasizes that they departed right away.

⁷ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

⁸ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.

⁹ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

¹⁰ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

⁸ tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

⁹ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive here expresses instruction.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and hurry and bring down my father to here.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the God.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.”

¹² tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.