19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. 6 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy 7 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. 8
38:24 After three months Judah was told, 17 “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, 18 and as a result she has become pregnant.” 19 Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”
38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with 20 your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise 21 up a descendant for your brother.” 22
11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.
38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, 23 “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” 24 So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, 28 which is in effect 29 to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.
49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, 31
until he comes to whom it belongs; 32
the nations will obey him. 33
1 tn The words “All this will come to pass” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
3 sn My charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. The language of this verse is clearly interpretive, for Abraham did not have all these laws. The terms are legal designations for sections of the Mosaic law and presuppose the existence of the law. Some Rabbinic views actually conclude that Abraham had fulfilled the whole law before it was given (see m. Qiddushin 4:14). Some scholars argue that this story could only have been written after the law was given (C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:424-25). But the simplest explanation is that the narrator (traditionally taken to be Moses the Lawgiver) elaborated on the simple report of Abraham’s obedience by using terms with which the Israelites were familiar. In this way he depicts Abraham as the model of obedience to God’s commands, whose example Israel should follow.
4 tn Heb “And it was told to Tamar, saying.”
5 tn The active participle indicates the action was in progress or about to begin.
7 sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.
8 tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.
9 tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.
10 tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”
12 tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”
14 tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.
13 tn Heb “I will go to you.” The imperfect verbal form probably indicates his desire here. The expression “go to” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
14 tn Heb “for he did not know that.”
15 tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
16 tn Heb “it was told to Judah, saying.”
17 tn Or “has been sexually promiscuous.” The verb may refer here to loose or promiscuous activity, not necessarily prostitution.
18 tn Heb “and also look, she is with child by prostitution.”
19 tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
20 tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.
21 sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.
22 tn Heb “said.”
23 tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”
25 tn Heb “she was being brought out and she sent.” The juxtaposition of two clauses, both of which place the subject before the predicate, indicates synchronic action.
26 tn Heb “who these to him.”
27 tn Or “ recognize; note.” This same Hebrew verb (נָכַר, nakhar) is used at the beginning of v. 26, where it is translated “recognized.”
28 tn On the term translated “statute” see P. Victor, “A Note on Hoq in the Old Testament,” VT 16 (1966): 358-61.
29 tn The words “which is in effect” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
31 tn Heb “And they were [a source of ] bitterness in spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.”
34 tn Or perhaps “from his descendants,” taking the expression “from between his feet” as a euphemism referring to the genitals. In this case the phrase refers by metonymy to those who come forth from his genitals, i.e., his descendants.
35 tn The Hebrew form שִׁילֹה (shiloh) is a major interpretive problem. There are at least four major options (with many variations and less likely alternatives): (1) Some prefer to leave the text as it is, reading “Shiloh” and understanding it as the place where the ark rested for a while in the time of the Judges. (2) By repointing the text others arrive at the translation “until the [or “his”] ruler comes,” a reference to a Davidic ruler or the Messiah. (3) Another possibility that does not require emendation of the consonantal text, but only repointing, is “until tribute is brought to him” (so NEB, JPS, NRSV), which has the advantage of providing good parallelism with the following line, “the nations will obey him.” (4) The interpretation followed in the present translation, “to whom it [belongs]” (so RSV, NIV, REB), is based on the ancient versions. Again, this would refer to the Davidic dynasty or, ultimately, to the Messiah.
36 tn “and to him [will be] the obedience of the nations.” For discussion of this verse see J. Blenkinsopp, “The Oracle of Judah and the Messianic Entry,” JBL 80 (1961): 55-64; and E. M. Good, “The ‘Blessing’ on Judah,” JBL 82 (1963): 427-32.