26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? 3 One of the men 4 might easily have had sexual relations with 5 your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, “Whoever touches 6 this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” 7
1 tn Heb “Surely, look!” See N. H. Snaith, “The meaning of Hebrew ‘ak,” VT 14 (1964): 221-25.
2 tn Heb “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” Since the verb “said” probably means “said to myself” (i.e., “thought”) here, the direct discourse in the Hebrew statement has been converted to indirect discourse in the translation. In addition the simple prepositional phrase “on account of her” has been clarified in the translation as “to get her” (cf. v. 7).
3 tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
4 tn Heb “people.”
5 tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”
6 tn Heb “strikes.” Here the verb has the nuance “to harm in any way.” It would include assaulting the woman or killing the man.
7 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the imperfect makes the construction emphatic.