26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? 12 One of the men 13 might easily have had sexual relations with 14 your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, “Whoever touches 15 this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” 16
32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?”
7:1 But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches. 22 Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, 23 son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches. 24 The Lord was furious with the Israelites. 25
14:1 The following is a record of the territory assigned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders. 26
21:1 The king’s heart 27 is in the hand 28 of the Lord like channels of water; 29
he turns it wherever he wants.
1 tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun is enclitic, serving as an undeclined particle for emphasis. It gives the sense of “What in the world have you done?” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
2 sn The Hebrew word order puts the subject (“the serpent”) before the verb here, giving prominence to it.
3 tn This verb (the Hiphil of נָשָׁא, nasha) is used elsewhere of a king or god misleading his people into false confidence (2 Kgs 18:29 = 2 Chr 32:15 = Isa 36:14; 2 Kgs 19:10 = Isa 37:10), of an ally deceiving a partner (Obad 7), of God deceiving his sinful people as a form of judgment (Jer 4:10), of false prophets instilling their audience with false hope (Jer 29:8), and of pride and false confidence producing self-deception (Jer 37:9; 49:16; Obad 3).
4 sn What have you done? Again the
5 tn The word “voice” is a personification; the evidence of Abel’s shed blood condemns Cain, just as a human eyewitness would testify in court. For helpful insights, see G. von Rad, Biblical Interpretations in Preaching; and L. Morris, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 6 (1955/56): 77-82.
6 tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.
7 tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.
8 tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”
9 tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.
10 tn Heb “Surely, look!” See N. H. Snaith, “The meaning of Hebrew ‘ak,” VT 14 (1964): 221-25.
11 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).
12 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).
13 tn Heb “people.”
14 tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”
15 tn Heb “strikes.” Here the verb has the nuance “to harm in any way.” It would include assaulting the woman or killing the man.
16 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the imperfect makes the construction emphatic.
17 tn Heb “and you have stolen my heart.” This expression apparently means “to deceive” (see v. 20).
18 tn Heb “and you have led away my daughters like captives of a sword.”
19 tn Heb “What is this deed you have done?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question. A literal translation seems to contradict the following statement, in which Joseph affirms that he is able to divine such matters. Thus here the emotive force of the question has been reflected in the translation, “What did you think you were doing?”
20 tn Heb “[is] fully able to divine,” meaning that he can find things out by divination. The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis, stressing his ability to do this.
21 tn Heb “give glory to.”
22 tn Heb “But the sons of Israel were unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the
23 tn 1 Chr 2:6 lists a “Zimri” (but no Zabdi) as one of the five sons of Zerah (cf. also 1 Chr 7:17, 18).
24 tn Heb “took from what was set apart [to the
25 tn Heb “the anger of the
26 tn Heb “These are [the lands] which the sons of Israel received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes assigned as an inheritance to the sons of Israel.”
27 sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.
28 sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.
29 tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”