Genesis 4:4

4:4 But Abel brought ¹  some of the firstborn of his flock – even the fattest ²  of them. And the Lord was pleased with ³  Abel and his offering,

Genesis 32:18

32:18 then you must say, ⁴  ‘They belong ⁵  to your servant Jacob. ⁶  They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. ⁷  In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’” ⁸ 

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 ⁹  and stood before Joseph.

Genesis 43:25-26

43:25 They got their gifts ready for Joseph’s arrival ¹⁰  at noon, for they had heard ¹¹  that they were to have a meal ¹²  there.

43:26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside, ¹³  and they bowed down to the ground before him.

¹ tn Heb “But Abel brought, also he….” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) stresses the contrast between Cain’s offering and Abel’s.

² tn Two prepositional phrases are used to qualify the kind of sacrifice that Abel brought: “from the firstborn” and “from the fattest of them.” These also could be interpreted as a hendiadys: “from the fattest of the firstborn of the flock.” Another option is to understand the second prepositional phrase as referring to the fat portions of the sacrificial sheep. In this case one may translate, “some of the firstborn of his flock, even some of their fat portions” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

³ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah) simply means “to gaze at, to have regard for, to look on with favor [or “with devotion”].” The text does not indicate how this was communicated, but it indicates that Cain and Abel knew immediately. Either there was some manifestation of divine pleasure given to Abel and withheld from Cain (fire consuming the sacrifice?), or there was an inner awareness of divine response.

⁴ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.

⁵ tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”

⁷ tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”

⁸ tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “they arose and went down to Egypt.” The first verb has an adverbial function and emphasizes that they departed right away.

¹⁰ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct after the preposition, followed by the subjective genitive.

¹¹ tn The action precedes the action of preparing the gift, and so must be translated as past perfect.

¹² tn Heb “eat bread.” The imperfect verbal form is used here as a historic future (future from the perspective of the past).

¹³ tn Heb “into the house.”