Genesis 9:14

9:14 Whenever ¹  I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,

Genesis 9:13

9:13 I will place ²  my rainbow ³  in the clouds, and it will become ⁴  a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 21:20

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

Genesis 27:3

27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game ⁵  for me.

Genesis 9:16

9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember ⁶  the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”

Genesis 48:22

48:22 As one who is above your ⁷  brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, ⁸  which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Genesis 49:24

49:24 But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands ⁹  will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of ¹⁰  the Shepherd, the Rock ¹¹  of Israel,

Genesis 21:16

21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ¹²  away; for she thought, ¹³  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ¹⁴  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ¹⁵ 

¹ tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.

² tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).

³ sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.

⁴ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.

³ tn The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד (tsayid) following the marginal reading (Qere), or צֵידָה (tsedah) following the consonantal text (Kethib). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה (tsudah, “hunt down”).

⁴ tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”

⁵ tn The pronouns translated “your” and “you” in this verse are singular in the Hebrew text.

⁶ tn The Hebrew word שְׁכֶם (shÿkhem) could be translated either as “mountain slope” or “shoulder, portion,” or even taken as the proper name “Shechem.” Jacob was giving Joseph either (1) one portion above his brothers, or (2) the mountain ridge he took from the Amorites, or (3) Shechem. The ambiguity actually allows for all three to be the referent. He could be referring to the land in Shechem he bought in Gen 33:18-19, but he mentions here that it was acquired by warfare, suggesting that the events of 34:25-29 are in view (even though at the time he denounced it, 34:30). Joseph was later buried in Shechem (Josh 24:32).

⁶ tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”

⁷ tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”

⁸ tn Or “Stone.”

⁷ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

⁸ tn Heb “said.”

⁹ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.