Genesis 9:7

9:7 But as for you, ¹  be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”

Genesis 34:10

34:10 You may live ²  among us, and the land will be open to you. ³  Live in it, travel freely in it, ⁴  and acquire property in it.”

Genesis 47:27

47:27 Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they owned land there. They were fruitful and increased rapidly in number.

Genesis 21:23

21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ⁵  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ⁶  Show me, and the land ⁷  where you are staying, ⁸  the same loyalty ⁹  that I have shown you.” ¹⁰ 

Genesis 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ¹¹  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ¹²  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹³  in sorrow to the grave.” ¹⁴ 

¹ sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).

² tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

³ tn Heb “before you.”

⁴ tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”

³ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

⁴ tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

⁵ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

⁶ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

⁷ tn Or “kindness.”

⁸ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

⁶ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.

⁷ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.