Discovery BoxGenesis 13:1-18
Context13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 1 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 2 13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy 3 in livestock, silver, and gold.) 4
13:3 And he journeyed from place to place 5 from the Negev as far as Bethel. 6 He returned 7 to the place where he had pitched his tent 8 at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, 9 and there Abram worshiped the Lord. 10
13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling 11 with Abram, also had 12 flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could 13 not support them while they were living side by side. 14 Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live 15 alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels 16 between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. 17 (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) 18
13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. 19 13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go 20 to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
13:10 Lot looked up and saw 21 the whole region 22 of the Jordan. He noticed 23 that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated 24 Sodom and Gomorrah) 25 like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, 26 all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled 27 toward the east.
So the relatives separated from each other. 28 13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain 29 and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now 30 the people 31 of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) 32
13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, 33 “Look 34 from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 13:15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants 35 forever. 13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. 36 13:17 Get up and 37 walk throughout 38 the land, 39 for I will give it to you.”
13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live 40 by the oaks 41 of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.
Genesis 2:23
Context2:23 Then the man said,
“This one at last 42 is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called 43 ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of 44 man.” 45
Genesis 22:12
Context22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 46 the angel said. 47 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 48 that you fear 49 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
Psalms 28:4
Context28:4 Pay them back for their evil deeds!
Pay them back for what they do!
Punish them! 50
Psalms 62:12
Context62:12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. 51
For you repay men for what they do. 52
Proverbs 24:12
Context24:12 If you say, “But we did not know about this,”
does not the one who evaluates 53 hearts consider?
Does not the one who guards your life know?
Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? 54
Proverbs 24:29
Context24:29 Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;
I will pay him back 55 according to what he has done.” 56
Ecclesiastes 12:14
Context12:14 For God will evaluate every deed, 57
including every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Jeremiah 17:10
Context17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.
I examine people’s hearts. 58
I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.
I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
Jeremiah 32:19
Context32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. 59 You see everything people do. 60 You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. 61
Matthew 16:27
Context16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 62
Romans 2:6
Context2:6 He 63 will reward 64 each one according to his works: 65
Romans 2:2
Context2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth 66 against those who practice such things.
Colossians 1:10
Context1:10 so that you may live 67 worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects 68 – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,
[13:1] 1 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
[13:1] 2 tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”
[13:2] 4 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.
[13:3] 5 tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.
[13:3] 6 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:3] 7 tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:3] 8 tn Heb “where his tent had been.”
[13:4] 9 tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).
[13:4] 10 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
[13:5] 12 tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.
[13:6] 13 tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”
[13:6] 14 tn The infinitive construct לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, from יָשַׁב, yashav) explains what it was that the land could not support: “the land could not support them to live side by side.” See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning Yahad and Yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.
[13:6] 15 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.
[13:7] 16 tn The Hebrew term רִיב (riv) means “strife, conflict, quarreling.” In later texts it has the meaning of “legal controversy, dispute.” See B. Gemser, “The rîb – or Controversy – Pattern in Hebrew Mentality,” Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 120-37.
[13:7] 17 sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.
[13:7] 18 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced with the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), again provides critical information. It tells in part why the land cannot sustain these two bedouins, and it also hints of the danger of weakening the family by inner strife.
[13:8] 19 tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.
[13:9] 20 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.
[13:10] 21 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.
[13:10] 22 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”
[13:10] 23 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:10] 24 sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).
[13:10] 25 tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.
[13:10] 26 sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the
[13:11] 27 tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.
[13:11] 28 tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”
[13:12] 29 tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[13:13] 30 tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.
[13:13] 31 tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.
[13:13] 32 tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the
[13:14] 33 tn Heb “and the
[13:14] 34 tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”
[13:15] 35 tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”
[13:16] 36 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.
[13:17] 37 tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.
[13:17] 38 tn The Hitpael form הִתְהַלֵּךְ (hithallekh) means “to walk about”; it also can carry the ideas of moving about, traversing, going back and forth, or living in an area. It here has the connotation of traversing the land to survey it, to look it over.
[13:17] 39 tn Heb “the land to its length and to its breadth.” This phrase has not been included in the translation because it is somewhat redundant (see the note on the word “throughout” in this verse).
[13:18] 40 tn Heb “he came and lived.”
[13:18] 41 tn Or “terebinths.”
[2:23] 42 tn The Hebrew term הַפַּעַם (happa’am) means “the [this] time, this place,” or “now, finally, at last.” The expression conveys the futility of the man while naming the animals and finding no one who corresponded to him.
[2:23] 43 tn The Hebrew text is very precise, stating: “of this one it will be said, ‘woman’.” The text is not necessarily saying that the man named his wife – that comes after the fall (Gen 3:20).
[2:23] 44 tn Or “from” (but see v. 22).
[2:23] 45 sn This poetic section expresses the correspondence between the man and the woman. She is bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh. Note the wordplay (paronomasia) between “woman” (אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) and “man” (אִישׁ, ’ish). On the surface it appears that the word for woman is the feminine form of the word for man. But the two words are not etymologically related. The sound and the sense give that impression, however, and make for a more effective wordplay.
[22:12] 46 tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
[22:12] 47 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:12] 48 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
[22:12] 49 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.
[28:4] 50 tn Heb “Give to them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds. According to the work of their hands give to them. Return their due to them.” The highly repetitive style reflects the psalmist’s agitated emotional state and draws attention to his yearning for justice.
[62:12] 51 tn Heb “and to you, O Master, [is] loyal love.”
[62:12] 52 tn Heb “for you pay back to a man according to his deed.” Another option is to understand vv. 11b and 12a as the first principle and v. 12b as the second. In this case one might translate, “God has declared one principle, two principles I have heard, namely, that God is strong, and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love, and that you repay men for what they do.”
[24:12] 53 tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”
[24:12] 54 sn The verse completes the saying by affirming that people will be judged responsible for helping those in mortal danger. The verse uses a series of rhetorical questions to affirm that God knows our hearts and we cannot plead ignorance.
[24:29] 55 tn Heb “repay to the man.” The verb is שׁוּב (shuv), which in the Hiphil stem means “to restore; to repay; to return” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT “I’ll get even”). The idea is that of repaying someone for what he did.
[24:29] 56 sn Rather than give in to the spirit of vengeance, one should avoid retaliation (e.g., Prov 20:22; Matt 5:43-45; Rom 12:9). According to the Talmud, Hillel said, “Do not do to others what you would not have them do unto you” (b. Sanhedrin 31a).
[12:14] 57 tn Heb “will bring every deed into judgment.”
[17:10] 58 tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will and the “kidneys” the center of emotions.
[32:19] 59 tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”
[32:19] 60 tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”
[32:19] 61 tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”
[16:27] 62 sn An allusion to Pss 28:4; 62:12; cf. Prov 24:12.
[2:6] 63 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[2:6] 64 tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works.
[2:6] 65 sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.
[2:2] 66 tn Or “based on truth.”
[1:10] 67 tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”
[1:10] 68 tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”
