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 44:13
Context44:13 They all tore their clothes! Then each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.
Genesis 44:27
Context44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. 42
Deuteronomy 28:15
Context28:15 “But if you ignore 43 the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: 44
Deuteronomy 28:22
Context28:22 He 45 will afflict you with weakness, 46 fever, inflammation, infection, 47 sword, 48 blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish.
Deuteronomy 28:45
Context28:45 All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given 49 you.
Proverbs 13:21
Context13:21 Calamity 50 pursues sinners,
but prosperity rewards the righteous. 51
Ezekiel 11:8
Context11:8 You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,’ declares the sovereign Lord.
Amos 9:1-4
Context9:1 I saw the sovereign One 52 standing by the altar 53 and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, 54 so the thresholds shake!
Knock them down on the heads of all the people, 55
and I will kill the survivors 56 with the sword.
No one will be able to run away; 57
no one will be able to escape. 58
9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, 59
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from me 60 at the bottom of the sea,
from there 61 I would command the Sea Serpent 62 to bite them.
9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, 63
from there 64 I will command the sword to kill them.
I will not let them out of my sight;
they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” 65
Zechariah 1:6
Context1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? 66 Then they paid attention 67 and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”
John 11:48
Context11:48 If we allow him to go on in this way, 68 everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary 69 and our nation.”
[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.”
[44:27] 42 tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”
[28:15] 43 tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”
[28:15] 44 tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”
[28:22] 45 tn Heb “The
[28:22] 46 tn Or perhaps “consumption” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The term is from a verbal root that indicates a weakening of one’s physical strength (cf. NAB “wasting”; NIV, NLT “wasting disease”).
[28:22] 47 tn Heb “hot fever”; NIV “scorching heat.”
[28:22] 48 tn Or “drought” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[28:45] 49 tn Heb “commanded”; NAB, NIV, TEV “he gave you.”
[13:21] 50 tn Heb “evil.” The term רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) here functions in a metonymical sense meaning “calamity.” “Good” is the general idea of good fortune or prosperity; the opposite, “evil,” is likewise “misfortune” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV) or calamity.
[13:21] 51 sn This statement deals with recompense in absolute terms. It is this principle, without allowing for any of the exceptions that Proverbs itself acknowledges, that Job’s friends applied (incorrectly) to his suffering.
[9:1] 52 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[9:1] 53 sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.
[9:1] 54 tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.
[9:1] 55 tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”
[9:1] 56 tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.
[9:1] 57 tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”
[9:1] 58 tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”
[9:2] 59 tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”
[9:3] 60 tn Heb “from before my eyes.”
[9:3] 61 tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).
[9:3] 62 sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the
[9:4] 63 tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”
[9:4] 64 tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).
[9:4] 65 tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”
[1:6] 66 tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.
[1:6] 67 tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”
[11:48] 68 tn Grk “If we let him do thus.”
[11:48] 69 tn Or “holy place”; Grk “our place” (a reference to the temple in Jerusalem).
