Discovery BoxGenesis 16:1-16
Context16:1 Now Sarai, 1 Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, 2 but she had an Egyptian servant 3 named Hagar. 4 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 5 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 6 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 7 Abram did what 8 Sarai told him.
16:3 So after Abram had lived 9 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 10 to her husband to be his wife. 11 16:4 He had sexual relations with 12 Hagar, and she became pregnant. 13 Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 14 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! 15 I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, 16 but when she realized 17 that she was pregnant, she despised me. 18 May the Lord judge between you and me!” 19
16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 20 servant is under your authority, 21 do to her whatever you think best.” 22 Then Sarai treated Hagar 23 harshly, 24 so she ran away from Sarai. 25
16:7 The Lord’s angel 26 found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. 27 16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from 28 my mistress, Sarai.”
16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit 29 to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, 30 “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 31 16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,
“You are now 32 pregnant
and are about to give birth 33 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 34
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 35
16:12 He will be a wild donkey 36 of a man.
He will be hostile to everyone, 37
and everyone will be hostile to him. 38
He will live away from 39 his brothers.”
16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 40 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 41 16:14 That is why the well was called 42 Beer Lahai Roi. 43 (It is located 44 between Kadesh and Bered.)
16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 45 16:16 (Now 46 Abram was 86 years old 47 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) 48
Genesis 17:14
Context17:14 Any uncircumcised male 49 who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 50 from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 51
Genesis 19:19
Context19:19 Your 52 servant has found favor with you, 53 and you have shown me great 54 kindness 55 by sparing 56 my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because 57 this disaster will overtake 58 me and I’ll die. 59
Genesis 20:8
Context20:8 Early in the morning 60 Abimelech summoned 61 all his servants. When he told them about all these things, 62 they 63 were terrified.
Isaiah 34:1-8
Context34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!
Pay attention, you people!
The earth and everything it contains must listen,
the world and everything that lives in it. 64
34:2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
34:3 Their slain will be left unburied, 65
their corpses will stink; 66
the hills will soak up their blood. 67
34:4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, 68
the sky will roll up like a scroll;
all its stars will wither,
like a leaf withers and falls from a vine
or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 69
34:5 He says, 70 “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. 71
Look, it now descends on Edom, 72
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered 73 with fat;
it drips 74 with the blood of young rams and goats
and is covered 75 with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice 76 in Bozrah, 77
a bloody 78 slaughter in the land of Edom.
34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered 79 along with them,
as well as strong bulls. 80
Their land is drenched with blood,
their soil is covered with fat.
34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, 81
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 82
Isaiah 63:1-6
Context63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, 83
dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? 84
Who 85 is this one wearing royal attire, 86
who marches confidently 87 because of his great strength?
“It is I, the one who announces vindication,
and who is able to deliver!” 88
63:2 Why are your clothes red?
Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? 89
63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;
no one from the nations joined me.
I stomped on them 90 in my anger;
I trampled them down in my rage.
Their juice splashed on my garments,
and stained 91 all my clothes.
63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,
and then payback time arrived. 92
63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was shocked because there was no one offering support. 93
So my right arm accomplished deliverance;
my raging anger drove me on. 94
63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,
I made them drunk 95 in my rage,
I splashed their blood on the ground.” 96
Ezekiel 38:8-12
Context38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, 97 with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people 98 were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. 38:9 You will advance; 99 you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you.
38:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, 100 and you will devise an evil plan. 38:11 You will say, “I will invade 101 a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against 102 those living quietly in security – all of them living without walls and barred gates – 38:12 to loot and plunder, to attack 103 the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the center 104 of the earth.”
Joel 3:11-14
Context3:11 Lend your aid 105 and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves 106 to that place.”
Bring down, O Lord, your warriors! 107
3:12 Let the nations be roused and let them go up
to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit in judgment on all the surrounding nations.
3:13 Rush forth with 108 the sickle, for the harvest is ripe!
Come, stomp the grapes, 109 for the winepress is full!
The vats overflow.
Indeed, their evil is great! 110
3:14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision,
for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision! 111
[16:1] 1 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.
[16:1] 2 sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.
[16:1] 3 tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.
[16:1] 4 sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)
[16:2] 5 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
[16:2] 6 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
[16:2] 7 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
[16:2] 8 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
[16:3] 9 tn Heb “at the end of ten years, to live, Abram.” The prepositional phrase introduces the temporal clause, the infinitive construct serves as the verb, and the name “Abram” is the subject.
[16:3] 10 tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”
[16:3] 11 sn To be his wife. Hagar became a slave wife, not on equal standing with Sarai. However, if Hagar produced the heir, she would be the primary wife in the eyes of society. When this eventually happened, Hagar become insolent, prompting Sarai’s anger.
[16:4] 12 tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.
[16:4] 13 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)
[16:4] 14 tn Heb “and she saw that she was pregnant and her mistress was despised in her eyes.” The Hebrew verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to despise, to treat lightly, to treat with contempt.” In Hagar’s opinion Sarai had been demoted.
[16:5] 15 tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”
[16:5] 16 tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”
[16:5] 18 tn Heb “I was despised in her eyes.” The passive verb has been translated as active for stylistic reasons. Sarai was made to feel supplanted and worthless by Hagar the servant girl.
[16:5] 19 tn Heb “me and you.”
[16:6] 20 tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”
[16:6] 21 tn Heb “in your hand.”
[16:6] 22 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
[16:6] 23 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:6] 24 tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”
[16:6] 25 tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:7] 26 tn Heb “the messenger of the
[16:7] 27 tn Heb “And the angel of the
[16:8] 28 tn Heb “from the presence of.”
[16:9] 29 tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.
[16:10] 30 tn Heb “The
[16:10] 31 tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”
[16:11] 32 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
[16:11] 33 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
[16:11] 34 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
[16:11] 35 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
[16:12] 36 sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.
[16:12] 37 tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.
[16:12] 38 tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”
[16:12] 39 tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).
[16:13] 40 tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).
[16:13] 41 tn Heb “after one who sees me.”
[16:14] 42 tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.
[16:14] 43 sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed.
[16:14] 44 tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:15] 45 tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”
[16:16] 46 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.
[16:16] 47 tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”
[16:16] 48 tn The Hebrew text adds, “for Abram.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is somewhat redundant given the three occurrences of Abram’s name in this and the previous verse.
[17:14] 49 tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.
[17:14] 50 tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:14] 51 tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
[19:19] 52 tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.
[19:19] 53 tn Heb “in your eyes.”
[19:19] 54 tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
[19:19] 55 sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.
[19:19] 56 tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
[19:19] 58 tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.
[19:19] 59 tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
[20:8] 60 tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”
[20:8] 61 tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”
[20:8] 62 tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”
[20:8] 63 tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:1] 64 tn Heb “the world and its offspring”; NASB “the world and all that springs from it.”
[34:3] 65 tn Heb “will be cast aside”; NASB, NIV “thrown out.”
[34:3] 66 tn Heb “[as for] their corpses, their stench will arise.”
[34:3] 67 tn Heb “hills will dissolve from their blood.”
[34:4] 68 tc Heb “and all the host of heaven will rot.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa inserts “and the valleys will be split open,” but this reading may be influenced by Mic 1:4. On the other hand, the statement, if original, could have been omitted by homoioarcton, a scribe’s eye jumping from the conjunction prefixed to “the valleys” to the conjunction prefixed to the verb “rot.”
[34:4] 69 tn Heb “like the withering of a leaf from a vine, and like the withering from a fig tree.”
[34:5] 70 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.
[34:5] 71 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”
[34:5] 72 sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.
[34:6] 73 tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.
[34:6] 74 tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 75 tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 76 tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”
[34:6] 77 sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.
[34:6] 78 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[34:7] 79 tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”
[34:7] 80 tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.
[34:8] 81 tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”
[34:8] 82 tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”
[63:1] 83 sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.
[63:1] 84 tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”
[63:1] 85 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.
[63:1] 86 tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”
[63:1] 87 tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsa’ah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsa’ad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).
[63:1] 88 tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”
[63:2] 89 tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”
[63:3] 90 sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.
[63:3] 91 tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).
[63:4] 92 tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (gÿ’ulai) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.
[63:5] 93 sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.
[63:5] 94 tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”
[63:6] 95 sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.
[63:6] 96 tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).
[38:8] 97 tn Heb “from the sword.”
[38:10] 100 tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”
[38:11] 101 tn Heb “go up against.”
[38:11] 102 tn Heb “come (to).”
[38:12] 103 tn Heb “to turn your hand against.”
[38:12] 104 tn The Hebrew term occurs elsewhere only in Judg 9:37. Perhaps it means “high point, top.”
[3:11] 105 tn This Hebrew verb is found only here in the OT; its meaning is uncertain. Some scholars prefer to read here עוּרוּ (’uru, “arouse”) or חוּשׁוּ (khushu, “hasten”).
[3:11] 106 tc The present translation follows the reading of the imperative הִקָּבְצוּ (hiqqavÿtsu) rather than the perfect with vav (ו) consecutive וְנִקְבָּצוּ (vÿniqbbatsu) of the MT.
[3:11] 107 tc Some commentators prefer to delete the line “Bring down, O
[3:13] 109 tn Heb “go down” or “tread.” The Hebrew term רְדוּ (rÿdu) may be from יָרַד (yarad, “to go down”) or from רָדָה (radah, “have dominion,” here in the sense of “to tread”). If it means “go down,” the reference would be to entering the vat to squash the grapes. If it means “tread,” the verb would refer specifically to the action of those who walk over the grapes to press out their juice. The phrase “the grapes” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[3:13] 110 sn The immediacy of judgment upon wickedness is likened to the urgency required for a harvest that has reached its pinnacle of development. When the harvest is completely ripe, there can be no delay by the reapers in gathering the harvest. In a similar way, Joel envisions a time when human wickedness will reach such a heightened degree that there can be no further stay of divine judgment (cf. the “fullness of time” language in Gal 4:4).
[3:14] 111 sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.
