Genesis 30:1-43

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ¹  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ²  or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious ³  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” ⁴  30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ⁵  her so that she can bear ⁶  children ⁷  for me ⁸  and I can have a family through her.” ⁹ 

30:4 So Rachel ¹⁰  gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with ¹¹  her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant ¹²  and gave Jacob a son. ¹³  30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ¹⁴  and given me a son.” That is why ¹⁵  she named him Dan. ¹⁶ 

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. ¹⁷  30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ¹⁸  So she named him Naphtali. ¹⁹ 

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave ²⁰  her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. ²¹  30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” ²²  So she named him Gad. ²³ 

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. ²⁴  30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ²⁵  for women ²⁶  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ²⁷ 

30:14 At the time ²⁸  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ²⁹  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, ³⁰  “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” ³¹  Rachel said, “he may sleep ³²  with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ³³  with me because I have paid for your services ³⁴  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ³⁵  with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention ³⁶  to Leah; she became pregnant ³⁷  and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. ³⁸  30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ³⁹  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ⁴⁰  So she named him Issachar. ⁴¹ 

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. ⁴²  30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ⁴³ 

30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

30:22 Then God took note of ⁴⁴  Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. ⁴⁵  30:23 She became pregnant ⁴⁶  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ⁴⁷  30:24 She named him Joseph, ⁴⁸  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

The Flocks of Jacob

30:25 After Rachel had given birth ⁴⁹  to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send ⁵⁰  me on my way so that I can go ⁵¹  home to my own country. ⁵²  30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. ⁵³  Then I’ll depart, ⁵⁴  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” ⁵⁵ 

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ⁵⁶  for I have learned by divination ⁵⁷  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” ⁵⁸ 

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, ⁵⁹  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. ⁶⁰  30:30 Indeed, ⁶¹  you had little before I arrived, ⁶²  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ⁶³  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁶⁴  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁶⁵ 

30:31 So Laban asked, ⁶⁶  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ⁶⁷  Jacob replied, ⁶⁸  “but if you agree to this one condition, ⁶⁹  I will continue to care for ⁷⁰  your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among ⁷¹  all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, ⁷²  and the spotted or speckled goats. ⁷³  These animals will be my wages. ⁷⁴  30:33 My integrity will testify for me ⁷⁵  later on. ⁷⁶  When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, ⁷⁷  if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” ⁷⁸  30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” ⁷⁹ 

30:35 So that day Laban ⁸⁰  removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care ⁸¹  of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, ⁸²  while ⁸³  Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. ⁸⁴  30:39 When the sheep mated ⁸⁵  in front of the branches, they ⁸⁶  gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face ⁸⁷  the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, ⁸⁸  Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. ⁸⁹  So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban ⁹⁰  and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob ⁹¹  became extremely prosperous. He owned ⁹²  large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

Genesis 3:8

The Judgment Oracles of God at the Fall

3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about ⁹³  in the orchard at the breezy time ⁹⁴  of the day, and they hid ⁹⁵  from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard.

Matthew 3:9

3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

John 8:33-39

8:33 “We are descendants ⁹⁶  of Abraham,” they replied, ⁹⁷  “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ⁹⁸  ‘You will become free’?” 8:34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹⁹  everyone who practices ¹⁰⁰  sin is a slave ¹⁰¹  of sin. 8:35 The slave does not remain in the family ¹⁰²  forever, but the son remains forever. ¹⁰³  8:36 So if the son ¹⁰⁴  sets you free, you will be really free. 8:37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁰⁵  But you want ¹⁰⁶  to kill me, because my teaching ¹⁰⁷  makes no progress among you. ¹⁰⁸  8:38 I am telling you the things I have seen while with the ¹⁰⁹  Father; ¹¹⁰  as for you, ¹¹¹  practice the things you have heard from the ¹¹²  Father!”

8:39 They answered him, ¹¹³  “Abraham is our father!” ¹¹⁴  Jesus replied, ¹¹⁵  “If you are ¹¹⁶  Abraham’s children, you would be doing ¹¹⁷  the deeds of Abraham.

John 8:53-56

8:53 You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? ¹¹⁸  And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?” 8:54 Jesus replied, ¹¹⁹  “If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless. ¹²⁰  The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you people ¹²¹  say, ‘He is our God.’ 8:55 Yet ¹²²  you do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, ¹²³  I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey ¹²⁴  his teaching. ¹²⁵  8:56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed ¹²⁶  to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” ¹²⁷ 

Romans 4:12

4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised, ¹²⁸  who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised. ¹²⁹ 

Romans 9:7-8

9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” ¹³⁰  9:8 This means ¹³¹  it is not the children of the flesh ¹³²  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

[30:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ² tn Heb “sons.”

[30:2]  ³ tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”

[30:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”

[30:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  ⁶ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  ⁷ tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[30:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:5]  ¹² tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).

[30:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.

[30:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  ¹⁶ sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.

[30:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  ¹⁹ sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”

[30:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”

[30:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:11]  ²² tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial בְּ (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”

[30:11]  ²³ sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[30:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:13]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

[30:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “daughters.”

[30:13]  ²⁷ sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.

[30:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “during the days.”

[30:14]  ²⁹ sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.

[30:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “therefore.”

[30:15]  ³² tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

[30:16]  ³³ tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.

[30:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.

[30:16]  ³⁵ tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.

[30:17]  ³⁶ tn Heb “listened to.”

[30:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).

[30:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  ⁴¹ sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.

[30:19]  ⁴² tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:20]  ⁴³ sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.

[30:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “remembered.”

[30:22]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons

[30:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “conceived.”

[30:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.

[30:24]  ⁴⁸ sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.

[30:25]  ⁴⁹ tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.

[30:25]  ⁵⁰ tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.

[30:25]  ⁵¹ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:25]  ⁵² tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”

[30:26]  ⁵³ tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.

[30:26]  ⁵⁴ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:26]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”

[30:27]  ⁵⁶ tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[30:27]  ⁵⁷ tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the Lord has blessed me” (cf. NEB). See J. Finkelstein, “An Old Babylonian Herding Contract and Genesis 31:38f.,” JAOS 88 (1968): 34, n. 19.

[30:28]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”

[30:29]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:29]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”

[30:30]  ⁶¹ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ⁶² tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

[30:31]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ⁶⁷ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ⁶⁸ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[30:32]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “pass through.”

[30:32]  ⁷² tn Or “every black lamb”; Heb “and every dark sheep among the lambs.”

[30:32]  ⁷³ tn Heb “and the spotted and speckled among the goats.”

[30:32]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “and it will be my wage.” The referent collective singular pronoun (“it) has been specified as “these animals” in the translation for clarity.

[30:33]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”

[30:33]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”

[30:33]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”

[30:33]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”

[30:34]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘Good, let it be according to your word.’” On the asseverative use of the particle לוּ (lu) here, see HALOT 521 s.v. לוּ.

[30:35]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:35]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”

[30:36]  ⁸² tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”

[30:36]  ⁸³ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.

[30:38]  ⁸⁴ sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).

[30:39]  ⁸⁵ tn The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to be in heat” (see v. 38) or “to mate; to conceive; to become pregnant.” The latter nuance makes better sense in this verse, for the next clause describes them giving birth.

[30:39]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “the sheep.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:40]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”

[30:41]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “and at every breeding-heat of the flock.”

[30:42]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “he did not put [them] in.” The referent of the [understood] direct object, “them,” has been specified as “the branches” in the translation for clarity.

[30:42]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “were for Laban.”

[30:43]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[30:43]  ⁹² tn Heb “and there were to him.”

[3:8]  ⁹³ tn The Hitpael participle of הָלָךְ (halakh, “to walk, to go”) here has an iterative sense, “moving” or “going about.” While a translation of “walking about” is possible, it assumes a theophany, the presence of the Lord God in a human form. This is more than the text asserts.

[3:8]  ⁹⁴ tn The expression is traditionally rendered “cool of the day,” because the Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruakh) can mean “wind.” U. Cassuto (Genesis: From Adam to Noah, 152-54) concludes after lengthy discussion that the expression refers to afternoon when it became hot and the sun was beginning to decline. J. J. Niehaus (God at Sinai [SOTBT], 155-57) offers a different interpretation of the phrase, relating יוֹם (yom, usually understood as “day”) to an Akkadian cognate umu (“storm”) and translates the phrase “in the wind of the storm.” If Niehaus is correct, then God is not pictured as taking an afternoon stroll through the orchard, but as coming in a powerful windstorm to confront the man and woman with their rebellion. In this case קוֹל יְהוָה (qol yÿhvah, “sound of the Lord”) may refer to God’s thunderous roar, which typically accompanies his appearance in the storm to do battle or render judgment (e.g., see Ps 29).

[3:8]  ⁹⁵ tn The verb used here is the Hitpael, giving the reflexive idea (“they hid themselves”). In v. 10, when Adam answers the Lord, the Niphal form is used with the same sense: “I hid.”

[8:33]  ⁹⁶ tn Grk “We are the seed” (an idiom).

[8:33]  ⁹⁷ tn Grk “They answered to him.”

[8:33]  ⁹⁸ tn Or “How is it that you say.”

[8:34]  ⁹⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[8:34]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “who commits.” This could simply be translated, “everyone who sins,” but the Greek is more emphatic, using the participle ποιῶν (poiwn) in a construction with πᾶς (pas), a typical Johannine construction. Here repeated, continuous action is in view. The one whose lifestyle is characterized by repeated, continuous sin is a slave to sin. That one is not free; sin has enslaved him. To break free from this bondage requires outside (divine) intervention. Although the statement is true at the general level (the person who continually practices a lifestyle of sin is enslaved to sin) the particular sin of the Jewish authorities, repeatedly emphasized in the Fourth Gospel, is the sin of unbelief. The present tense in this instance looks at the continuing refusal on the part of the Jewish leaders to acknowledge who Jesus is, in spite of mounting evidence.

[8:34]  ¹⁰¹ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[8:35]  ¹⁰² tn Or “household.” The Greek work οἰκία (oikia) can denote the family as consisting of relatives by both descent and marriage, as well as slaves and servants, living in the same house (more the concept of an “extended family”).

[8:35]  ¹⁰³ sn Jesus’ point is that while a slave may be part of a family or household, the slave is not guaranteed a permanent place there, while a son, as a descendant or blood relative, will always be guaranteed a place in the family (remains forever).

[8:36]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Or “Son.” The question is whether “son” is to be understood as a direct reference to Jesus himself, or as an indirect reference (a continuation of the generic illustration begun in the previous verse).

[8:37]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Grk “seed” (an idiom).

[8:37]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Grk “you are seeking.”

[8:37]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Grk “my word.”

[8:37]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Or “finds no place in you.” The basic idea seems to be something (in this case Jesus’ teaching) making headway or progress where resistance is involved. See BDAG 1094 s.v. χωρέω 2.

[8:38]  ¹⁰⁹ tc The first person pronoun μου (mou, “my”) may be implied, especially if ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) follows the second mention of “father” in this verse (as it does in the majority of mss); no doubt this implication gave rise to the reading μου found in most witnesses (א D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy). No pronoun here is read by Ì^66,75 B C L 070 pc. This problem cannot be isolated from the second in the verse, however. See that discussion below.

[8:38]  ¹¹⁰ tn Grk “The things which I have seen with the Father I speak about.”

[8:38]  ¹¹¹ tn Grk “and you.”

[8:38]  ¹¹² tc A few significant witnesses lack ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here (Ì^66,75 B L W 070 pc), while the majority have the pronoun (א C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 565 892 Ï al lat sy). However, these mss do not agree on the placement of the pronoun: τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν ποιεῖτε (tou patro" Jumwn poieite), τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν (tw patri Jumwn), and τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν ταῦτα (tw patri Jumwn tauta) all occur. If the pronoun is read, then the devil is in view and the text should be translated as “you are practicing the things you have heard from your father.” If it is not read, then the same Father mentioned in the first part of the verse is in view. In this case, ποιεῖτε should be taken as an imperative: “you [must] practice the things you have heard from the Father.” The omission is decidedly the harder reading, both because the contrast between God and the devil is now delayed until v. 41, and because ποιεῖτε could be read as an indicative, especially since the two clauses are joined by καί (kai, “and”). Thus, the pronoun looks to be a motivated reading. In light of the better external and internal evidence the omission is preferred.

[8:39]  ¹¹³ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[8:39]  ¹¹⁴ tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”

[8:39]  ¹¹⁵ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:39]  ¹¹⁶ tc Although most mss (C W Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï) have the imperfect ἦτε (hte, “you were”) here, making this sentence a proper second class condition, the harder reading, ἐστε (este, “you are”), is found in the better witnesses (Ì^66,75 א B D L 070 pc lat).

[8:39]  ¹¹⁷ tc Some important mss (Ì⁶⁶ B* [700]) have the present imperative ποιεῖτε (poieite) here: “If you are Abraham’s children, then do,” while many others (א² C K L N Δ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 565 579 892 pm) add the contingent particle ἄν (an) to ἐποιεῖτε (epoieite) making it a more proper second class condition by Attic standards. The simple ἐποιεῖτε without the ἄν is the hardest reading, and is found in some excellent witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* B² D W Γ Θ 070 0250 1424 pm).

[8:53]  ¹¹⁸ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[8:54]  ¹¹⁹ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[8:54]  ¹²⁰ tn Grk “is nothing.”

[8:54]  ¹²¹ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[8:55]  ¹²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast present in the context.

[8:55]  ¹²³ tn Grk “If I say, ‘I do not know him.’”

[8:55]  ¹²⁴ tn Grk “I keep.”

[8:55]  ¹²⁵ tn Grk “his word.”

[8:56]  ¹²⁶ tn Or “rejoiced greatly.”

[8:56]  ¹²⁷ tn What is the meaning of Jesus’ statement that the patriarch Abraham “saw” his day and rejoiced? The use of past tenses would seem to refer to something that occurred during the patriarch’s lifetime. Genesis Rabbah 44:25ff, (cf. 59:6) states that Rabbi Akiba, in a debate with Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, held that Abraham had been shown not this world only but the world to come (this would include the days of the Messiah). More realistically, it is likely that Gen 22:13-15 lies behind Jesus’ words. This passage, known to rabbis as the Akedah (“Binding”), tells of Abraham finding the ram which will replace his son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice – an occasion of certain rejoicing.

[4:12]  ¹²⁸ tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”

[4:12]  ¹²⁹ tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”

[9:7]  ¹³⁰ tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.

[9:8]  ¹³¹ tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”

[9:8]  ¹³² tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.