Discovery BoxGenesis 6:1--16:16
Context6:1 When humankind 1 began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born 2 to them, 3 6:2 the sons of God 4 saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 6:3 So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in 5 humankind indefinitely, 6 since 7 they 8 are mortal. 9 They 10 will remain for 120 more years.” 11
6:4 The Nephilim 12 were on the earth in those days (and also after this) 13 when the sons of God were having sexual relations with 14 the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. 15 They were the mighty heroes 16 of old, the famous men. 17
6:5 But the Lord saw 18 that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination 19 of the thoughts 20 of their minds 21 was only evil 22 all the time. 23 6:6 The Lord regretted 24 that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. 25 6:7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, 26 including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”
6:8 But 27 Noah found favor 28 in the sight of 29 the Lord.
6:9 This is the account of Noah. 30
Noah was a godly man; he was blameless 31
among his contemporaries. 32 He 33 walked with 34 God. 6:10 Noah had 35 three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11 The earth was ruined 36 in the sight of 37 God; the earth was filled with violence. 38 6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed 39 it was ruined, 40 for all living creatures 41 on the earth were sinful. 42 6:13 So God said 43 to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, 44 for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy 45 them and the earth. 6:14 Make 46 for yourself an ark of cypress 47 wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover 48 it with pitch inside and out. 6:15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 49 6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches 50 from the top. 51 Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks. 6:17 I am about to bring 52 floodwaters 53 on the earth to destroy 54 from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. 55 Everything that is on the earth will die, 6:18 but I will confirm 56 my covenant with you. You will enter 57 the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 6:19 You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, 58 male and female, to keep them alive 59 with you. 6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. 60 6:21 And you must take 61 for yourself every kind of food 62 that is eaten, 63 and gather it together. 64 It will be food for you and for them.
6:22 And Noah did all 65 that God commanded him – he did indeed. 66
7:1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. 67 7:2 You must take with you seven 68 of every kind of clean animal, 69 the male and its mate, 70 two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also seven 71 of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, 72 to preserve their offspring 73 on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in seven days 74 I will cause it to rain 75 on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”
7:5 And Noah did all 76 that the Lord commanded him.
7:6 Noah 77 was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed 78 the earth. 7:7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because 79 of the floodwaters. 7:8 Pairs 80 of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, 7:9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, 81 just as God had commanded him. 82 7:10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 83
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep 84 burst open and the floodgates of the heavens 85 were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell 86 on the earth forty days and forty nights.
7:13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives. 87 7:14 They entered, 88 along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. 89 7:15 Pairs 90 of all creatures 91 that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 7:16 Those that entered were male and female, 92 just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
7:17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed 93 the earth, and the ark floated 94 on the surface of the waters. 7:19 The waters completely inundated 95 the earth so that even 96 all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 7:20 The waters rose more than twenty feet 97 above the mountains. 98 7:21 And all living things 99 that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 7:22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life 100 in its nostrils died. 7:23 So the Lord 101 destroyed 102 every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. 103 They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 104 7:24 The waters prevailed over 105 the earth for 150 days.
8:1 But God remembered 106 Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over 107 the earth and the waters receded. 8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, 108 and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 8:3 The waters kept receding steadily 109 from the earth, so that they 110 had gone down 111 by the end of the 150 days. 8:4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. 112 8:5 The waters kept on receding 113 until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. 114
8:6 At the end of forty days, 115 Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 116 8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying 117 back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.
8:8 Then Noah 118 sent out a dove 119 to see if the waters had receded 120 from the surface of the ground. 8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered 121 the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah 122 in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, 123 and brought it back into the ark. 124 8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 8:11 When 125 the dove returned to him in the evening, there was 126 a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, 127 but it did not return to him this time. 128
8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, 129 in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that 130 the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth 131 was dry.
8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out 132 every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase 133 and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” 134
8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.
8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 135 8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma 136 and said 137 to himself, 138 “I will never again curse 139 the ground because of humankind, even though 140 the inclination of their minds 141 is evil from childhood on. 142 I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, 143
planting time 144 and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night will not cease.”
9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. 145 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 146 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 147 As I gave you 148 the green plants, I now give 149 you everything.
9:4 But 150 you must not eat meat 151 with its life (that is, 152 its blood) in it. 153 9:5 For your lifeblood 154 I will surely exact punishment, 155 from 156 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 157 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 158 since the man was his relative. 159
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 160
by other humans 161
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 162
God 163 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 164 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 165 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 166 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 167 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. 168 9:11 I confirm 169 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 170 be wiped out 171 by the waters of a flood; 172 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 173 of the covenant I am making 174 with you 175 and every living creature with you, a covenant 176 for all subsequent 177 generations: 9:13 I will place 178 my rainbow 179 in the clouds, and it will become 180 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 181 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 182 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 183 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 184 all living things. 185 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 186 the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”
9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things 187 that are on the earth.”
9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 188 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 189
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, 190 began to plant a vineyard. 191 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself 192 inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 193 saw his father’s nakedness 194 and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 195 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 196 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 197 he learned 198 what his youngest son had done 199 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 202
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 203 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 204
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 205
May he live 206 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 9:29 The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.
10:1 This is the account 207 of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons 208 were born 209 to them after the flood.
10:2 The sons of Japheth 210 were Gomer, 211 Magog, 212 Madai, 213 Javan, 214 Tubal, 215 Meshech, 216 and Tiras. 217 10:3 The sons of Gomer were 218 Askenaz, 219 Riphath, 220 and Togarmah. 221 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, 222 Tarshish, 223 the Kittim, 224 and the Dodanim. 225 10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.
10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, 226 Mizraim, 227 Put, 228 and Canaan. 229 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, 230 Havilah, 231 Sabtah, 232 Raamah, 233 and Sabteca. 234 The sons of Raamah were Sheba 235 and Dedan. 236
10:8 Cush was the father of 237 Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter 238 before the Lord. 239 (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10:10 The primary regions 240 of his kingdom were Babel, 241 Erech, 242 Akkad, 243 and Calneh 244 in the land of Shinar. 245 10:11 From that land he went 246 to Assyria, 247 where he built Nineveh, 248 Rehoboth-Ir, 249 Calah, 250 10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 251
10:13 Mizraim 252 was the father of 253 the Ludites, 254 Anamites, 255 Lehabites, 256 Naphtuhites, 257 10:14 Pathrusites, 258 Casluhites 259 (from whom the Philistines came), 260 and Caphtorites. 261
10:15 Canaan was the father of 262 Sidon his firstborn, 263 Heth, 264 10:16 the Jebusites, 265 Amorites, 266 Girgashites, 267 10:17 Hivites, 268 Arkites, 269 Sinites, 270 10:18 Arvadites, 271 Zemarites, 272 and Hamathites. 273 Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended 274 from Sidon 275 all the way to 276 Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to 277 Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.
10:21 And sons were also born 278 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 279 the father of all the sons of Eber.
10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, 280 Asshur, 281 Arphaxad, 282 Lud, 283 and Aram. 284 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 285 10:24 Arphaxad was the father of 286 Shelah, 287 and Shelah was the father of Eber. 288 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, 289 and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of 290 Almodad, 291 Sheleph, 292 Hazarmaveth, 293 Jerah, 294 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, 295 Diklah, 296 10:28 Obal, 297 Abimael, 298 Sheba, 299 10:29 Ophir, 300 Havilah, 301 and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to 302 Sephar in the eastern hills. 10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.
10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread 303 over the earth after the flood.
11:1 The whole earth 304 had a common language and a common vocabulary. 305 11:2 When the people 306 moved eastward, 307 they found a plain in Shinar 308 and settled there. 11:3 Then they said to one another, 309 “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” 310 (They had brick instead of stone and tar 311 instead of mortar.) 312 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens 313 so that 314 we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise 315 we will be scattered 316 across the face of the entire earth.”
11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people 317 had started 318 building. 11:6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language 319 they have begun to do this, then 320 nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 321 11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse 322 their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” 323
11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building 324 the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called 325 Babel 326 – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
11:10 This is the account of Shem.
Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11:11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other 327 sons and daughters.
11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other 328 sons and daughters. 329
11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other 330 sons and daughters.
11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
11:27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, 331 while his father Terah was still alive. 332 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, 333 and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; 334 she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 The lifetime 335 of Terah was 205 years, and he 336 died in Haran.
12:1 Now the Lord said 337 to Abram, 338
“Go out 339 from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you. 340
12:2 Then I will make you 341 into a great nation, and I will bless you, 342
and I will make your name great, 343
so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 344
12:3 I will bless those who bless you, 345
but the one who treats you lightly 346 I must curse,
and all the families of the earth will bless one another 347 by your name.”
12:4 So Abram left, 348 just as the Lord had told him to do, 349 and Lot went with him. (Now 350 Abram was 75 years old 351 when he departed from Haran.) 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew 352 Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired 353 in Haran, and they left for 354 the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.
12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree 355 of Moreh 356 at Shechem. 357 (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 358 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants 359 I will give this land.” So Abram 360 built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel 361 and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. 362 12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages 363 down to the Negev. 364
12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt 365 to stay for a while 366 because the famine was severe. 367 12:11 As he approached 368 Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, 369 I know that you are a beautiful woman. 370 12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. 371 12:13 So tell them 372 you are my sister 373 so that it may go well 374 for me because of you and my life will be spared 375 on account of you.”
12:14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife 376 was taken 377 into the household of Pharaoh, 378 12:16 and he did treat Abram well 379 on account of her. Abram received 380 sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases 381 because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this 382 you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her 383 to be my wife? 384 Here is your wife! 385 Take her and go!” 386 12:20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, 387 and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.
13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 388 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 389 13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy 390 in livestock, silver, and gold.) 391
13:3 And he journeyed from place to place 392 from the Negev as far as Bethel. 393 He returned 394 to the place where he had pitched his tent 395 at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, 396 and there Abram worshiped the Lord. 397
13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling 398 with Abram, also had 399 flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could 400 not support them while they were living side by side. 401 Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live 402 alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels 403 between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. 404 (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) 405
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. 406 13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go 407 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 408 the whole region 409 of the Jordan. He noticed 410 that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated 411 Sodom and Gomorrah) 412 like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, 413 all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled 414 toward the east.
So the relatives separated from each other. 415 13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain 416 and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now 417 the people 418 of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) 419
13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, 420 “Look 421 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 422 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. 423 13:17 Get up and 424 walk throughout 425 the land, 426 for I will give it to you.”
13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live 427 by the oaks 428 of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.
14:1 At that time 429 Amraphel king of Shinar, 430 Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations 431 14:2 went to war 432 against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 433 14:3 These last five kings 434 joined forces 435 in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 436 14:4 For twelve years 437 they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year 438 they rebelled. 439 14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated 440 the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert. 441 14:7 Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again, 442 and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.
14:8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met 443 14:9 Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, 444 Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against 445 five. 14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. 446 When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, 447 but some survivors 448 fled to the hills. 449 14:11 The four victorious kings 450 took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. 14:12 They also took Abram’s nephew 451 Lot and his possessions when 452 they left, for Lot 453 was living in Sodom. 454
14:13 A fugitive 455 came and told Abram the Hebrew. 456 Now Abram was living by the oaks 457 of Mamre the Amorite, the brother 458 of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty 459 with Abram.) 460 14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew 461 had been taken captive, he mobilized 462 his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders 463 as far as Dan. 464 14:15 Then, during the night, 465 Abram 466 divided his forces 467 against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north 468 of Damascus. 14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. 469 He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of 470 the people.
14:17 After Abram 471 returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram 472 in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). 473 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem 474 brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) 475 14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by 476 the Most High God,
Creator 477 of heaven and earth. 478
14:20 Worthy of praise is 479 the Most High God,
who delivered 480 your enemies into your hand.”
Abram gave Melchizedek 481 a tenth of everything.
14:21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.” 14:22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand 482 to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow 483 14:23 that I will take nothing 484 belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I 485 who made Abram rich.’ 14:24 I will take nothing 486 except compensation for what the young men have eaten. 487 As for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”
15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield 488 and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 489
15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, 490 what will you give me since 491 I continue to be 492 childless, and my heir 493 is 494 Eliezer of Damascus?” 495 15:3 Abram added, 496 “Since 497 you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” 498
15:4 But look, 499 the word of the Lord came to him: “This man 500 will not be your heir, 501 but instead 502 a son 503 who comes from your own body will be 504 your heir.” 505 15:5 The Lord 506 took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
15:6 Abram believed 507 the Lord, and the Lord 508 considered his response of faith 509 as proof of genuine loyalty. 510
15:7 The Lord said 511 to him, “I am the Lord 512 who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans 513 to give you this land to possess.” 15:8 But 514 Abram 515 said, “O sovereign Lord, 516 by what 517 can I know that I am to possess it?”
15:9 The Lord 518 said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram 519 took all these for him and then cut them in two 520 and placed each half opposite the other, 521 but he did not cut the birds in half. 15:11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, 522 and great terror overwhelmed him. 523 15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain 524 that your descendants will be strangers 525 in a foreign country. 526 They will be enslaved and oppressed 527 for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. 528 Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, 529 you will go to your ancestors 530 in peace and be buried at a good old age. 531 15:16 In the fourth generation 532 your descendants 533 will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” 534
15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch 535 passed between the animal parts. 536 15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant 537 with Abram: “To your descendants I give 538 this land, from the river of Egypt 539 to the great river, the Euphrates River – 15:19 the land 540 of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” 541
16:1 Now Sarai, 542 Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, 543 but she had an Egyptian servant 544 named Hagar. 545 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 546 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 547 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 548 Abram did what 549 Sarai told him.
16:3 So after Abram had lived 550 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 551 to her husband to be his wife. 552 16:4 He had sexual relations with 553 Hagar, and she became pregnant. 554 Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 555 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! 556 I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, 557 but when she realized 558 that she was pregnant, she despised me. 559 May the Lord judge between you and me!” 560
16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 561 servant is under your authority, 562 do to her whatever you think best.” 563 Then Sarai treated Hagar 564 harshly, 565 so she ran away from Sarai. 566
16:7 The Lord’s angel 567 found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. 568 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 569 my mistress, Sarai.”
16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit 570 to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, 571 “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 572 16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,
“You are now 573 pregnant
and are about to give birth 574 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 575
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 576
16:12 He will be a wild donkey 577 of a man.
He will be hostile to everyone, 578
and everyone will be hostile to him. 579
He will live away from 580 his brothers.”
16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 581 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 582 16:14 That is why the well was called 583 Beer Lahai Roi. 584 (It is located 585 between Kadesh and Bered.)
16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 586 16:16 (Now 587 Abram was 86 years old 588 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) 589
Genesis 12:1
Context12:1 Now the Lord said 590 to Abram, 591
“Go out 592 from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you. 593
Deuteronomy 18:20
Context18:20 “But if any prophet presumes to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized 594 him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.
Micah 3:6
Context3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; 595
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. 596
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. 597
Zechariah 13:3
Context13:3 Then, if anyone prophesies in spite of this, his father and mother to whom he was born will say to him, ‘You cannot live, for you lie in the name of the Lord.’ Then his father and mother to whom he was born will run him through with a sword when he prophesies. 598
Zechariah 13:2
Context13:2 And also on that day,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will remove 599 the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
Zechariah 3:9
Context3:9 As for the stone 600 I have set before Joshua – on the one stone there are seven eyes. 601 I am about to engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 602
[6:1] 1 tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”
[6:1] 2 tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.
[6:1] 3 tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.
[6:2] 4 sn The Hebrew phrase translated “sons of God” (בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים, bÿne-ha’elohim) occurs only here (Gen 6:2, 4) and in Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. There are three major interpretations of the phrase here. (1) In the Book of Job the phrase clearly refers to angelic beings. In Gen 6 the “sons of God” are distinct from “humankind,” suggesting they were not human. This is consistent with the use of the phrase in Job. Since the passage speaks of these beings cohabiting with women, they must have taken physical form or possessed the bodies of men. An early Jewish tradition preserved in 1 En. 6-7 elaborates on this angelic revolt and even names the ringleaders. (2) Not all scholars accept the angelic interpretation of the “sons of God,” however. Some argue that the “sons of God” were members of Seth’s line, traced back to God through Adam in Gen 5, while the “daughters of humankind” were descendants of Cain. But, as noted above, the text distinguishes the “sons of God” from humankind (which would include the Sethites as well as the Cainites) and suggests that the “daughters of humankind” are human women in general, not just Cainites. (3) Others identify the “sons of God” as powerful tyrants, perhaps demon-possessed, who viewed themselves as divine and, following the example of Lamech (see Gen 4:19), practiced polygamy. But usage of the phrase “sons of God” in Job militates against this view. For literature on the subject see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:135.
[6:3] 5 tn The verb form יָדוֹן (yadon) only occurs here. Some derive it from the verbal root דִּין (din, “to judge”) and translate “strive” or “contend with” (so NIV), but in this case one expects the form to be יָדִין (yadin). The Old Greek has “remain with,” a rendering which may find support from an Arabic cognate (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:375). If one interprets the verb in this way, then it is possible to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as a reference to the divine life-giving spirit or breath, rather than the
[6:3] 7 tn The form בְּשַׁגַּם (bÿshagam) appears to be a compound of the preposition בְּ (beth, “in”), the relative שֶׁ (she, “who” or “which”), and the particle גַּם (gam, “also, even”). It apparently means “because even” (see BDB 980 s.v. שֶׁ).
[6:3] 8 tn Heb “he”; the plural pronoun has been used in the translation since “man” earlier in the verse has been understood as a collective (“humankind”).
[6:3] 10 tn See the note on “they” earlier in this verse.
[6:3] 11 tn Heb “his days will be 120 years.” Some interpret this to mean that the age expectancy of people from this point on would be 120, but neither the subsequent narrative nor reality favors this. It is more likely that this refers to the time remaining between this announcement of judgment and the coming of the flood.
[6:4] 12 tn The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).
[6:4] 13 tn This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.
[6:4] 14 tn Heb “were entering to,” referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.
[6:4] 15 tn Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.
[6:4] 16 tn The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.
[6:4] 17 tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).
[6:5] 18 sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.
[6:5] 19 tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).
[6:5] 20 tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.
[6:5] 21 tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”
[6:5] 22 sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.
[6:5] 23 tn Heb “all the day.”
[6:6] 24 tn Or “was grieved”; “was sorry.” In the Niphal stem the verb נָחָם (nakham) can carry one of four semantic meanings, depending on the context: (1) “to experience emotional pain or weakness,” “to feel regret,” often concerning a past action (see Exod 13:17; Judg 21:6, 15; 1 Sam 15:11, 35; Job 42:6; Jer 31:19). In several of these texts כִּי (ki, “because”) introduces the cause of the emotional sorrow. (2) Another meaning is “to be comforted” or “to comfort oneself” (sometimes by taking vengeance). See Gen 24:67; 38:12; 2 Sam 13:39; Ps 77:3; Isa 1:24; Jer 31:15; Ezek 14:22; 31:16; 32:31. (This second category represents a polarization of category one.) (3) The meaning “to relent from” or “to repudiate” a course of action which is already underway is also possible (see Judg 2:18; 2 Sam 24:16 = 1 Chr 21:15; Pss 90:13; 106:45; Jer 8:6; 20:16; 42:10). (4) Finally, “to retract” (a statement) or “to relent or change one’s mind concerning,” “to deviate from” (a stated course of action) is possible (see Exod 32:12, 14; 1 Sam 15:29; Ps 110:4; Isa 57:6; Jer 4:28; 15:6; 18:8, 10; 26:3, 13, 19; Ezek 24:14; Joel 2:13-14; Am 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9-10; 4:2; Zech 8:14). See R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 388. The first category applies here because the context speaks of God’s grief and emotional pain (see the following statement in v. 6) as a result of a past action (his making humankind). For a thorough study of the word נָחָם, see H. Van Dyke Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.
[6:6] 25 tn Heb “and he was grieved to his heart.” The verb עָצָב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic senses, depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain”; “to be depressed emotionally”; “to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed”; “to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself); “to be insulted” (Gen 34:7; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 34:7). The third category fits best in Gen 6:6 because humankind’s sin does not merely wound God emotionally. On the contrary, it prompts him to strike out in judgment against the source of his distress (see v. 7). The verb וַיִּתְעַצֵּב (vayyit’atsev), a Hitpael from עָצָב, alludes to the judgment oracles in Gen 3:16-19. Because Adam and Eve sinned, their life would be filled with pain; but sin in the human race also brought pain to God. The wording of v. 6 is ironic when compared to Gen 5:29. Lamech anticipated relief (נָחָם, nakham) from their work (מַעֲשֶׂה, ma’aseh) and their painful toil (עִצְּבֹן, ’itsÿvon), but now we read that God was sorry (נָחָם, nakham) that he had made (עָשָׂה, ’asah) humankind for it brought him great pain (עָצָב, ’atsav).
[6:7] 26 tn The text simply has “from man to beast, to creatures, and to birds of the air.” The use of the prepositions עַד…מִן (min...’ad) stresses the extent of the judgment in creation.
[6:8] 27 tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is contrastive here: God condemns the human race, but he is pleased with Noah.
[6:8] 28 tn The Hebrew expression “find favor [in the eyes of]” is an idiom meaning “to be an object of another’s favorable disposition or action,” “to be a recipient of another’s favor, kindness, mercy.” The favor/kindness is often earned, coming in response to an action or condition (see Gen 32:5; 39:4; Deut 24:1; 1 Sam 25:8; Prov 3:4; Ruth 2:10). This is the case in Gen 6:8, where v. 9 gives the basis (Noah’s righteous character) for the divine favor.
[6:8] 29 tn Heb “in the eyes of,” an anthropomorphic expression for God’s opinion or decision. The
[6:9] 30 sn There is a vast body of scholarly literature about the flood story. The following studies are particularly helpful: A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels; M. Kessler, “Rhetorical Criticism of Genesis 7,” Rhetorical Criticism: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg (PTMS), 1-17; I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; A. R. Millard, “A New Babylonian ‘Genesis Story’,” TynBul 18 (1967): 3-18; G. J. Wenham, “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” VT 28 (1978): 336-48.
[6:9] 31 tn The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “blameless”) is used of men in Gen 17:1 (associated with the idiom “walk before,” which means “maintain a proper relationship with,” see 24:40); Deut 18:13 (where it means “blameless” in the sense of not guilty of the idolatrous practices listed before this; see Josh 24:14); Pss 18:23, 26 (“blameless” in the sense of not having violated God’s commands); 37:18 (in contrast to the wicked); 101:2, 6 (in contrast to proud, deceitful slanderers; see 15:2); Prov 2:21; 11:5 (in contrast to the wicked); 28:10; Job 12:4.
[6:9] 32 tn Heb “Noah was a godly man, blameless in his generations.” The singular “generation” can refer to one’s contemporaries, i.e., those living at a particular point in time. The plural “generations” can refer to successive generations in the past or the future. Here, where it is qualified by “his” (i.e., Noah’s), it refers to Noah’s contemporaries, comprised of the preceding generation (his father’s generation), those of Noah’s generation, and the next generation (those the same age as his children). In other words, “his generations” means the generations contemporary with him. See BDB 190 s.v. דוֹר.
[6:9] 33 tn Heb “Noah.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:9] 34 tn The construction translated “walked with” is used in Gen 5:22, 24 (see the note on this phrase in 5:22) and in 1 Sam 25:15, where it refers to David’s and Nabal’s men “rubbing shoulders” in the fields. Based on the use in 1 Sam 25:15, the expression seems to mean “live in close proximity to,” which may, by metonymy, mean “maintain cordial relations with.”
[6:11] 36 tn Apart from Gen 6:11-12, the Niphal form of this verb occurs in Exod 8:20 HT (8:24 ET), where it describes the effect of the swarms of flies on the land of Egypt; Jer 13:7 and 18:4, where it is used of a “ruined” belt and “marred” clay pot, respectively; and Ezek 20:44, where it describes Judah’s morally “corrupt” actions. The sense “morally corrupt” fits well in Gen 6:11 because of the parallelism (note “the earth was filled with violence”). In this case “earth” would stand by metonymy for its sinful inhabitants. However, the translation “ruined” works just as well, if not better. In this case humankind’s sin is viewed has having an adverse effect upon the earth. Note that vv. 12b-13 make a distinction between the earth and the living creatures who live on it.
[6:11] 38 tn The Hebrew word translated “violence” refers elsewhere to a broad range of crimes, including unjust treatment (Gen 16:5; Amos 3:10), injurious legal testimony (Deut 19:16), deadly assault (Gen 49:5), murder (Judg 9:24), and rape (Jer 13:22).
[6:12] 39 tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”
[6:12] 40 tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.
[6:12] 41 tn Heb “flesh.” Since moral corruption is in view here, most modern western interpreters understand the referent to be humankind. However, the phrase “all flesh” is used consistently of humankind and the animals in Gen 6-9 (6:17, 19; 7:15-16, 21; 8:17; 9:11, 15-17), suggesting that the author intends to picture all living creatures, humankind and animals, as guilty of moral failure. This would explain why the animals, not just humankind, are victims of the ensuing divine judgment. The OT sometimes views animals as morally culpable (Gen 9:5; Exod 21:28-29; Jonah 3:7-8). The OT also teaches that a person’s sin can contaminate others (people and animals) in the sinful person’s sphere (see the story of Achan, especially Josh 7:10). So the animals could be viewed here as morally contaminated because of their association with sinful humankind.
[6:12] 42 tn Heb “had corrupted its way.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “way” refers to the collective “all flesh.” The construction “corrupt one’s way” occurs only here (though Ezek 16:47 uses the Hiphil in an intransitive sense with the preposition בְּ [bet, “in”] followed by “ways”). The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) means “to ruin, to destroy, to corrupt,” often as here in a moral/ethical sense. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to behavior or moral character, a sense that it frequently carries (see BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a).
[6:13] 43 sn On the divine style utilized here, see R. Lapointe, “The Divine Monologue as a Channel of Revelation,” CBQ 32 (1970): 161-81.
[6:13] 44 tn Heb “the end of all flesh is coming [or “has come”] before me.” (The verb form is either a perfect or a participle.) The phrase “end of all flesh” occurs only here. The term “end” refers here to the end of “life,” as v. 3 and the following context (which describes how God destroys all flesh) make clear. The statement “the end has come” occurs in Ezek 7:2, 6, where it is used of divine judgment. The phrase “come before” occurs in Exod 28:30, 35; 34:34; Lev 15:14; Num 27:17; 1 Sam 18:13, 16; 2 Sam 19:8; 20:8; 1 Kgs 1:23, 28, 32; Ezek 46:9; Pss 79:11 (groans come before God); 88:3 (a prayer comes before God); 100:2; 119:170 (prayer comes before God); Lam 1:22 (evil doing comes before God); Esth 1:19; 8:1; 9:25; 1 Chr 16:29. The expression often means “have an audience with” or “appear before.” But when used metaphorically, it can mean “get the attention of” or “prompt a response.” This is probably the sense in Gen 6:13. The necessity of ending the life of all flesh on earth is an issue that has gotten the attention of God. The term “end” may even be a metonymy for that which has prompted it – violence (see the following clause).
[6:13] 45 tn The participle, especially after הִנֵּה (hinneh) has an imminent future nuance. The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) here has the sense “to destroy” (in judgment). Note the wordplay involving this verb in vv. 11-13: The earth is “ruined” because all flesh has acted in a morally “corrupt” manner. Consequently, God will “destroy” all flesh (the referent of the suffix “them”) along with the ruined earth. They had ruined themselves and the earth with violence, and now God would ruin them with judgment. For other cases where “earth” occurs as the object of the Hiphil of שָׁחָת, see 1 Sam 6:5; 1 Chr 20:1; Jer 36:29; 51:25.
[6:14] 46 sn The Hebrew verb is an imperative. A motif of this section is that Noah did as the
[6:14] 47 tn A transliteration of the Hebrew term yields “gopher (גֹּפֶר, gofer) wood” (so KJV, NAB, NASB). While the exact nature of the wood involved is uncertain (cf. NLT “resinous wood”), many modern translations render the Hebrew term as “cypress” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).
[6:14] 48 tn The Hebrew term כָּפָר (kafar, “to cover, to smear” [= to caulk]) appears here in the Qal stem with its primary, nonmetaphorical meaning. The Piel form כִּפֶּר (kipper), which has the metaphorical meaning “to atone, to expiate, to pacify,” is used in Levitical texts (see HALOT 493-94 s.v. כפר). Some authorities regard the form in v. 14 as a homonym of the much more common Levitical term (see BDB 498 s.v. כָּפָר).
[6:15] 49 tn Heb “300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
[6:16] 51 tn Heb “to a cubit you shall finish it from above.” The idea is that Noah was to leave an 18-inch opening from the top for a window for light.
[6:17] 52 tn The Hebrew construction uses the independent personal pronoun, followed by a suffixed form of הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) and the a participle used with an imminent future nuance: “As for me, look, I am going to bring.”
[6:17] 53 tn Heb “the flood, water.”
[6:17] 54 tn The verb שָׁחָת (shakhat, “to destroy”) is repeated yet again, only now in an infinitival form expressing the purpose of the flood.
[6:17] 55 tn The Hebrew construction here is different from the previous two; here it is רוּחַ חַיִּים (ruakh khayyim) rather than נֶפֶשׁ הַיָּה (nefesh khayyah) or נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (nishmat khayyim). It refers to everything that breathes.
[6:18] 56 tn The Hebrew verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive (picking up the future sense from the participles) from קוּם (qum, “to rise up”). This may refer to the confirmation or fulfillment of an earlier promise, but it is more likely that it anticipates the unconditional promise made to humankind following the flood (see Gen 9:9, 11, 17).
[6:18] 57 tn The perfect verb form with vav (ו) consecutive is best understood as specific future, continuing God’s description of what will happen (see vv. 17-18a).
[6:19] 58 tn Heb “from all life, from all flesh, two from all you must bring.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse (note the conjunction with prepositional phrase, followed by two more prepositional phrases in apposition and then the imperfect verb form) signals a change in mood from announcement (vv. 17-18) to instruction.
[6:19] 59 tn The Piel infinitive construct לְהַחֲיוֹת (lÿhakhayot, here translated as “to keep them alive”) shows the purpose of bringing the animals into the ark – saving life. The Piel of this verb means here “to preserve alive.”
[6:20] 60 tn Heb “to keep alive.”
[6:21] 61 tn The verb is a direct imperative: “And you, take for yourself.” The form stresses the immediate nature of the instruction; the pronoun underscores the directness.
[6:21] 62 tn Heb “from all food,” meaning “some of every kind of food.”
[6:21] 63 tn Or “will be eaten.”
[6:21] 64 tn Heb “and gather it to you.”
[6:22] 65 tn Heb “according to all.”
[6:22] 66 tn The last clause seems redundant: “and thus (כֵּן, ken) he did.” It underscores the obedience of Noah to all that God had said.
[7:1] 67 tn Heb “for you I see [as] godly before me in this generation.” The direct object (“you”) is placed first in the clause to give it prominence. The verb “to see” here signifies God’s evaluative discernment.
[7:2] 68 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:2] 69 sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.
[7:2] 70 tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans.
[7:3] 71 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:3] 72 tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).
[7:3] 73 tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”
[7:4] 74 tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”
[7:4] 75 tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.
[7:5] 76 tn Heb “according to all.”
[7:6] 77 tn Heb “Now Noah was.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate nominative after implied “to be” verb) provides background information. The age of Noah receives prominence.
[7:6] 78 tn Heb “and the flood was water upon.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial/temporal in relation to the preceding clause. The verb הָיָה (hayah) here carries the nuance “to come” (BDB 225 s.v. הָיָה). In this context the phrase “come upon” means “to engulf.”
[7:7] 79 tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark.
[7:8] 80 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:9] 81 tn The Hebrew text of vv. 8-9a reads, “From the clean animal[s] and from the animal[s] which are not clean and from the bird[s] and everything that creeps on the ground, two two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female.”
[7:9] 82 tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:11] 84 tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).
[7:11] 85 sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.
[7:13] 87 tn Heb “On that very day Noah entered, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him into the ark.”
[7:14] 88 tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:14] 89 tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”
[7:15] 90 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:16] 92 tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”
[7:18] 93 tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.
[7:19] 95 tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.
[7:20] 97 tn Heb “rose fifteen cubits.” Since a cubit is considered by most authorities to be about eighteen inches, this would make the depth 22.5 feet. This figure might give the modern reader a false impression of exactness, however, so in the translation the phrase “fifteen cubits” has been rendered “more than twenty feet.”
[7:20] 98 tn Heb “the waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward and they covered the mountains.” Obviously, a flood of twenty feet did not cover the mountains; the statement must mean the flood rose about twenty feet above the highest mountain.
[7:22] 100 tn Heb “everything which [has] the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils from all which is in the dry land.”
[7:23] 101 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[7:23] 102 tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).
[7:23] 103 tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”
[7:23] 104 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.
[7:24] 105 sn The Hebrew verb translated “prevailed over” suggests that the waters were stronger than the earth. The earth and everything in it were no match for the return of the chaotic deep.
[8:1] 106 tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).
[8:1] 107 tn Heb “to pass over.”
[8:2] 108 tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.
[8:3] 109 tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”
[8:3] 110 tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 111 tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.
[8:4] 112 tn Heb “on the mountains of Ararat.” Obviously a boat (even one as large as the ark) cannot rest on multiple mountains. Perhaps (1) the preposition should be translated “among,” or (2) the plural “mountains” should be understood in the sense of “mountain range” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 53). A more probable option (3) is that the plural indicates an indefinite singular, translated “one of the mountains” (see GKC 400 §124.o).
[8:5] 113 tn Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.
[8:5] 114 tn Or “could be seen.”
[8:6] 115 tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.
[8:6] 116 tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.
[8:7] 117 tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.
[8:8] 118 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:8] 119 tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
[8:8] 120 tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.
[8:9] 121 tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:9] 122 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 123 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 124 tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”
[8:11] 125 tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.
[8:11] 126 tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to the olive leaf. It invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the olive leaf with their own eyes.
[8:12] 127 tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:12] 128 tn Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8–11),” ExpTim 18 (1906/07): 377-78.
[8:13] 129 tn Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:13] 130 tn Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.
[8:14] 131 tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.
[8:17] 132 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:17] 133 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
[8:17] 134 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
[8:20] 135 sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the
[8:21] 136 tn The
[8:21] 137 tn Heb “and the
[8:21] 138 tn Heb “in his heart.”
[8:21] 139 tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
[8:21] 140 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.
[8:21] 141 tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
[8:21] 142 tn Heb “from his youth.”
[8:22] 143 tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
[8:22] 144 tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
[9:2] 145 tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.
[9:2] 146 tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.
[9:3] 147 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 148 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 149 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 152 tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.
[9:4] 153 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:5] 154 tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
[9:5] 155 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
[9:5] 156 tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
[9:5] 157 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 158 tn Heb “of the man.”
[9:5] 159 tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
[9:6] 160 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 161 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 162 sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.
[9:6] 163 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 164 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).
[9:8] 165 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 166 tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
[9:9] 167 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
[9:10] 168 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 169 tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
[9:11] 170 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:11] 172 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 174 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
[9:12] 175 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 176 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 177 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 178 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
[9:13] 179 sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
[9:13] 180 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 181 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 182 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:15] 183 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:15] 184 tn Heb “to destroy.”
[9:15] 185 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:16] 186 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
[9:17] 187 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:18] 188 sn The concluding disjunctive clause is parenthetical. It anticipates the following story, which explains that the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants through Canaan, were cursed because they shared the same moral abandonment that their ancestor displayed. See A. van Selms, “The Canaanites in the Book of Genesis,” OTS 12 (1958): 182-213.
[9:19] 189 tn Heb “was scattered.” The verb פָּצָה (patsah, “to scatter” [Niphal, “to be scattered”]) figures prominently in story of the dispersion of humankind in chap. 11.
[9:20] 190 sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
[9:20] 191 tn Or “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard”; Heb “and Noah, a man of the ground, began and he planted a vineyard.”
[9:21] 192 tn The Hebrew verb גָּלָה (galah) in the Hitpael verbal stem (וַיִּתְגַּל, vayyitggal) means “to uncover oneself” or “to be uncovered.” Noah became overheated because of the wine and uncovered himself in the tent.
[9:22] 193 sn For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.
[9:22] 194 tn Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6-11, 15-19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24-28).
[9:23] 195 tn The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?
[9:23] 196 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
[9:24] 197 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
[9:24] 199 tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
[9:25] 200 sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.
[9:25] 201 sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
[9:25] 202 tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.
[9:26] 203 tn Heb “blessed be.”
[9:26] 204 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 205 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 206 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
[10:1] 207 tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.
[10:1] 208 sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.
[10:1] 209 tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.
[10:2] 210 sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
[10:2] 211 sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.
[10:2] 212 sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.
[10:2] 213 sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
[10:2] 214 sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
[10:2] 215 sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 216 sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 217 sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
[10:3] 218 sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
[10:3] 219 sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.
[10:3] 220 sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
[10:3] 221 sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.
[10:4] 222 sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
[10:4] 223 sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
[10:4] 224 sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
[10:4] 225 tc Most of the MT
[10:6] 226 sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).
[10:6] 227 sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.
[10:6] 228 sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.
[10:6] 229 sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).
[10:7] 230 sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
[10:7] 231 sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
[10:7] 232 sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
[10:7] 233 sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 234 sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
[10:7] 235 sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 236 sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.
[10:8] 237 tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.
[10:9] 238 tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).
[10:9] 239 tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the
[10:10] 240 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
[10:10] 242 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
[10:10] 243 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
[10:10] 244 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
[10:10] 245 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
[10:11] 246 tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
[10:11] 248 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
[10:11] 249 sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
[10:11] 250 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
[10:12] 251 tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”
[10:13] 252 sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).
[10:13] 253 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:13] 254 sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.
[10:13] 255 sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.
[10:13] 256 sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.
[10:13] 257 sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).
[10:14] 258 sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.
[10:14] 259 sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.
[10:14] 260 tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.
[10:14] 261 sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.
[10:15] 262 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:15] 263 sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
[10:15] 264 tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
[10:16] 265 sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
[10:16] 266 sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.
[10:16] 267 sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).
[10:17] 268 sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
[10:17] 269 sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
[10:17] 270 sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
[10:18] 271 sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
[10:18] 272 sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
[10:18] 273 sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
[10:19] 275 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[10:19] 276 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:19] 277 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:21] 278 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
[10:21] 279 tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.
[10:22] 280 sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
[10:22] 281 sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.
[10:22] 282 sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
[10:22] 283 sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
[10:22] 284 sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
[10:23] 285 tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”
[10:24] 286 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:24] 287 tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[10:24] 288 sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).
[10:25] 289 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
[10:26] 290 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:26] 291 sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.
[10:26] 292 sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.
[10:26] 293 sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.
[10:26] 294 sn The name Jerah means “moon.”
[10:27] 295 sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
[10:27] 296 sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
[10:28] 297 sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.
[10:28] 298 sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”
[10:28] 299 sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.
[10:29] 300 sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).
[10:29] 301 sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.
[10:30] 302 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:32] 303 tn Or “separated.”
[11:1] 304 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
[11:1] 305 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
[11:2] 306 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:2] 307 tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”
[11:2] 308 tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”
[11:3] 309 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
[11:3] 310 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).
[11:3] 311 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
[11:3] 312 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
[11:4] 313 tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.
[11:4] 314 tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.
[11:4] 315 tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”
[11:4] 316 sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.
[11:5] 317 tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.
[11:5] 318 tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.
[11:6] 319 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
[11:6] 320 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
[11:6] 321 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
[11:7] 322 tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the
[11:7] 323 tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
[11:8] 324 tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
[11:9] 325 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.
[11:9] 326 sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[11:11] 327 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 328 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 329 tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[11:15] 330 tn Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:28] 331 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium
[11:28] 332 tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”
[11:29] 333 sn The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.
[11:29] 334 sn The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.
[11:32] 335 tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”
[11:32] 336 tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:1] 337 sn The
[12:1] 338 tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.
[12:1] 339 tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”
[12:1] 340 sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the
[12:2] 341 tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.
[12:2] 342 sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he gave them (1) a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.
[12:2] 343 tn Or “I will make you famous.”
[12:2] 344 tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (hÿyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? A similar statement occurs in Zech 8:13, where God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae.
[12:3] 345 tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the
[12:3] 346 tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic
[12:3] 347 tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings on”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.
[12:4] 348 sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).
[12:4] 349 tn Heb “just as the
[12:4] 350 tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + implied “to be” verb) is parenthetical, telling the age of Abram when he left Haran.
[12:4] 351 tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”
[12:5] 352 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
[12:5] 353 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
[12:5] 354 tn Heb “went out to go.”
[12:6] 356 sn The Hebrew word Moreh (מוֹרֶה, moreh) means “teacher.” It may well be that the place of this great oak tree was a Canaanite shrine where instruction took place.
[12:6] 357 tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”
[12:6] 358 tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature – the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.
[12:7] 359 tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[12:7] 360 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:8] 361 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[12:8] 362 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
[12:9] 363 tn The Hebrew verb נָסַע (nasa’) means “to journey”; more specifically it means to pull up the tent and move to another place. The construction here uses the preterite of this verb with its infinitive absolute to stress the activity of traveling. But it also adds the infinitive absolute of הָלַךְ (halakh) to stress that the traveling was continually going on. Thus “Abram journeyed, going and journeying” becomes “Abram continually journeyed by stages.”
[12:9] 364 tn Or “the South [country].”
[12:10] 365 sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.
[12:10] 366 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.
[12:10] 367 tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:11] 368 tn Heb “drew near to enter.”
[12:11] 369 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.
[12:11] 370 tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”
[12:12] 371 tn The Piel of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) means “to keep alive, to preserve alive,” and in some places “to make alive.” See D. Marcus, “The Verb ‘to Live’ in Ugaritic,” JSS 17 (1972): 76-82.
[12:13] 373 sn Tell them you are my sister. Abram’s motives may not be as selfish as they appear. He is aware of the danger to the family. His method of dealing with it is deception with a half truth, for Sarai really was his sister – but the Egyptians would not know that. Abram presumably thought that there would be negotiations for a marriage by anyone interested (as Laban does later for his sister Rebekah), giving him time to react. But the plan backfires because Pharaoh does not take the time to negotiate. There is a good deal of literature on the wife-sister issue. See (among others) E. A. Speiser, “The Wife-Sister Motif in the Patriarchal Narratives,” Oriental and Biblical Studies, 62-81; C. J. Mullo-Weir, “The Alleged Hurrian Wife-Sister Motif in Genesis,” GOT 22 (1967-1970): 14-25.
[12:13] 374 tn The Hebrew verb translated “go well” can encompass a whole range of favorable treatment, but the following clause indicates it means here that Abram’s life will be spared.
[12:13] 375 tn Heb “and my life will live.”
[12:15] 376 tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.
[12:15] 377 tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.
[12:15] 378 tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.
[12:16] 379 sn He did treat Abram well. The construction of the parenthetical disjunctive clause, beginning with the conjunction on the prepositional phrase, draws attention to the irony of the story. Abram wanted Sarai to lie “so that it would go well” with him. Though he lost Sarai to Pharaoh, it did go well for him – he received a lavish bride price. See also G. W. Coats, “Despoiling the Egyptians,” VT 18 (1968): 450-57.
[12:16] 380 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
[12:17] 381 tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the
[12:18] 382 tn The demonstrative pronoun translated “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to me?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
[12:19] 383 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.
[12:19] 384 tn Heb “to me for a wife.”
[12:19] 385 tn Heb “Look, your wife!”
[12:19] 386 tn Heb “take and go.”
[12:20] 387 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:1] 388 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
[13:1] 389 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] 391 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.
[13:3] 392 tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.
[13:3] 393 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:3] 394 tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:3] 395 tn Heb “where his tent had been.”
[13:4] 396 tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).
[13:4] 397 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
[13:5] 398 tn Heb “was going.”
[13:5] 399 tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.
[13:6] 400 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] 401 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] 402 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.
[13:7] 403 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] 404 sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.
[13:7] 405 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] 406 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] 407 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.
[13:10] 408 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] 409 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”
[13:10] 410 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:10] 411 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] 412 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] 413 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] 414 tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.
[13:11] 415 tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”
[13:12] 416 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] 417 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] 418 tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.
[13:13] 419 tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the
[13:14] 420 tn Heb “and the
[13:14] 421 tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”
[13:15] 422 tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”
[13:16] 423 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.
[13:17] 424 tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.
[13:17] 425 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] 426 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] 427 tn Heb “he came and lived.”
[13:18] 428 tn Or “terebinths.”
[14:1] 429 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”
[14:1] 430 sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.
[14:1] 431 tn Or “king of Goyim.” The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם (goyim) means “nations,” but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB “Goyim”; NIV, NRSV “Goiim”).
[14:2] 433 sn On the geographical background of vv. 1-2 see J. P. Harland, “Sodom and Gomorrah,” The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 1:41-75; and D. N. Freedman, “The Real Story of the Ebla Tablets, Ebla and the Cities of the Plain,” BA 41 (1978): 143-64.
[14:3] 434 tn Heb “all these,” referring only to the last five kings named. The referent has been specified as “these last five kings” in the translation for clarity.
[14:3] 435 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to join together; to unite; to be allied.” It stresses close associations, especially of friendships, marriages, or treaties.
[14:3] 436 sn The Salt Sea is the older name for the Dead Sea.
[14:4] 437 tn The sentence simply begins with “twelve years”; it serves as an adverbial accusative giving the duration of their bondage.
[14:4] 438 tn This is another adverbial accusative of time.
[14:4] 439 sn The story serves as a foreshadowing of the plight of the kingdom of Israel later. Eastern powers came and forced the western kingdoms into submission. Each year, then, they would send tribute east – to keep them away. Here, in the thirteenth year, they refused to send the tribute (just as later Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria). And so in the fourteenth year the eastern powers came to put them down again. This account from Abram’s life taught future generations that God can give victory over such threats – that people did not have to live in servitude to tyrants from the east.
[14:5] 440 tn The Hebrew verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to attack, to strike, to smite.” In this context it appears that the strike was successful, and so a translation of “defeated” is preferable.
[14:6] 441 sn The line of attack ran down the eastern side of the Jordan Valley into the desert, and then turned and came up the valley to the cities of the plain.
[14:7] 442 tn Heb “they returned and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh).” The two verbs together form a verbal hendiadys, the first serving as the adverb: “they returned and came” means “they came again.” Most English translations do not treat this as a hendiadys, but translate “they turned back” or something similar. Since in the context, however, “came again to” does not simply refer to travel but an assault against the place, the present translation expresses this as “attacked…again.”
[14:9] 444 tn Or “Goyim.” See the note on the word “nations” in 14:1.
[14:9] 445 tn The Hebrew text has simply “against.” The word “fought” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:10] 446 tn Heb “Now the Valley of Siddim [was] pits, pits of tar.” This parenthetical disjunctive clause emphasizes the abundance of tar pits in the area through repetition of the noun “pits.”
[14:10] 447 tn Or “they were defeated there.” After a verb of motion the Hebrew particle שָׁם (sham) with the directional heh (שָׁמָּה, shammah) can mean “into it, therein” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָׁם).
[14:10] 448 tn Heb “the rest.”
[14:10] 449 sn The reference to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah must mean the kings along with their armies. Most of them were defeated in the valley, but some of them escaped to the hills.
[14:11] 450 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the four victorious kings, see v. 9) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[14:12] 451 tn Heb “Lot the son of his brother.”
[14:12] 453 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:12] 454 tn This disjunctive clause is circumstantial/causal, explaining that Lot was captured because he was living in Sodom at the time.
[14:13] 455 tn Heb “the fugitive.” The article carries a generic force or indicates that this fugitive is definite in the mind of the speaker.
[14:13] 456 sn E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103) suggests that part of this chapter came from an outside source since it refers to Abram the Hebrew. That is not impossible, given that the narrator likely utilized traditions and genealogies that had been collected and transmitted over the years. The meaning of the word “Hebrew” has proved elusive. It may be related to the verb “to cross over,” perhaps meaning “immigrant.” Or it might be derived from the name of Abram’s ancestor Eber (see Gen 11:14-16).
[14:13] 457 tn Or “terebinths.”
[14:13] 458 tn Or “a brother”; or “a relative”; or perhaps “an ally.”
[14:13] 459 tn Heb “possessors of a treaty with.” Since it is likely that the qualifying statement refers to all three (Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner) the words “all these” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear.
[14:13] 460 tn This parenthetical disjunctive clause explains how Abram came to be living in their territory, but it also explains why they must go to war with Abram.
[14:14] 461 tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).
[14:14] 462 tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.
[14:14] 463 tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:14] 464 sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.
[14:15] 465 tn The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.
[14:15] 466 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:15] 467 tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”
[14:15] 468 tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.
[14:16] 469 tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:16] 470 tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:17] 471 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:17] 472 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:17] 473 sn The King’s Valley is possibly a reference to what came to be known later as the Kidron Valley.
[14:18] 474 sn Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about its king. Though some have identified him with the preincarnate Christ or with Noah’s son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110 the
[14:18] 475 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.
[14:19] 476 tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.
[14:19] 477 tn Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”
[14:19] 478 tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.
[14:20] 479 tn Heb “blessed be.” For God to be “blessed” means that is praised. His reputation is enriched in the world as his name is praised.
[14:20] 480 sn Who delivered. The Hebrew verb מִגֵּן (miggen, “delivered”) foreshadows the statement by God to Abram in Gen 15:1, “I am your shield” (מָגֵן, magen). Melchizedek provided a theological interpretation of Abram’s military victory.
[14:20] 481 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:22] 482 tn Abram takes an oath, raising his hand as a solemn gesture. The translation understands the perfect tense as having an instantaneous nuance: “Here and now I raise my hand.”
[14:22] 483 tn The words “and vow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:23] 484 tn The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: “…if I take.” It is as if Abram says, “[May the
[14:23] 485 tn The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun (“I”) to the verb form for emphasis.
[14:24] 486 tn The words “I will take nothing” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:24] 487 tn Heb “except only what the young men have eaten.”
[15:1] 488 sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.
[15:1] 489 tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).
[15:2] 490 tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master,
[15:2] 491 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.
[15:2] 492 tn Heb “I am going.”
[15:2] 493 tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”
[15:2] 494 tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).
[15:2] 495 sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.
[15:3] 496 tn Heb “And Abram said.”
[15:3] 497 tn The construction uses הֵן (hen) to introduce the foundational clause (“since…”), and וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) to introduce the main clause (“then look…”).
[15:3] 498 tn Heb “is inheriting me.”
[15:4] 499 tn The disjunctive draws attention to God’s response and the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, translated “look”) mirrors Abram’s statement in v. 3 and highlights the fact that God responded to Abram.
[15:4] 500 tn The subject of the verb is the demonstrative pronoun, which can be translated “this one” or “this man.” That the
[15:4] 501 tn Heb “inherit you.”
[15:4] 502 tn The Hebrew כִּי־אִם (ki-’im) forms a very strong adversative.
[15:4] 503 tn Heb “he who”; the implied referent (Abram’s unborn son who will be his heir) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:4] 504 tn The pronoun could also be an emphatic subject: “whoever comes out of your body, he will inherit you.”
[15:4] 505 tn Heb “will inherit you.”
[15:5] 506 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[15:6] 507 tn The nonconsecutive vav (ו) is on a perfect verbal form. If the composer of the narrative had wanted to show simple sequence, he would have used the vav consecutive with the preterite. The perfect with vav conjunctive (where one expects the preterite with vav consecutive) in narrative contexts can have a variety of discourse functions, but here it probably serves to highlight Abram’s response to God’s promise. For a detailed discussion of the vav + perfect construction in Hebrew narrative, see R. Longacre, “Weqatal Forms in Biblical Hebrew Prose: A Discourse-modular Approach,” Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, 50-98. The Hebrew verb אָמַן (’aman) means “to confirm, to support” in the Qal verbal stem. Its derivative nouns refer to something or someone that/who provides support, such as a “pillar,” “nurse,” or “guardian, trustee.” In the Niphal stem it comes to mean “to be faithful, to be reliable, to be dependable,” or “to be firm, to be sure.” In the Hiphil, the form used here, it takes on a declarative sense: “to consider something reliable [or “dependable”].” Abram regarded the God who made this promise as reliable and fully capable of making it a reality.
[15:6] 508 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[15:6] 509 tn Heb “and he reckoned it to him.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix refers back to Abram’s act of faith, mentioned in the preceding clause. On third feminine singular pronouns referring back to verbal ideas see GKC 440-41 §135.p. Some propose taking the suffix as proleptic, anticipating the following feminine noun (“righteousness”). In this case one might translate: “and he reckoned it to him – [namely] righteousness.” See O. P. Robertson, “Genesis 15:6: A New Covenant Exposition of an Old Covenant Text,” WTJ 42 (1980): 259-89.
[15:6] 510 tn Or “righteousness”; or “evidence of steadfast commitment.” The noun is an adverbial accusative. The verb translated “considered” (Heb “reckoned”) also appears with צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”) in Ps 106:31. Alluding to the events recorded in Numbers 25, the psalmist notes that Phinehas’ actions were “credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.” Reference is made to the unconditional, eternal covenant with which God rewarded Phinehas’ loyalty (Num 25:12-13). So צְדָקָה seems to carry by metonymy the meaning “loyal, rewardable behavior” here, a nuance that fits nicely in Genesis 15, where God responds to Abram’s faith by formally ratifying his promise to give Abram and his descendants the land. (See R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 40.) In Phoenician and Old Aramaic inscriptions cognate nouns glossed as “correct, justifiable conduct” sometimes carry this same semantic nuance (DNWSI 2:962).
[15:7] 511 tn Heb “And he said.”
[15:7] 512 sn I am the
[15:7] 513 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium
[15:8] 514 tn Here the vav carries adversative force and is translated “but.”
[15:8] 515 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:8] 516 tn See note on the phrase “sovereign
[15:9] 518 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the
[15:10] 519 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:10] 520 tn Heb “in the middle.”
[15:10] 521 tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”
[15:12] 522 tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”
[15:12] 523 tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”
[15:13] 524 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.
[15:13] 525 tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.
[15:13] 526 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”
[15:13] 527 tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.
[15:14] 528 tn The participle דָּן (dan, from דִּין, din) is used here for the future: “I am judging” = “I will surely judge.” The judgment in this case will be condemnation and punishment. The translation “execute judgment on” implies that the judgment will certainly be carried out.
[15:15] 529 tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.
[15:15] 530 sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.
[15:15] 531 tn Heb “in a good old age.”
[15:16] 532 sn The term generation is being used here in its widest sense to refer to a full life span. When the chronological factors are considered and the genealogies tabulated, there are four hundred years of bondage. This suggests that in this context a generation is equivalent to one hundred years.
[15:16] 533 tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[15:16] 534 tn Heb “is not yet complete.”
[15:17] 535 sn A smoking pot with a flaming torch. These same implements were used in Mesopotamian rituals designed to ward off evil (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 113-14).
[15:17] 536 tn Heb “these pieces.”
[15:18] 537 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[15:18] 538 tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).
[15:18] 539 sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.
[15:19] 540 tn The words “the land” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:21] 541 tn Each of the names in the list has the Hebrew definite article, which is used here generically for the class of people identified.
[16:1] 542 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.
[16:1] 543 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] 544 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] 545 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] 546 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
[16:2] 547 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
[16:2] 548 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
[16:2] 549 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
[16:3] 550 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] 551 tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”
[16:3] 552 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] 553 tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.
[16:4] 554 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)
[16:4] 555 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] 556 tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”
[16:5] 557 tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”
[16:5] 559 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] 560 tn Heb “me and you.”
[16:6] 561 tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”
[16:6] 562 tn Heb “in your hand.”
[16:6] 563 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
[16:6] 564 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:6] 565 tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”
[16:6] 566 tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:7] 567 tn Heb “the messenger of the
[16:7] 568 tn Heb “And the angel of the
[16:8] 569 tn Heb “from the presence of.”
[16:9] 570 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] 571 tn Heb “The
[16:10] 572 tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”
[16:11] 573 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
[16:11] 574 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
[16:11] 575 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] 576 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
[16:12] 577 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] 578 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] 579 tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”
[16:12] 580 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] 581 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] 582 tn Heb “after one who sees me.”
[16:14] 583 tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.
[16:14] 584 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] 585 tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:15] 586 tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”
[16:16] 587 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.
[16:16] 588 tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”
[16:16] 589 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.
[12:1] 590 sn The
[12:1] 591 tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.
[12:1] 592 tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”
[12:1] 593 sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the
[18:20] 594 tn Or “commanded” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[3:6] 595 tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”
[3:6] 596 tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”
[3:6] 597 tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”
[13:3] 598 sn Death (in this case being run…through with a sword) was the penalty required in the OT for prophesying falsely (Deut 13:6-11; 18:20-22).
[13:2] 599 tn Heb “cut off” (so NRSV); NAB “destroy”; NIV “banish.”
[3:9] 600 sn The stone is also a metaphor for the Messiah, a foundation stone that, at first rejected (Ps 118:22-23; Isa 8:13-15), will become the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph 2:19-22).
[3:9] 601 tn Some understand the Hebrew term עַיִן (’ayin) here to refer to facets (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “faces” (NCV, CEV “seven sides”) of the stone rather than some representation of organs of sight.
[3:9] 602 sn Inscriptions were common on ancient Near Eastern cornerstones. This inscription speaks of the redemption achieved by the divine resident of the temple, the Messiah, who will in the day of the
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