Genesis 6:1--23:20

God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness

6:1 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.

The Judgment of the Flood

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.”

God’s Covenant with Humankind through Noah

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.”

The Curse of Canaan

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,

“Cursed ²⁰⁰  be Canaan! ²⁰¹ 

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.

The Table of Nations

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.

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

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.

The Genealogy of Shem

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.

The Record of Terah

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.

The Obedience of Abram

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 

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

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.

Abram’s Solution to the Strife

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.

The Blessing of Victory for God’s People

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.”

The Cutting of the Covenant

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 

The Birth of Ishmael

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 

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, ⁵⁹⁰  the Lord appeared to him and said, ⁵⁹¹  “I am the sovereign God. ⁵⁹²  Walk ⁵⁹³  before me ⁵⁹⁴  and be blameless. ⁵⁹⁵  17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant ⁵⁹⁶  between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” ⁵⁹⁷ 

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ⁵⁹⁸  and God said to him, ⁵⁹⁹  17:4 “As for me, ⁶⁰⁰  this ⁶⁰¹  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be ⁶⁰²  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ⁶⁰³  because I will make you ⁶⁰⁴  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you ⁶⁰⁵  extremely ⁶⁰⁶  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ⁶⁰⁷  17:7 I will confirm ⁶⁰⁸  my covenant as a perpetual ⁶⁰⁹  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁶¹⁰  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ⁶¹¹  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ⁶¹²  possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep ⁶¹³  the covenantal requirement ⁶¹⁴  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: ⁶¹⁵  Every male among you must be circumcised. ⁶¹⁶  17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder ⁶¹⁷  of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old ⁶¹⁸  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, ⁶¹⁹  whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant ⁶²⁰  will be visible in your flesh as a permanent ⁶²¹  reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male ⁶²²  who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off ⁶²³  from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” ⁶²⁴ 

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; ⁶²⁵  Sarah ⁶²⁶  will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ⁶²⁷  Kings of countries ⁶²⁸  will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ⁶²⁹  as he said to himself, ⁶³⁰  “Can ⁶³¹  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁶³²  Can Sarah ⁶³³  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁶³⁴  17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that ⁶³⁵  Ishmael might live before you!” ⁶³⁶ 

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ⁶³⁷  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ⁶³⁸  covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ⁶³⁹  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ⁶⁴⁰  He will become the father of twelve princes; ⁶⁴¹  I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. ⁶⁴² 

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ⁶⁴³  and circumcised them ⁶⁴⁴  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁶⁴⁵  when he was circumcised; ⁶⁴⁶  17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old ⁶⁴⁷  when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ⁶⁴⁸  by the oaks ⁶⁴⁹  of Mamre while ⁶⁵⁰  he was sitting at the entrance ⁶⁵¹  to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham ⁶⁵²  looked up ⁶⁵³  and saw ⁶⁵⁴  three men standing across ⁶⁵⁵  from him. When he saw them ⁶⁵⁶  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ⁶⁵⁷  to the ground. ⁶⁵⁸ 

18:3 He said, “My lord, ⁶⁵⁹  if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ⁶⁶⁰  18:4 Let a little water be brought so that ⁶⁶¹  you may all ⁶⁶²  wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get ⁶⁶³  a bit of food ⁶⁶⁴  so that you may refresh yourselves ⁶⁶⁵  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ⁶⁶⁶  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take ⁶⁶⁷  three measures ⁶⁶⁸  of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” ⁶⁶⁹  18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, ⁶⁷⁰  who quickly prepared it. ⁶⁷¹  18:8 Abraham ⁶⁷²  then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food ⁶⁷³  before them. They ate while ⁶⁷⁴  he was standing near them under a tree.

18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, ⁶⁷⁵  in the tent.” 18:10 One of them ⁶⁷⁶  said, “I will surely return ⁶⁷⁷  to you when the season comes round again, ⁶⁷⁸  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ⁶⁷⁹  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ⁶⁸⁰  18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; ⁶⁸¹  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) ⁶⁸²  18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ⁶⁸³  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, ⁶⁸⁴  especially when my husband is old too?” ⁶⁸⁵ 

18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why ⁶⁸⁶  did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really ⁶⁸⁷  have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible ⁶⁸⁸  for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” ⁶⁸⁹  18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” ⁶⁹⁰ 

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

18:16 When the men got up to leave, ⁶⁹¹  they looked out over ⁶⁹²  Sodom. (Now ⁶⁹³  Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) ⁶⁹⁴  18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ⁶⁹⁵  18:18 After all, Abraham ⁶⁹⁶  will surely become ⁶⁹⁷  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁶⁹⁸  using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him ⁶⁹⁹  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ⁷⁰⁰  the way of the Lord by doing ⁷⁰¹  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁷⁰²  to Abraham what he promised ⁷⁰³  him.”

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ⁷⁰⁴  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ⁷⁰⁵  18:21 that I must go down ⁷⁰⁶  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ⁷⁰⁷  If not, ⁷⁰⁸  I want to know.”

18:22 The two men turned ⁷⁰⁹  and headed ⁷¹⁰  toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ⁷¹¹  18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ⁷¹²  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ⁷¹³  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁷¹⁴ 

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁷¹⁵  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁷¹⁶  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁷¹⁷  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁷¹⁸  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ⁷¹⁹  spoke to him again, ⁷²⁰  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ⁷²¹  said, “May the Lord not be angry ⁷²²  so that I may speak! ⁷²³  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ⁷²⁴  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ⁷²⁵  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

18:33 The Lord went on his way ⁷²⁶  when he had finished speaking ⁷²⁷  to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. ⁷²⁸ 

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ⁷²⁹  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ⁷³⁰  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ⁷³¹  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ⁷³²  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ⁷³³ 

19:3 But he urged ⁷³⁴  them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, ⁷³⁵  all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. ⁷³⁶  19:5 They shouted to Lot, ⁷³⁷  “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex ⁷³⁸  with them!”

19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! ⁷³⁹  19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ⁷⁴⁰  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ⁷⁴¹  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ⁷⁴²  of my roof.” ⁷⁴³ 

19:9 “Out of our way!” ⁷⁴⁴  they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, ⁷⁴⁵  and now he dares to judge us! ⁷⁴⁶  We’ll do more harm ⁷⁴⁷  to you than to them!” They kept ⁷⁴⁸  pressing in on Lot until they were close enough ⁷⁴⁹  to break down the door.

19:10 So the men inside ⁷⁵⁰  reached out ⁷⁵¹  and pulled Lot back into the house ⁷⁵²  as they shut the door. 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, ⁷⁵³  with blindness. The men outside ⁷⁵⁴  wore themselves out trying to find the door. 19:12 Then the two visitors ⁷⁵⁵  said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? ⁷⁵⁶  Do you have ⁷⁵⁷  any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? ⁷⁵⁸  Get them out of this ⁷⁵⁹  place 19:13 because we are about to destroy ⁷⁶⁰  it. The outcry against this place ⁷⁶¹  is so great before the Lord that he ⁷⁶²  has sent us to destroy it.”

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ⁷⁶³  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ⁷⁶⁴  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ⁷⁶⁵ 

19:15 At dawn ⁷⁶⁶  the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, ⁷⁶⁷  or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” ⁷⁶⁸  19:16 When Lot ⁷⁶⁹  hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. ⁷⁷⁰  They led them away and placed them ⁷⁷¹  outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they ⁷⁷²  said, “Run ⁷⁷³  for your lives! Don’t look ⁷⁷⁴  behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! ⁷⁷⁵  Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord! ⁷⁷⁶  19:19 Your ⁷⁷⁷  servant has found favor with you, ⁷⁷⁸  and you have shown me great ⁷⁷⁹  kindness ⁷⁸⁰  by sparing ⁷⁸¹  my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because ⁷⁸²  this disaster will overtake ⁷⁸³  me and I’ll die. ⁷⁸⁴  19:20 Look, this town ⁷⁸⁵  over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. ⁷⁸⁶  Let me go there. ⁷⁸⁷  It’s just a little place, isn’t it? ⁷⁸⁸  Then I’ll survive.” ⁷⁸⁹ 

19:21 “Very well,” he replied, ⁷⁹⁰  “I will grant this request too ⁷⁹¹  and will not overthrow ⁷⁹²  the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly, ⁷⁹³  for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) ⁷⁹⁴ 

19:23 The sun had just risen ⁷⁹⁵  over the land as Lot reached Zoar. ⁷⁹⁶  19:24 Then the Lord rained down ⁷⁹⁷  sulfur and fire ⁷⁹⁸  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ⁷⁹⁹  19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ⁸⁰⁰  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ⁸⁰¹  from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s ⁸⁰²  wife looked back longingly ⁸⁰³  and was turned into a pillar of salt.

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went ⁸⁰⁴  to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward ⁸⁰⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. ⁸⁰⁶  As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. ⁸⁰⁷ 

19:29 So when God destroyed ⁸⁰⁸  the cities of the region, ⁸⁰⁹  God honored ⁸¹⁰  Abraham’s request. He removed Lot ⁸¹¹  from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed ⁸¹²  the cities Lot had lived in.

19:30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31 Later the older daughter said ⁸¹³  to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby ⁸¹⁴  to have sexual relations with us, ⁸¹⁵  according to the way of all the world. 19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine ⁸¹⁶  so we can have sexual relations ⁸¹⁷  with him and preserve ⁸¹⁸  our family line through our father.” ⁸¹⁹ 

19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, ⁸²⁰  and the older daughter ⁸²¹  came and had sexual relations with her father. ⁸²²  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ⁸²³  19:34 So in the morning the older daughter ⁸²⁴  said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. ⁸²⁵  Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ⁸²⁶  19:35 So they made their father drunk ⁸²⁷  that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. ⁸²⁸  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ⁸²⁹ 

19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 19:37 The older daughter ⁸³⁰  gave birth to a son and named him Moab. ⁸³¹  He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. ⁸³²  He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ⁸³³  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ⁸³⁴  in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

20:3 But God appeared ⁸³⁵  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ⁸³⁶  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ⁸³⁷ 

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ⁸³⁸  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ⁸³⁹  20:5 Did Abraham ⁸⁴⁰  not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ⁸⁴¹  ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience ⁸⁴²  and with innocent hands!”

20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. ⁸⁴³  That is why I have kept you ⁸⁴⁴  from sinning against me and why ⁸⁴⁵  I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ⁸⁴⁶  he is a prophet ⁸⁴⁷  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ⁸⁴⁸  But if you don’t give her back, ⁸⁴⁹  know that you will surely die ⁸⁵⁰  along with all who belong to you.”

20:8 Early in the morning ⁸⁵¹  Abimelech summoned ⁸⁵²  all his servants. When he told them about all these things, ⁸⁵³  they ⁸⁵⁴  were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ⁸⁵⁵  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ⁸⁵⁶  20:10 Then Abimelech asked ⁸⁵⁷  Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” ⁸⁵⁸ 

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ⁸⁵⁹  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ⁸⁶⁰  my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, ⁸⁶¹  she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander ⁸⁶²  from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: ⁸⁶³  Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

20:14 So Abimelech gave ⁸⁶⁴  sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” ⁸⁶⁵ 

20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver ⁸⁶⁶  to your ‘brother.’ ⁸⁶⁷  This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” ⁸⁶⁸ 

20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Lord ⁸⁶⁹  had caused infertility to strike every woman ⁸⁷⁰  in the household of Abimelech because he took ⁸⁷¹  Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ⁸⁷²  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ⁸⁷³  for Sarah what he had promised. ⁸⁷⁴  21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ⁸⁷⁵  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. ⁸⁷⁶  21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, ⁸⁷⁷  Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. ⁸⁷⁸  21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) ⁸⁷⁹ 

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ⁸⁸⁰  Everyone who hears about this ⁸⁸¹  will laugh ⁸⁸²  with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, ⁸⁸³  “Who would ⁸⁸⁴  have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared ⁸⁸⁵  a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ⁸⁸⁶  21:9 But Sarah noticed ⁸⁸⁷  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ⁸⁸⁸  21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ⁸⁸⁹  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. ⁸⁹⁰  21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ⁸⁹¹  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ⁸⁹²  all that Sarah is telling ⁸⁹³  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ⁸⁹⁴  21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ⁸⁹⁵  some food ⁸⁹⁶  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ⁸⁹⁷  and sent her away. So she went wandering ⁸⁹⁸  aimlessly through the wilderness ⁸⁹⁹  of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ⁹⁰⁰  the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ⁹⁰¹  away; for she thought, ⁹⁰²  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ⁹⁰³  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ⁹⁰⁴ 

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ⁹⁰⁵  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ⁹⁰⁶  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ⁹⁰⁷  the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. ⁹⁰⁸  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ⁹⁰⁹  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ⁹¹⁰ 

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ⁹¹¹  in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ⁹¹²  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ⁹¹³  Show me, and the land ⁹¹⁴  where you are staying, ⁹¹⁵  the same loyalty ⁹¹⁶  that I have shown you.” ⁹¹⁷ 

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” ⁹¹⁸  21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint ⁹¹⁹  against Abimelech concerning a well ⁹²⁰  that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ⁹²¹  21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, ⁹²²  you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. ⁹²³  21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these ⁹²⁴  seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof ⁹²⁵  that I dug this well.” ⁹²⁶  21:31 That is why he named that place ⁹²⁷  Beer Sheba, ⁹²⁸  because the two of them swore ⁹²⁹  an oath there.

21:32 So they made a treaty ⁹³⁰  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ⁹³¹  to the land of the Philistines. ⁹³²  21:33 Abraham ⁹³³  planted a tamarisk tree ⁹³⁴  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ⁹³⁵  the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. ⁹³⁶ 

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things God tested ⁹³⁷  Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham ⁹³⁸  replied. 22:2 God ⁹³⁹  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ⁹⁴⁰  – and go to the land of Moriah! ⁹⁴¹  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ⁹⁴²  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ⁹⁴³  you.”

22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. ⁹⁴⁴  He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out ⁹⁴⁵  for the place God had spoken to him about.

22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of ⁹⁴⁶  the place in the distance. 22:5 So he ⁹⁴⁷  said to his servants, “You two stay ⁹⁴⁸  here with the donkey while ⁹⁴⁹  the boy and I go up there. We will worship ⁹⁵⁰  and then return to you.” ⁹⁵¹ 

22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, ⁹⁵²  and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, ⁹⁵³  “My father?” “What is it, ⁹⁵⁴  my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, ⁹⁵⁵  “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide ⁹⁵⁶  for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there ⁹⁵⁷  and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up ⁹⁵⁸  his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter ⁹⁵⁹  his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel ⁹⁶⁰  called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ⁹⁶¹  the angel said. ⁹⁶²  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ⁹⁶³  that you fear ⁹⁶⁴  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

22:13 Abraham looked up ⁹⁶⁵  and saw ⁹⁶⁶  behind him ⁹⁶⁷  a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he ⁹⁶⁸  went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” ⁹⁶⁹  It is said to this day, ⁹⁷⁰  “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” ⁹⁷¹ 

22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ⁹⁷²  decrees the Lord, ⁹⁷³  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, ⁹⁷⁴  and I will greatly multiply ⁹⁷⁵  your descendants ⁹⁷⁶  so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession ⁹⁷⁷  of the strongholds ⁹⁷⁸  of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ⁹⁷⁹  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁹⁸⁰  using the name of your descendants.’”

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together ⁹⁸¹  for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. ⁹⁸² 

22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah ⁹⁸³  also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ⁹⁸⁴  22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now ⁹⁸⁵  Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

The Death of Sarah

23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. ⁹⁸⁶  23:2 Then she ⁹⁸⁷  died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ⁹⁸⁸ 

23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife ⁹⁸⁹  and said to the sons of Heth, ⁹⁹⁰  23:4 “I am a temporary settler ⁹⁹¹  among you. Grant ⁹⁹²  me ownership ⁹⁹³  of a burial site among you so that I may ⁹⁹⁴  bury my dead.” ⁹⁹⁵ 

23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, ⁹⁹⁶  23:6 “Listen, sir, ⁹⁹⁷  you are a mighty prince ⁹⁹⁸  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you ⁹⁹⁹  from burying your dead.”

23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, ¹⁰⁰⁰  the sons of Heth. 23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree ¹⁰⁰¹  that I may bury my dead, ¹⁰⁰²  then hear me out. ¹⁰⁰³  Ask ¹⁰⁰⁴  Ephron the son of Zohar 23:9 if he will sell ¹⁰⁰⁵  me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly ¹⁰⁰⁶  for the full price, ¹⁰⁰⁷  so that I may own it as a burial site.”

23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite ¹⁰⁰⁸  replied to Abraham in the hearing ¹⁰⁰⁹  of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate ¹⁰¹⁰  of his city – 23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell ¹⁰¹¹  you both the field and the cave that is in it. ¹⁰¹²  In the presence of my people ¹⁰¹³  I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people 23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ¹⁰¹⁴  to you the price ¹⁰¹⁵  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ¹⁰¹⁶  bury my dead there.”

23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth ¹⁰¹⁷  400 pieces of silver, ¹⁰¹⁸  but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price ¹⁰¹⁹  and weighed ¹⁰²⁰  out for him ¹⁰²¹  the price ¹⁰²²  that Ephron had quoted ¹⁰²³  in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. ¹⁰²⁴ 

23:17 So Abraham secured ¹⁰²⁵  Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border, 23:18 as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city. ¹⁰²⁶ 

23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 23:20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site ¹⁰²⁷  from the sons of Heth.

Genesis 30:1-43

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ¹⁰²⁸  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ¹⁰²⁹  or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious ¹⁰³⁰  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” ¹⁰³¹  30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ¹⁰³²  her so that she can bear ¹⁰³³  children ¹⁰³⁴  for me ¹⁰³⁵  and I can have a family through her.” ¹⁰³⁶ 

30:4 So Rachel ¹⁰³⁷  gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with ¹⁰³⁸  her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant ¹⁰³⁹  and gave Jacob a son. ¹⁰⁴⁰  30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ¹⁰⁴¹  and given me a son.” That is why ¹⁰⁴²  she named him Dan. ¹⁰⁴³ 

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. ¹⁰⁴⁴  30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ¹⁰⁴⁵  So she named him Naphtali. ¹⁰⁴⁶ 

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave ¹⁰⁴⁷  her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. ¹⁰⁴⁸  30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” ¹⁰⁴⁹  So she named him Gad. ¹⁰⁵⁰ 

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. ¹⁰⁵¹  30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ¹⁰⁵²  for women ¹⁰⁵³  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ¹⁰⁵⁴ 

30:14 At the time ¹⁰⁵⁵  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ¹⁰⁵⁶  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, ¹⁰⁵⁷  “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” ¹⁰⁵⁸  Rachel said, “he may sleep ¹⁰⁵⁹  with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ¹⁰⁶⁰  with me because I have paid for your services ¹⁰⁶¹  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ¹⁰⁶²  with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention ¹⁰⁶³  to Leah; she became pregnant ¹⁰⁶⁴  and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. ¹⁰⁶⁵  30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ¹⁰⁶⁶  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ¹⁰⁶⁷  So she named him Issachar. ¹⁰⁶⁸ 

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. ¹⁰⁶⁹  30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ¹⁰⁷⁰ 

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

30:22 Then God took note of ¹⁰⁷¹  Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. ¹⁰⁷²  30:23 She became pregnant ¹⁰⁷³  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ¹⁰⁷⁴  30:24 She named him Joseph, ¹⁰⁷⁵  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

The Flocks of Jacob

30:25 After Rachel had given birth ¹⁰⁷⁶  to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send ¹⁰⁷⁷  me on my way so that I can go ¹⁰⁷⁸  home to my own country. ¹⁰⁷⁹  30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. ¹⁰⁸⁰  Then I’ll depart, ¹⁰⁸¹  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” ¹⁰⁸² 

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ¹⁰⁸³  for I have learned by divination ¹⁰⁸⁴  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” ¹⁰⁸⁵ 

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, ¹⁰⁸⁶  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. ¹⁰⁸⁷  30:30 Indeed, ¹⁰⁸⁸  you had little before I arrived, ¹⁰⁸⁹  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ¹⁰⁹⁰  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ¹⁰⁹¹  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ¹⁰⁹² 

30:31 So Laban asked, ¹⁰⁹³  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ¹⁰⁹⁴  Jacob replied, ¹⁰⁹⁵  “but if you agree to this one condition, ¹⁰⁹⁶  I will continue to care for ¹⁰⁹⁷  your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among ¹⁰⁹⁸  all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, ¹⁰⁹⁹  and the spotted or speckled goats. ¹¹⁰⁰  These animals will be my wages. ¹¹⁰¹  30:33 My integrity will testify for me ¹¹⁰²  later on. ¹¹⁰³  When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, ¹¹⁰⁴  if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” ¹¹⁰⁵  30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” ¹¹⁰⁶ 

30:35 So that day Laban ¹¹⁰⁷  removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care ¹¹⁰⁸  of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, ¹¹⁰⁹  while ¹¹¹⁰  Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. ¹¹¹¹  30:39 When the sheep mated ¹¹¹²  in front of the branches, they ¹¹¹³  gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face ¹¹¹⁴  the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, ¹¹¹⁵  Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. ¹¹¹⁶  So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban ¹¹¹⁷  and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob ¹¹¹⁸  became extremely prosperous. He owned ¹¹¹⁹  large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

Jeremiah 44:4

44:4 I sent my servants the prophets to you people over and over ¹¹²⁰  again warning you not to do this disgusting thing I hate. ¹¹²¹ 

Matthew 15:18-20

15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 15:19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 15:20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.” ¹¹²² 

Mark 7:10-23

7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ¹¹²³  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹¹²⁴  7:11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ ¹¹²⁵  (that is, a gift for God), 7:12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. 7:13 Thus you nullify ¹¹²⁶  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

7:14 Then ¹¹²⁷  he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand. 7:15 There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.”

7:16 [[EMPTY]] ¹¹²⁸ 

7:17 Now ¹¹²⁹  when Jesus ¹¹³⁰  had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 7:18 He said to them, “Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? 7:19 For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.” ¹¹³¹  (This means all foods are clean.) ¹¹³²  7:20 He said, “What comes out of a person defiles him. 7:21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 7:22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. 7:23 All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

Mark 7:1

Breaking Human Traditions

7:1 Now ¹¹³³  the Pharisees ¹¹³⁴  and some of the experts in the law ¹¹³⁵  who came from Jerusalem ¹¹³⁶  gathered around him.

Colossians 3:17

3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

[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]  ⁷ 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 Lord’s personal Spirit. E. A. Speiser argues that the term is cognate with an Akkadian word meaning “protect” or “shield.” In this case, the Lord’s Spirit will not always protect humankind, for the race will suddenly be destroyed (E. A. Speiser, “YDWN, Gen. 6:3,” JBL 75 [1956]: 126-29).

[6:3]  ⁸ tn Or “forever.”

[6:3]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “flesh.”

[6:3]  ¹² tn See the note on “they” earlier in this verse.

[6:3]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).

[6:5]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.

[6:5]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all the day.”

[6:6]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²² tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is contrastive here: God condemns the human race, but he is pleased with Noah.

[6:8]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in the eyes of,” an anthropomorphic expression for God’s opinion or decision. The Lord saw that the whole human race was corrupt, but he looked in favor on Noah.

[6:9]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Noah.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:9]  ²⁹ 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.”

[6:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “fathered.”

[6:11]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Heb “before.”

[6:11]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”

[6:12]  ³⁵ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ sn The Hebrew verb is an imperative. A motif of this section is that Noah did as the Lord commanded him – he was obedient. That obedience had to come from faith in the word of the Lord. So the theme of obedience to God’s word is prominent in this prologue to the law.

[6:14]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “a cubit.”

[6:16]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “the flood, water.”

[6:17]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁵ 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]  ⁵⁶ 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]  ⁵⁸ 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]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “according to all.”

[6:22]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

[7:2]  ⁷¹ sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.

[7:2]  ⁷² 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]  ⁷³ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

[7:3]  ⁷⁴ tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).

[7:3]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”

[7:4]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”

[7:4]  ⁷⁷ tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.

[7:5]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “according to all.”

[7:6]  ⁸² 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]  ⁸³ 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]  ⁸⁵ tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark.

[7:8]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”

[7:9]  ⁹¹ 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]  ⁹² tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “came upon.”

[7:11]  ⁹⁷ 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]  ⁹⁸ sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.

[7:12]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “was.”

[7:13]  ¹⁰³ 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]  ¹⁰⁶ tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:14]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”

[7:15]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”

[7:15]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “flesh.”

[7:16]  ¹¹² tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”

[7:18]  ¹¹⁵ 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.

[7:18]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “went.”

[7:19]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.

[7:19]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “and.”

[7:20]  ¹²¹ 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]  ¹²² 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.

[7:21]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “flesh.”

[7:22]  ¹²⁷ 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]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:23]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).

[7:23]  ¹³² tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”

[7:23]  ¹³³ 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]  ¹³³ 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]  ¹³⁶ 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]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “to pass over.”

[8:2]  ¹³⁹ 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]  ¹⁴² 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]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:3]  ¹⁴⁴ tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.

[8:4]  ¹⁴⁵ 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]  ¹⁴⁸ 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]  ¹⁴⁹ tn Or “could be seen.”

[8:6]  ¹⁵¹ 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]  ¹⁵² 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]  ¹⁵⁴ 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]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[8:8]  ¹⁵⁹ tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.

[8:9]  ¹⁶⁰ tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:9]  ¹⁶¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹⁶² tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ¹⁶³ tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”

[8:11]  ¹⁶³ tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.

[8:11]  ¹⁶⁴ 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]  ¹⁶⁶ tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:12]  ¹⁶⁷ 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]  ¹⁶⁹ 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]  ¹⁷⁰ 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]  ¹⁷² tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.

[8:17]  ¹⁷⁵ tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:17]  ¹⁷⁶ 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]  ¹⁷⁷ tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

[8:20]  ¹⁷⁸ 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 Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.

[8:21]  ¹⁸¹ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

[8:21]  ¹⁸² tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

[8:21]  ¹⁸³ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[8:21]  ¹⁸⁴ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

[8:21]  ¹⁸⁵ 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]  ¹⁸⁶ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

[8:21]  ¹⁸⁷ tn Heb “from his youth.”

[8:22]  ¹⁸⁴ 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]  ¹⁸⁵ tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.

[9:2]  ¹⁸⁷ 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]  ¹⁸⁸ 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]  ¹⁹⁰ tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”

[9:3]  ¹⁹¹ tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[9:3]  ¹⁹² tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.

[9:4]  ¹⁹³ tn Heb “only.”

[9:4]  ¹⁹⁴ tn Or “flesh.”

[9:4]  ¹⁹⁵ 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]  ¹⁹⁶ tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[9:5]  ¹⁹⁶ 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]  ¹⁹⁷ 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]  ¹⁹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹⁹ tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.

[9:5]  ²⁰⁰ tn Heb “of the man.”

[9:5]  ²⁰¹ 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]  ¹⁹⁹ tn Heb “the blood of man.”

[9:6]  ²⁰⁰ tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

[9:6]  ²⁰¹ 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]  ²⁰² tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:7]  ²⁰² 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]  ²⁰⁵ tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”

[9:9]  ²⁰⁸ 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]  ²⁰⁹ 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]  ²¹¹ tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.

[9:11]  ²¹⁴ 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]  ²¹⁵ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:11]  ²¹⁶ tn Heb “cut off.”

[9:11]  ²¹⁷ tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”

[9:12]  ²¹⁷ tn Heb “sign.”

[9:12]  ²¹⁸ 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]  ²¹⁹ tn Heb “between me and between you.”

[9:12]  ²²⁰ tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:12]  ²²¹ tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.

[9:13]  ²²⁰ 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]  ²²¹ 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]  ²²² tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.

[9:14]  ²²³ tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.

[9:15]  ²²⁶ tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”

[9:15]  ²²⁷ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:15]  ²²⁸ tn Heb “to destroy.”

[9:15]  ²²⁹ tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:16]  ²²⁹ 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]  ²³² tn Heb “all flesh.”

[9:18]  ²³⁵ 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]  ²³⁸ 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]  ²⁴¹ sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.

[9:20]  ²⁴² 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]  ²⁴⁴ 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]  ²⁴⁷ 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]  ²⁴⁸ 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]  ²⁵⁰ 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]  ²⁵¹ tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”

[9:24]  ²⁵³ tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.

[9:24]  ²⁵⁴ tn Heb “he knew.”

[9:24]  ²⁵⁵ 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]  ²⁵⁶ 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]  ²⁵⁷ 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]  ²⁵⁸ 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]  ²⁵⁹ tn Heb “blessed be.”

[9:26]  ²⁶⁰ tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:27]  ²⁶² tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:27]  ²⁶³ 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]  ²⁶⁵ 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]  ²⁶⁶ 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]  ²⁶⁷ 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]  ²⁶⁸ sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.

[10:2]  ²⁶⁹ 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]  ²⁷⁰ 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]  ²⁷¹ sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.

[10:2]  ²⁷² sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.

[10:2]  ²⁷³ 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]  ²⁷⁴ 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]  ²⁷⁵ sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.

[10:3]  ²⁷¹ sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.

[10:3]  ²⁷² 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]  ²⁷³ sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.

[10:3]  ²⁷⁴ 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]  ²⁷⁴ sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.

[10:4]  ²⁷⁵ 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]  ²⁷⁶ 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]  ²⁷⁷ tc Most of the MT mss read “Dodanim” here, but 1 Chr 1:7 has “Rodanim,” perhaps referring to the island of Rhodes. But the Qere reading in 1 Chr 1:7 suggests “Dodanim.” Dodona is one of the most ancient and revered spots in ancient Greece.

[10:6]  ²⁷⁷ sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).

[10:6]  ²⁷⁸ sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.

[10:6]  ²⁷⁹ sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.

[10:6]  ²⁸⁰ sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).

[10:7]  ²⁸⁰ sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.

[10:7]  ²⁸¹ 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]  ²⁸² sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.

[10:7]  ²⁸³ sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ²⁸⁴ sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.

[10:7]  ²⁸⁵ sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ²⁸⁶ sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.

[10:8]  ²⁸³ 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]  ²⁸⁶ 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]  ²⁸⁷ tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the Lord [YHWH]”), as a means of expressing the superlative degree. In this case one may translate “Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the world.”

[10:10]  ²⁸⁹ 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]  ²⁹⁰ tn Or “Babylon.”

[10:10]  ²⁹¹ sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.

[10:10]  ²⁹² sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.

[10:10]  ²⁹³ 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]  ²⁹⁴ sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.

[10:11]  ²⁹² 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]  ²⁹³ tn Heb “Asshur.”

[10:11]  ²⁹⁴ sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.

[10:11]  ²⁹⁵ sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.

[10:11]  ²⁹⁶ sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.

[10:12]  ²⁹⁵ tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”

[10:13]  ²⁹⁸ sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).

[10:13]  ²⁹⁹ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:13]  ³⁰⁰ sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.

[10:13]  ³⁰¹ sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.

[10:13]  ³⁰² sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.

[10:13]  ³⁰³ sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).

[10:14]  ³⁰¹ sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.

[10:14]  ³⁰² sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.

[10:14]  ³⁰³ 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]  ³⁰⁴ sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.

[10:15]  ³⁰⁴ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:15]  ³⁰⁵ sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.

[10:15]  ³⁰⁶ 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]  ³⁰⁷ sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.

[10:16]  ³⁰⁸ 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]  ³⁰⁹ 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]  ³¹⁰ sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.

[10:17]  ³¹¹ sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.

[10:17]  ³¹² sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.

[10:18]  ³¹³ sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.

[10:18]  ³¹⁴ sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.

[10:18]  ³¹⁵ sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.

[10:19]  ³¹⁶ tn Heb “were.”

[10:19]  ³¹⁷ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:19]  ³¹⁸ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:19]  ³¹⁹ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:21]  ³¹⁹ tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

[10:21]  ³²⁰ 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]  ³²² sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.

[10:22]  ³²³ 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]  ³²⁴ sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.

[10:22]  ³²⁵ sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.

[10:22]  ³²⁶ sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.

[10:23]  ³²⁵ tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”

[10:24]  ³²⁸ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:24]  ³²⁹ 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]  ³³⁰ sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).

[10:25]  ³³¹ 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]  ³³⁴ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:26]  ³³⁵ sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.

[10:26]  ³³⁶ sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.

[10:26]  ³³⁷ sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.

[10:26]  ³³⁸ sn The name Jerah means “moon.”

[10:27]  ³³⁷ sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.

[10:27]  ³³⁸ sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”

[10:28]  ³⁴⁰ sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.

[10:28]  ³⁴¹ sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”

[10:28]  ³⁴² sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.

[10:29]  ³⁴³ 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]  ³⁴⁴ sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.

[10:30]  ³⁴⁶ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:32]  ³⁴⁹ tn Or “separated.”

[11:1]  ³⁵² 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]  ³⁵³ 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]  ³⁵⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:2]  ³⁵⁶ tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”

[11:2]  ³⁵⁷ tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”

[11:3]  ³⁵⁸ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”

[11:3]  ³⁵⁹ 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]  ³⁶⁰ tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[11:3]  ³⁶¹ tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.

[11:4]  ³⁶¹ 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]  ³⁶² 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]  ³⁶³ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

[11:4]  ³⁶⁴ 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]  ³⁶⁴ 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]  ³⁶⁵ 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]  ³⁶⁷ tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”

[11:6]  ³⁶⁸ 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]  ³⁶⁹ tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”

[11:7]  ³⁷⁰ 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 Lord our God said to us…. And the Lord went down and we went down with him. And we saw the city and the tower which the sons of men built.” On the chiastic structure of the story, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:235.

[11:7]  ³⁷¹ tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”

[11:8]  ³⁷³ 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]  ³⁷⁶ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

[11:9]  ³⁷⁷ 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]  ³⁷⁹ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[11:13]  ³⁸² tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[11:13]  ³⁸³ 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]  ³⁸⁵ 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]  ³⁸⁸ 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 b.c.

[11:28]  ³⁸⁹ tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”

[11:29]  ³⁹¹ 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]  ³⁹² 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]  ³⁹⁴ tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”

[11:32]  ³⁹⁵ tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:1]  ³⁹⁷ sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2); but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.

[12:1]  ³⁹⁸ 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]  ³⁹⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰⁰ sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.

[12:2]  ⁴⁰⁰ 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]  ⁴⁰¹ 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]  ⁴⁰² tn Or “I will make you famous.”

[12:2]  ⁴⁰³ 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]  ⁴⁰³ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

[12:3]  ⁴⁰⁴ 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 mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

[12:3]  ⁴⁰⁵ 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]  ⁴⁰⁶ sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).

[12:4]  ⁴⁰⁷ tn Heb “just as the Lord said to him.”

[12:4]  ⁴⁰⁸ 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]  ⁴⁰⁹ tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”

[12:5]  ⁴⁰⁹ tn Heb “the son of his brother.”

[12:5]  ⁴¹⁰ tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.

[12:5]  ⁴¹¹ tn Heb “went out to go.”

[12:6]  ⁴¹² tn Or “terebinth.”

[12:6]  ⁴¹³ 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]  ⁴¹⁴ tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”

[12:6]  ⁴¹⁵ tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature – the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.

[12:7]  ⁴¹⁵ 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]  ⁴¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:8]  ⁴¹⁸ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[12:8]  ⁴¹⁹ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[12:9]  ⁴²¹ 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]  ⁴²² tn Or “the South [country].”

[12:10]  ⁴²⁴ 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]  ⁴²⁵ 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]  ⁴²⁶ 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]  ⁴²⁷ tn Heb “drew near to enter.”

[12:11]  ⁴²⁸ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.

[12:11]  ⁴²⁹ tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”

[12:12]  ⁴³⁰ 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]  ⁴³³ tn Heb “say.”

[12:13]  ⁴³⁴ 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]  ⁴³⁵ 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]  ⁴³⁶ tn Heb “and my life will live.”

[12:15]  ⁴³⁶ 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]  ⁴³⁷ 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]  ⁴³⁸ 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]  ⁴³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁴⁰ tn Heb “and there was to him.”

[12:17]  ⁴⁴² tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the Lord inflicted numerous plagues, probably diseases (see Exod 15:26). The adjective “great” emphasizes that the plagues were severe and overwhelming.

[12:18]  ⁴⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁴⁸ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.

[12:19]  ⁴⁴⁹ tn Heb “to me for a wife.”

[12:19]  ⁴⁵⁰ tn Heb “Look, your wife!”

[12:19]  ⁴⁵¹ tn Heb “take and go.”

[12:20]  ⁴⁵¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:1]  ⁴⁵⁴ tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).

[13:1]  ⁴⁵⁵ 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]  ⁴⁵⁷ tn Heb “heavy.”

[13:2]  ⁴⁵⁸ tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.

[13:3]  ⁴⁶⁰ tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.

[13:3]  ⁴⁶¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[13:3]  ⁴⁶² tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:3]  ⁴⁶³ tn Heb “where his tent had been.”

[13:4]  ⁴⁶³ tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).

[13:4]  ⁴⁶⁴ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[13:5]  ⁴⁶⁶ tn Heb “was going.”

[13:5]  ⁴⁶⁷ tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.

[13:6]  ⁴⁶⁹ 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]  ⁴⁷⁰ 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]  ⁴⁷¹ tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.

[13:7]  ⁴⁷² 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]  ⁴⁷³ sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.

[13:7]  ⁴⁷⁴ 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]  ⁴⁷⁵ 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]  ⁴⁷⁸ tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.

[13:10]  ⁴⁸¹ 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]  ⁴⁸² tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

[13:10]  ⁴⁸³ tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ⁴⁸⁴ 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]  ⁴⁸⁵ 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]  ⁴⁸⁶ 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 Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

[13:11]  ⁴⁸⁴ tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

[13:11]  ⁴⁸⁵ tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”

[13:12]  ⁴⁸⁷ 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]  ⁴⁹⁰ 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]  ⁴⁹¹ tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

[13:13]  ⁴⁹² tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” The description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form a hendiadys: “wicked and sinners” means “wicked sinners,” the first word becoming adjectival. The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause pain for others. Then to this phrase is added “against the Lord,” stressing their violation of the laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “exceedingly,” translated here as “extremely”).

[13:14]  ⁴⁹³ tn Heb “and the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated himself from with him.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse signals a new scene.

[13:14]  ⁴⁹⁴ tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”

[13:15]  ⁴⁹⁶ tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”

[13:16]  ⁴⁹⁹ tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

[13:17]  ⁵⁰² tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.

[13:17]  ⁵⁰³ 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]  ⁵⁰⁴ 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]  ⁵⁰⁵ tn Heb “he came and lived.”

[13:18]  ⁵⁰⁶ tn Or “terebinths.”

[14:1]  ⁵⁰⁸ tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”

[14:1]  ⁵⁰⁹ sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.

[14:1]  ⁵¹⁰ 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]  ⁵¹¹ tn Heb “made war.”

[14:2]  ⁵¹² 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]  ⁵¹⁴ 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]  ⁵¹⁵ 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]  ⁵¹⁶ sn The Salt Sea is the older name for the Dead Sea.

[14:4]  ⁵¹⁷ tn The sentence simply begins with “twelve years”; it serves as an adverbial accusative giving the duration of their bondage.

[14:4]  ⁵¹⁸ tn This is another adverbial accusative of time.

[14:4]  ⁵¹⁹ 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]  ⁵²⁰ 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]  ⁵²³ 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]  ⁵²⁶ 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.”

[14:8]  ⁵²⁹ tn Heb “against.”

[14:9]  ⁵³² tn Or “Goyim.” See the note on the word “nations” in 14:1.

[14:9]  ⁵³³ tn The Hebrew text has simply “against.” The word “fought” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:10]  ⁵³⁵ 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]  ⁵³⁶ 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]  ⁵³⁷ tn Heb “the rest.”

[14:10]  ⁵³⁸ 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]  ⁵³⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the four victorious kings, see v. 9) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:12]  ⁵⁴¹ tn Heb “Lot the son of his brother.”

[14:12]  ⁵⁴² tn Heb “and.”

[14:12]  ⁵⁴³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:12]  ⁵⁴⁴ tn This disjunctive clause is circumstantial/causal, explaining that Lot was captured because he was living in Sodom at the time.

[14:13]  ⁵⁴⁴ 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]  ⁵⁴⁵ 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]  ⁵⁴⁶ tn Or “terebinths.”

[14:13]  ⁵⁴⁷ tn Or “a brother”; or “a relative”; or perhaps “an ally.”

[14:13]  ⁵⁴⁸ 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]  ⁵⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁴⁷ 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]  ⁵⁴⁸ 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]  ⁵⁴⁹ tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:14]  ⁵⁵⁰ 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]  ⁵⁵⁰ tn The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.

[14:15]  ⁵⁵¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:15]  ⁵⁵² tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”

[14:15]  ⁵⁵³ tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

[14:16]  ⁵⁵³ tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:16]  ⁵⁵⁴ tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:17]  ⁵⁵⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:17]  ⁵⁵⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:17]  ⁵⁵⁸ sn The King’s Valley is possibly a reference to what came to be known later as the Kidron Valley.

[14:18]  ⁵⁵⁹ 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 Lord declares that the Davidic king is a royal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.

[14:18]  ⁵⁶⁰ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.

[14:19]  ⁵⁶² tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.

[14:19]  ⁵⁶³ 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]  ⁵⁶⁴ tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.

[14:20]  ⁵⁶⁵ 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]  ⁵⁶⁶ 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]  ⁵⁶⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:22]  ⁵⁶⁸ 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]  ⁵⁶⁹ tn The words “and vow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:23]  ⁵⁷¹ tn The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: “…if I take.” It is as if Abram says, “[May the Lord deal with me] if I take,” meaning, “I will surely not take.” The positive oath would add the negative adverb and be the reverse: “[God will deal with me] if I do not take,” meaning, “I certainly will.”

[14:23]  ⁵⁷² tn The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun (“I”) to the verb form for emphasis.

[14:24]  ⁵⁷⁴ tn The words “I will take nothing” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:24]  ⁵⁷⁵ tn Heb “except only what the young men have eaten.”

[15:1]  ⁵⁷⁷ 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]  ⁵⁷⁸ 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]  ⁵⁸⁰ tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master, Lord”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “master”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Master, God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Master” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Master, Lord,” which is rendered here “sovereign Lord.”

[15:2]  ⁵⁸¹ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

[15:2]  ⁵⁸² tn Heb “I am going.”

[15:2]  ⁵⁸³ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

[15:2]  ⁵⁸⁴ tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

[15:2]  ⁵⁸⁵ 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]  ⁵⁸³ tn Heb “And Abram said.”

[15:3]  ⁵⁸⁴ tn The construction uses הֵן (hen) to introduce the foundational clause (“since…”), and וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) to introduce the main clause (“then look…”).

[15:3]  ⁵⁸⁵ tn Heb “is inheriting me.”

[15:4]  ⁵⁸⁶ 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]  ⁵⁸⁷ tn The subject of the verb is the demonstrative pronoun, which can be translated “this one” or “this man.” That the Lord does not mention him by name is significant; often in ancient times the use of the name would bring legitimacy to inheritance and adoption cases.

[15:4]  ⁵⁸⁸ tn Heb “inherit you.”

[15:4]  ⁵⁸⁹ tn The Hebrew כִּי־אִם (ki-’im) forms a very strong adversative.

[15:4]  ⁵⁹⁰ 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]  ⁵⁹¹ tn The pronoun could also be an emphatic subject: “whoever comes out of your body, he will inherit you.”

[15:4]  ⁵⁹² tn Heb “will inherit you.”

[15:5]  ⁵⁸⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ⁵⁹² 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]  ⁵⁹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:6]  ⁵⁹⁴ 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]  ⁵⁹⁵ 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]  ⁵⁹⁵ tn Heb “And he said.”

[15:7]  ⁵⁹⁶ sn I am the Lord. The Lord initiates the covenant-making ceremony with a declaration of who he is and what he has done for Abram. The same form appears at the beginning of the covenant made at Sinai (see Exod 20:1).

[15:7]  ⁵⁹⁷ 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 b.c.

[15:8]  ⁵⁹⁸ tn Here the vav carries adversative force and is translated “but.”

[15:8]  ⁵⁹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:8]  ⁶⁰⁰ tn See note on the phrase “sovereign Lord” in 15:2.

[15:8]  ⁶⁰¹ tn Or “how.”

[15:9]  ⁶⁰¹ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:10]  ⁶⁰⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:10]  ⁶⁰⁵ tn Heb “in the middle.”

[15:10]  ⁶⁰⁶ tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”

[15:12]  ⁶⁰⁷ tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”

[15:12]  ⁶⁰⁸ tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”

[15:13]  ⁶¹⁰ 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]  ⁶¹¹ 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]  ⁶¹² tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

[15:13]  ⁶¹³ 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]  ⁶¹³ 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]  ⁶¹⁶ tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.

[15:15]  ⁶¹⁷ sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.

[15:15]  ⁶¹⁸ tn Heb “in a good old age.”

[15:16]  ⁶¹⁹ 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]  ⁶²⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ⁶²¹ tn Heb “is not yet complete.”

[15:17]  ⁶²² 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]  ⁶²³ tn Heb “these pieces.”

[15:18]  ⁶²⁵ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ⁶²⁶ 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]  ⁶²⁷ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[15:19]  ⁶²⁸ tn The words “the land” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:21]  ⁶³¹ 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]  ⁶³⁴ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

[16:1]  ⁶³⁵ 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]  ⁶³⁶ 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]  ⁶³⁷ 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]  ⁶³⁷ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ⁶³⁸ tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

[16:2]  ⁶³⁹ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ⁶⁴⁰ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[16:3]  ⁶⁴⁰ 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]  ⁶⁴¹ tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”

[16:3]  ⁶⁴² 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]  ⁶⁴³ tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.

[16:4]  ⁶⁴⁴ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)

[16:4]  ⁶⁴⁵ 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]  ⁶⁴⁶ tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”

[16:5]  ⁶⁴⁷ tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”

[16:5]  ⁶⁴⁸ tn Heb “saw.”

[16:5]  ⁶⁴⁹ 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]  ⁶⁵⁰ tn Heb “me and you.”

[16:6]  ⁶⁴⁹ tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”

[16:6]  ⁶⁵⁰ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[16:6]  ⁶⁵¹ tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

[16:6]  ⁶⁵² tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:6]  ⁶⁵³ tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”

[16:6]  ⁶⁵⁴ tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:7]  ⁶⁵² tn Heb “the messenger of the Lord.” Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, it is more likely that the angel merely represents the Lord; he can speak for the Lord because he is sent with the Lord’s full authority. In some cases the angel is clearly distinct from the Lord (see Judg 6:11-23). It is not certain if the same angel is always in view. Though the proper name following the noun “angel” makes the construction definite, this may simply indicate that a definite angel sent from the Lord is referred to in any given context. It need not be the same angel on every occasion. Note the analogous expression “the servant of the Lord,” which refers to various individuals in the OT (see BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד).

[16:7]  ⁶⁵³ tn Heb “And the angel of the Lord found her near the spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the way to Shur.”

[16:8]  ⁶⁵⁵ tn Heb “from the presence of.”

[16:9]  ⁶⁵⁸ 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]  ⁶⁶¹ tn Heb “The Lord’s angel said, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants….” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:10]  ⁶⁶² tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”

[16:11]  ⁶⁶⁴ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ⁶⁶⁵ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ⁶⁶⁶ 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]  ⁶⁶⁷ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[16:12]  ⁶⁶⁷ 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]  ⁶⁶⁸ 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]  ⁶⁶⁹ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ⁶⁷⁰ 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]  ⁶⁷⁰ 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]  ⁶⁷¹ tn Heb “after one who sees me.”

[16:14]  ⁶⁷³ tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.

[16:14]  ⁶⁷⁴ 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]  ⁶⁷⁵ tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:15]  ⁶⁷⁶ tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”

[16:16]  ⁶⁷⁹ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.

[16:16]  ⁶⁸⁰ tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”

[16:16]  ⁶⁸¹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “for Abram.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is somewhat redundant given the three occurrences of Abram’s name in this and the previous verse.

[17:1]  ⁶⁸² tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:1]  ⁶⁸³ tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[17:1]  ⁶⁸⁴ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the LXX, and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including “blessings of the breast and womb” (49:25). (The direct association of the name with “breasts” suggests the name might mean “the one of the breast” [i.e., the one who gives fertility], but the juxtaposition is probably better explained as wordplay. Note the wordplay involving the name and the root שָׁדַד, shadad, “destroy”] in Isa 13:6 and in Joel 1:15.) Outside Genesis the name Shaddai (minus the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14; Isa 13:6; and Joel 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.) Finally, the name occurs 31 times in the Book of Job. Job and his “friends” assume that Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world (11:7; 37:23a) who is the source of life (33:4b) and is responsible for maintaining justice (8:3; 34:10-12; 37:23b). He provides abundant blessings, including children (22:17-18; 29:4-6), but he can also discipline, punish, and destroy (5:17; 6:4; 21:20; 23:16). It is not surprising to see the name so often in this book, where the theme of God’s justice is primary and even called into question (24:1; 27:2). The most likely proposal is that the name means “God, the one of the mountain” (an Akkadian cognate means “mountain,” to which the Hebrew שַׁד, shad, “breast”] is probably related). For a discussion of proposed derivations see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 70-71. The name may originally have depicted God as the sovereign judge who, in Canaanite style, ruled from a sacred mountain. Isa 14:13 and Ezek 28:14, 16 associate such a mountain with God, while Ps 48:2 refers to Zion as “Zaphon,” the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isa 14 the Canaanite god El may be in view. Note that Isaiah pictures pagan kings as taunting the king of Babylon, suggesting that pagan mythology may provide the background for the language and imagery.)

[17:1]  ⁶⁸⁵ tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”

[17:1]  ⁶⁸⁶ tn Or “in my presence.”

[17:1]  ⁶⁸⁷ tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the Lord, then the second imperative is likely sequential. (2) But if it has a positive moral connotation (“serve me faithfully”), then the second imperative probably indicates purpose (or result). For other uses of the idiom see 1 Sam 2:30, 35 and 12:2 (where it occurs twice).

[17:2]  ⁶⁸⁵ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the Lord will ratify the covenant. Earlier the Lord ratified part of his promise to Abram (see Gen 15:18-21), guaranteeing him that his descendants would live in the land. But the expanded form of the promise, which includes numerous descendants and eternal possession of the land, remains to be ratified. This expanded form of the promise is in view here (see vv. 2b, 4-8). See the note at Gen 15:18 and R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[17:2]  ⁶⁸⁶ tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:3]  ⁶⁸⁸ tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.

[17:3]  ⁶⁸⁹ tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ⁶⁹¹ tn Heb “I.”

[17:4]  ⁶⁹² tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[17:5]  ⁶⁹⁴ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ⁶⁹⁵ sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

[17:5]  ⁶⁹⁶ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:6]  ⁶⁹⁷ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

[17:6]  ⁶⁹⁸ tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:6]  ⁶⁹⁹ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[17:7]  ⁷⁰⁰ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ⁷⁰¹ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ⁷⁰² tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ⁷⁰³ tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

[17:8]  ⁷⁰⁴ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:9]  ⁷⁰⁶ tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.

[17:9]  ⁷⁰⁷ tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.

[17:10]  ⁷⁰⁹ tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”

[17:10]  ⁷¹⁰ sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.

[17:11]  ⁷¹² tn Or “sign.”

[17:12]  ⁷¹⁵ tn Heb “the son of eight days.”

[17:13]  ⁷¹⁸ tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.

[17:13]  ⁷¹⁹ tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:13]  ⁷²⁰ tn Or “an eternal.”

[17:14]  ⁷²¹ tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.

[17:14]  ⁷²² tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:14]  ⁷²³ tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:15]  ⁷²⁴ tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”

[17:15]  ⁷²⁵ sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.

[17:16]  ⁷²⁷ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ⁷²⁸ tn Heb “peoples.”

[17:17]  ⁷³⁰ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

[17:17]  ⁷³¹ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ⁷³² tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ⁷³³ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ⁷³⁴ sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

[17:17]  ⁷³⁵ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[17:18]  ⁷³³ tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”

[17:18]  ⁷³⁴ tn Or “live with your blessing.”

[17:19]  ⁷³⁶ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ⁷³⁷ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:20]  ⁷³⁹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ⁷⁴⁰ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ⁷⁴¹ tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[17:22]  ⁷⁴² tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:23]  ⁷⁴⁵ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

[17:23]  ⁷⁴⁶ tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:24]  ⁷⁴⁸ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁷⁴⁹ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[17:25]  ⁷⁵¹ tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”

[18:1]  ⁷⁵⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁷⁵⁵ tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ⁷⁵⁶ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ⁷⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[18:2]  ⁷⁵⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ⁷⁵⁸ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ⁷⁵⁹ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ⁷⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ⁷⁶¹ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ⁷⁶² tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ⁷⁶³ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[18:3]  ⁷⁶⁰ tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

[18:3]  ⁷⁶¹ tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

[18:4]  ⁷⁶³ tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.

[18:4]  ⁷⁶⁴ tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.

[18:5]  ⁷⁶⁶ tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.

[18:5]  ⁷⁶⁷ tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.

[18:5]  ⁷⁶⁸ tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.

[18:5]  ⁷⁶⁹ tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”

[18:6]  ⁷⁶⁹ tn The word “take” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the sentence lacks a verb other than the imperative “hurry.” The elliptical structure of the language reflects Abraham’s haste to get things ready quickly.

[18:6]  ⁷⁷⁰ sn Three measures (Heb “three seahs”) was equivalent to about twenty quarts (twenty-two liters) of flour, which would make a lot of bread. The animal prepared for the meal was far more than the three visitors needed. This was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.

[18:6]  ⁷⁷¹ sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.

[18:7]  ⁷⁷² tn Heb “the young man.”

[18:7]  ⁷⁷³ tn The construction uses the Piel preterite, “he hurried,” followed by the infinitive construct; the two probably form a verbal hendiadys: “he quickly prepared.”

[18:8]  ⁷⁷⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:8]  ⁷⁷⁶ tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:8]  ⁷⁷⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.

[18:9]  ⁷⁷⁸ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) often accompanies a gesture of pointing or a focused gaze.

[18:10]  ⁷⁸¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

[18:10]  ⁷⁸² tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

[18:10]  ⁷⁸³ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

[18:10]  ⁷⁸⁴ tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

[18:10]  ⁷⁸⁵ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

[18:11]  ⁷⁸⁴ tn Heb “days.”

[18:11]  ⁷⁸⁵ tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”

[18:12]  ⁷⁸⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[18:12]  ⁷⁸⁸ tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.

[18:12]  ⁷⁸⁹ tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:13]  ⁷⁹⁰ tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the Lord’s amazement: “Why on earth did Sarah laugh?”

[18:13]  ⁷⁹¹ tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”

[18:14]  ⁷⁹³ tn The Hebrew verb פָּלָא (pala’) means “to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, to be surpassing, to be amazing.”

[18:14]  ⁷⁹⁴ sn Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the Lord fixed an exact date for the birth of the child, the promise became rather overwhelming to Abraham and Sarah. But then this was the Lord of creation, the one they had come to trust. The point of these narratives is that the creation of Abraham’s offspring, which eventually became Israel, is no less a miraculous work of creation than the creation of the world itself.

[18:15]  ⁷⁹⁶ tn Heb “And he said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:16]  ⁷⁹⁹ tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”

[18:16]  ⁸⁰⁰ tn Heb “toward the face of.”

[18:16]  ⁸⁰¹ tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.

[18:16]  ⁸⁰² tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.

[18:17]  ⁸⁰² tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.

[18:18]  ⁸⁰⁵ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”

[18:18]  ⁸⁰⁶ tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.

[18:18]  ⁸⁰⁷ 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 upon”] 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 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham 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.

[18:19]  ⁸⁰⁸ tn Heb “For I have known him.” The verb יָדַע (yada’) here means “to recognize and treat in a special manner, to choose” (see Amos 3:2). It indicates that Abraham stood in a special covenantal relationship with the Lord.

[18:19]  ⁸⁰⁹ tn Heb “and they will keep.” The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the subjective nuance of the preceding imperfect verbal form (translated “so that he may command”).

[18:19]  ⁸¹⁰ tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the Lord.

[18:19]  ⁸¹¹ tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) indicates result here.

[18:19]  ⁸¹² tn Heb “spoke to.”

[18:20]  ⁸¹¹ tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.

[18:20]  ⁸¹² tn Heb “heavy.”

[18:21]  ⁸¹⁴ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ⁸¹⁵ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ⁸¹⁶ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[18:22]  ⁸¹⁷ tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the Lord was the third visitor, who remained behind with Abraham here. The words “from there” are not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:22]  ⁸¹⁸ tn Heb “went.”

[18:22]  ⁸¹⁹ tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” This reading is problematic because the phrase “standing before” typically indicates intercession, but the Lord would certainly not be interceding before Abraham.

[18:24]  ⁸²⁰ tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).

[18:25]  ⁸²³ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ⁸²⁴ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[18:27]  ⁸²⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁸²⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[18:28]  ⁸²⁹ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ⁸³⁰ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ⁸³² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ⁸³³ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ⁸³⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ⁸³⁶ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ⁸³⁷ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ⁸³⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ⁸⁴¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:33]  ⁸⁴⁴ tn Heb “And the Lord went.”

[18:33]  ⁸⁴⁵ tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”

[18:33]  ⁸⁴⁶ tn Heb “to his place.”

[19:1]  ⁸⁴⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ⁸⁴⁸ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[19:2]  ⁸⁵⁰ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ⁸⁵¹ tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ⁸⁵² sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:3]  ⁸⁵³ tn The Hebrew verb פָּצַר (patsar, “to press, to insist”) ironically foreshadows the hostile actions of the men of the city (see v. 9, where the verb also appears). The repetition of the word serves to contrast Lot to his world.

[19:4]  ⁸⁵⁶ tn The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) means “to lie down, to recline,” that is, “to go to bed.” Here what appears to be an imperfect is a preterite after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem). The nuance of potential (perfect) fits well.

[19:4]  ⁸⁵⁷ tn Heb “and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young to the old, all the people from the end [of the city].” The repetition of the phrase “men of” stresses all kinds of men.

[19:5]  ⁸⁵⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:5]  ⁸⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) is used here in the sense of “to lie with” or “to have sex with” (as in Gen 4:1). That this is indeed the meaning is clear from Lot’s warning that they not do so wickedly, and his willingness to give them his daughters instead.

[19:7]  ⁸⁶² tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”

[19:8]  ⁸⁶⁵ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ⁸⁶⁶ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ⁸⁶⁷ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ⁸⁶⁸ sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[19:9]  ⁸⁶⁸ tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”

[19:9]  ⁸⁶⁹ tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”

[19:9]  ⁸⁷⁰ tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”

[19:9]  ⁸⁷¹ tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.

[19:9]  ⁸⁷² tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”

[19:9]  ⁸⁷³ tn Heb “and they drew near.”

[19:10]  ⁸⁷¹ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “inside” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:10]  ⁸⁷² tn The Hebrew text adds “their hand.” These words have not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:10]  ⁸⁷³ tn Heb “to them into the house.”

[19:11]  ⁸⁷⁴ tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”

[19:11]  ⁸⁷⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:12]  ⁸⁷⁷ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:12]  ⁸⁷⁸ tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”

[19:12]  ⁸⁷⁹ tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:12]  ⁸⁸⁰ tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”

[19:12]  ⁸⁸¹ tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.

[19:13]  ⁸⁸⁰ tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.

[19:13]  ⁸⁸¹ tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:13]  ⁸⁸² tn Heb “the Lord.” The repetition of the divine name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

[19:14]  ⁸⁸³ sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.

[19:14]  ⁸⁸⁴ tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ⁸⁸⁵ tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.

[19:15]  ⁸⁸⁶ tn Heb “When dawn came up.”

[19:15]  ⁸⁸⁷ tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.

[19:15]  ⁸⁸⁸ tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[19:16]  ⁸⁸⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:16]  ⁸⁹⁰ tn Heb “in the compassion of the Lord to them.”

[19:16]  ⁸⁹¹ tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).

[19:17]  ⁸⁹² tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.

[19:17]  ⁸⁹³ tn Heb “escape.”

[19:17]  ⁸⁹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.

[19:17]  ⁸⁹⁵ tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:18]  ⁸⁹⁵ tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[19:19]  ⁸⁹⁸ tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.

[19:19]  ⁸⁹⁹ tn Heb “in your eyes.”

[19:19]  ⁹⁰⁰ tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”

[19:19]  ⁹⁰¹ sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.

[19:19]  ⁹⁰² tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.

[19:19]  ⁹⁰³ tn Heb “lest.”

[19:19]  ⁹⁰⁴ tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.

[19:19]  ⁹⁰⁵ tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.

[19:20]  ⁹⁰¹ tn The Hebrew word עִיר (’ir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”

[19:20]  ⁹⁰² tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”

[19:20]  ⁹⁰³ tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.

[19:20]  ⁹⁰⁴ tn Heb “Is it not little?”

[19:20]  ⁹⁰⁵ tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.

[19:21]  ⁹⁰⁴ tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.

[19:21]  ⁹⁰⁵ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”

[19:21]  ⁹⁰⁶ tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).

[19:22]  ⁹⁰⁷ tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.

[19:22]  ⁹⁰⁸ tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tso’ar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mits’ar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).

[19:23]  ⁹¹⁰ sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).

[19:23]  ⁹¹¹ tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.

[19:24]  ⁹¹³ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ⁹¹⁴ tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ⁹¹⁵ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:25]  ⁹¹⁶ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:25]  ⁹¹⁷ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”

[19:26]  ⁹¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:26]  ⁹²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5).

[19:27]  ⁹²² tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:28]  ⁹²⁵ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[19:28]  ⁹²⁶ tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:28]  ⁹²⁷ tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

[19:29]  ⁹²⁸ tn The construction is a temporal clause comprised of the temporal indicator, an infinitive construct with a preposition, and the subjective genitive.

[19:29]  ⁹²⁹ tn Or “of the plain”; Heb “of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:29]  ⁹³⁰ tn Heb “remembered,” but this means more than mental recollection here. Abraham’s request (Gen 18:23-32) was that the Lord not destroy the righteous with the wicked. While the requisite minimum number of righteous people (ten, v. 32) needed for God to spare the cities was not found, God nevertheless rescued the righteous before destroying the wicked.

[19:29]  ⁹³¹ sn God’s removal of Lot before the judgment is paradigmatic. He typically delivers the godly before destroying their world.

[19:29]  ⁹³² tn Heb “the overthrow when [he] overthrew.”

[19:31]  ⁹³¹ tn Heb “and the firstborn said.”

[19:31]  ⁹³² tn Or perhaps “on earth,” in which case the statement would be hyperbolic; presumably there had been some men living in the town of Zoar to which Lot and his daughters had initially fled.

[19:31]  ⁹³³ tn Heb “to enter upon us.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[19:32]  ⁹³⁴ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:32]  ⁹³⁵ tn Heb “and we will lie down.” The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive is subordinated to the preceding cohortative and indicates purpose/result.

[19:32]  ⁹³⁶ tn Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.

[19:32]  ⁹³⁷ tn Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:33]  ⁹³⁷ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:33]  ⁹³⁸ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:33]  ⁹³⁹ tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[19:33]  ⁹⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”

[19:34]  ⁹⁴⁰ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:34]  ⁹⁴¹ tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”

[19:34]  ⁹⁴² tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:35]  ⁹⁴³ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:35]  ⁹⁴⁴ tn Heb “lied down with him.”

[19:35]  ⁹⁴⁵ tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”

[19:37]  ⁹⁴⁶ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:37]  ⁹⁴⁷ sn The meaning of the name Moab is not certain. The name sounds like the Hebrew phrase “from our father” (מֵאָבִינוּ, me’avinu) which the daughters used twice (vv. 32, 34). This account is probably included in the narrative in order to portray the Moabites, who later became enemies of God’s people, in a negative light.

[19:38]  ⁹⁴⁹ sn The name Ben-Ammi means “son of my people.” Like the account of Moab’s birth, this story is probably included in the narrative to portray the Ammonites, another perennial enemy of Israel, in a negative light.

[20:1]  ⁹⁵² tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ⁹⁵³ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[20:3]  ⁹⁵⁵ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ⁹⁵⁶ tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.

[20:3]  ⁹⁵⁷ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[20:4]  ⁹⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[20:4]  ⁹⁵⁹ tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.

[20:5]  ⁹⁶¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ⁹⁶² tn Heb “and she, even she.”

[20:5]  ⁹⁶³ tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”

[20:6]  ⁹⁶⁴ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ⁹⁶⁵ tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ⁹⁶⁶ tn Heb “therefore.”

[20:7]  ⁹⁶⁷ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ⁹⁶⁸ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ⁹⁶⁹ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  ⁹⁷⁰ tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ⁹⁷¹ tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[20:8]  ⁹⁷⁰ tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”

[20:8]  ⁹⁷¹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”

[20:8]  ⁹⁷² tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”

[20:8]  ⁹⁷³ tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:9]  ⁹⁷³ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ⁹⁷⁴ tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[20:10]  ⁹⁷⁶ tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”

[20:10]  ⁹⁷⁷ tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.

[20:11]  ⁹⁷⁹ tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ⁹⁸⁰ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[20:12]  ⁹⁸² tn Heb “but also.”

[20:13]  ⁹⁸⁵ tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”

[20:13]  ⁹⁸⁶ tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”

[20:14]  ⁹⁸⁸ tn Heb “took and gave.”

[20:15]  ⁹⁹¹ tn Heb “In the [place that is] good in your eyes live!”

[20:16]  ⁹⁹⁴ sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).

[20:16]  ⁹⁹⁵ sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).

[20:16]  ⁹⁹⁶ tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).

[20:18]  ⁹⁹⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”

[20:18]  ⁹⁹⁸ tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:18]  ⁹⁹⁹ tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[21:1]  ¹⁰⁰⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ¹⁰⁰¹ tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ¹⁰⁰² tn Heb “spoken.”

[21:2]  ¹⁰⁰³ tn Or “she conceived.”

[21:3]  ¹⁰⁰⁶ tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.

[21:4]  ¹⁰⁰⁹ tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

[21:4]  ¹⁰¹⁰ sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).

[21:5]  ¹⁰¹² tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).

[21:6]  ¹⁰¹⁵ tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ¹⁰¹⁶ tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ¹⁰¹⁷ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[21:7]  ¹⁰¹⁸ tn Heb “said.”

[21:7]  ¹⁰¹⁹ tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.

[21:8]  ¹⁰²¹ tn Heb “made.”

[21:8]  ¹⁰²² sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.

[21:9]  ¹⁰²⁴ tn Heb “saw.”

[21:9]  ¹⁰²⁵ tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.

[21:10]  ¹⁰²⁷ tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.

[21:11]  ¹⁰³⁰ tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.

[21:12]  ¹⁰³³ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ¹⁰³⁴ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ¹⁰³⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ¹⁰³⁶ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[21:14]  ¹⁰³⁶ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ¹⁰³⁷ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ¹⁰³⁸ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ¹⁰³⁹ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ¹⁰⁴⁰ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[21:15]  ¹⁰³⁹ tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.

[21:16]  ¹⁰⁴² sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ¹⁰⁴³ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ¹⁰⁴⁴ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ¹⁰⁴⁵ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

[21:17]  ¹⁰⁴⁵ sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.

[21:17]  ¹⁰⁴⁶ tn Heb “What to you?”

[21:17]  ¹⁰⁴⁷ sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.

[21:19]  ¹⁰⁴⁸ tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ¹⁰⁵¹ sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

[21:21]  ¹⁰⁵² tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

[21:22]  ¹⁰⁵⁴ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

[21:23]  ¹⁰⁵⁷ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ¹⁰⁵⁸ tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ¹⁰⁵⁹ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ¹⁰⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ¹⁰⁶¹ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ¹⁰⁶² tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[21:24]  ¹⁰⁶⁰ tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.

[21:25]  ¹⁰⁶³ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.

[21:25]  ¹⁰⁶⁴ tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”

[21:25]  ¹⁰⁶⁵ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.

[21:26]  ¹⁰⁶⁶ tn Heb “and also.”

[21:27]  ¹⁰⁶⁹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:29]  ¹⁰⁷² tn Heb “What are these?”

[21:30]  ¹⁰⁷⁵ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

[21:30]  ¹⁰⁷⁶ sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

[21:31]  ¹⁰⁷⁸ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

[21:31]  ¹⁰⁷⁹ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.

[21:31]  ¹⁰⁸⁰ sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

[21:32]  ¹⁰⁸¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ¹⁰⁸² tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ¹⁰⁸³ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[21:33]  ¹⁰⁸⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:33]  ¹⁰⁸⁵ sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.

[21:33]  ¹⁰⁸⁶ tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[21:34]  ¹⁰⁸⁷ tn Heb “many days.”

[22:1]  ¹⁰⁹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.

[22:1]  ¹⁰⁹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ¹⁰⁹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ¹⁰⁹⁴ sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

[22:2]  ¹⁰⁹⁵ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

[22:2]  ¹⁰⁹⁶ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

[22:2]  ¹⁰⁹⁷ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[22:3]  ¹⁰⁹⁶ tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”

[22:3]  ¹⁰⁹⁷ tn Heb “he arose and he went.”

[22:4]  ¹⁰⁹⁹ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”

[22:5]  ¹¹⁰² tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[22:5]  ¹¹⁰³ tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.

[22:5]  ¹¹⁰⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.

[22:5]  ¹¹⁰⁵ tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”

[22:5]  ¹¹⁰⁶ sn It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will…return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17-19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.

[22:6]  ¹¹⁰⁵ sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.

[22:7]  ¹¹⁰⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[22:7]  ¹¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).

[22:7]  ¹¹¹⁰ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:8]  ¹¹¹¹ tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”

[22:9]  ¹¹¹⁴ sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?

[22:9]  ¹¹¹⁵ sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.

[22:10]  ¹¹¹⁷ tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”

[22:11]  ¹¹²⁰ sn Heb “the messenger of the Lord” (also in v. 15). Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, see the note on the phrase “the Lord’s angel” in Gen 16:7.

[22:12]  ¹¹²³ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ¹¹²⁴ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:12]  ¹¹²⁵ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ¹¹²⁶ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[22:13]  ¹¹²⁶ tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”

[22:13]  ¹¹²⁷ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.

[22:13]  ¹¹²⁸ tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac, and Samaritan Pentateuch read “one” (אֶחָד, ’ekhad) instead of “behind him” (אַחַר, ’akhar).

[22:13]  ¹¹²⁹ tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:14]  ¹¹²⁹ tn Heb “the Lord sees” (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, yÿhvah yir’eh, traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.

[22:14]  ¹¹³⁰ sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

[22:14]  ¹¹³¹ sn The saying connected with these events has some ambiguity, which was probably intended. The Niphal verb could be translated (1) “in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen/provided” or (2) “in the mountain the Lord will appear.” If the temple later stood here (see the note on “Moriah” in Gen 22:2), the latter interpretation might find support, for the people went to the temple to appear before the Lord, who “appeared” to them by providing for them his power and blessings. See S. R. Driver, Genesis, 219.

[22:16]  ¹¹³² tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ¹¹³³ tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[22:17]  ¹¹³⁵ tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.

[22:17]  ¹¹³⁶ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ¹¹³⁷ tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[22:17]  ¹¹³⁸ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ¹¹³⁹ tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).

[22:18]  ¹¹³⁸ tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.

[22:18]  ¹¹³⁹ tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to 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. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)

[22:19]  ¹¹⁴¹ tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”

[22:19]  ¹¹⁴² tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.

[22:20]  ¹¹⁴⁴ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.

[22:21]  ¹¹⁴⁷ sn This parenthetical note about Kemuel’s descendant is probably a later insertion by the author/compiler of Genesis and not part of the original announcement.

[22:23]  ¹¹⁵⁰ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).

[23:1]  ¹¹⁵³ tn Heb “And the years of Sarah were one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.”

[23:2]  ¹¹⁵⁶ tn Heb “Sarah.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“she”) for stylistic reasons.

[23:2]  ¹¹⁵⁷ sn Mourn…weep. The description here is of standard mourning rites (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 149-50). They would have been carried out in the presence of the corpse, probably in Sarah’s tent. So Abraham came in to mourn; then he rose up to go and bury his dead (v. 3).

[23:3]  ¹¹⁵⁹ tn Heb “And Abraham arose from upon the face of his dead.”

[23:3]  ¹¹⁶⁰ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (also in vv. 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[23:4]  ¹¹⁶² tn Heb “a resident alien and a settler.”

[23:4]  ¹¹⁶³ tn Heb “give,” which is used here as an idiom for “sell” (see v. 9). The idiom reflects the polite bartering that was done in the culture at the time.

[23:4]  ¹¹⁶⁴ tn Or “possession.”

[23:4]  ¹¹⁶⁵ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose.

[23:4]  ¹¹⁶⁶ tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:5]  ¹¹⁶⁵ tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”

[23:6]  ¹¹⁶⁸ tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

[23:6]  ¹¹⁶⁹ tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.

[23:6]  ¹¹⁷⁰ tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:7]  ¹¹⁷¹ tn Heb “to the people of the land” (also in v. 12).

[23:8]  ¹¹⁷⁴ tn Heb “If it is with your purpose.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here has the nuance “purpose” or perhaps “desire” (see BDB 661 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ).

[23:8]  ¹¹⁷⁵ tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:8]  ¹¹⁷⁶ tn Or “hear me.”

[23:8]  ¹¹⁷⁷ tn Heb “intercede for me with.”

[23:9]  ¹¹⁷⁷ tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.

[23:9]  ¹¹⁷⁸ tn Heb “in your presence.”

[23:9]  ¹¹⁷⁹ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:10]  ¹¹⁸⁰ tn Or perhaps “Hittite,” but see the note on the name “Heth” in v. 3.

[23:10]  ¹¹⁸¹ tn Heb “ears.” By metonymy the “ears” stand for the presence or proximity (i.e., within earshot) of the persons named.

[23:10]  ¹¹⁸² sn On the expression all who entered the gate see E. A. Speiser, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956): 20-23; and G. Evans, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate: A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958): 28-33.

[23:11]  ¹¹⁸³ tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.

[23:11]  ¹¹⁸⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[23:11]  ¹¹⁸⁵ tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”

[23:13]  ¹¹⁸⁶ tn Heb “give.”

[23:13]  ¹¹⁸⁷ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:13]  ¹¹⁸⁸ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

[23:15]  ¹¹⁸⁹ tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:15]  ¹¹⁹⁰ sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).

[23:16]  ¹¹⁹² tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”

[23:16]  ¹¹⁹³ tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”

[23:16]  ¹¹⁹⁴ tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ¹¹⁹⁵ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:16]  ¹¹⁹⁶ tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ¹¹⁹⁷ tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.

[23:17]  ¹¹⁹⁵ tn Heb “And it was conveyed.” The recipient, Abraham (mentioned in the Hebrew text at the beginning of v. 18) has been placed here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:18]  ¹¹⁹⁸ tn Heb “his city”; the referent (Ephron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:20]  ¹²⁰¹ tn Heb “possession of a grave.”

[30:1]  ¹²⁰⁴ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ¹²⁰⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:2]  ¹²⁰⁷ tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”

[30:2]  ¹²⁰⁸ tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”

[30:3]  ¹²¹⁰ tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  ¹²¹¹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  ¹²¹² tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  ¹²¹³ tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  ¹²¹⁴ tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[30:4]  ¹²¹³ tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:4]  ¹²¹⁴ tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:5]  ¹²¹⁶ tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).

[30:5]  ¹²¹⁷ tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:6]  ¹²¹⁹ tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.

[30:6]  ¹²²⁰ tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  ¹²²¹ sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.

[30:7]  ¹²²² tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:8]  ¹²²⁵ tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  ¹²²⁶ sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”

[30:9]  ¹²²⁸ tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”

[30:10]  ¹²³¹ tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:11]  ¹²³⁴ tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial בְּ (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”

[30:11]  ¹²³⁵ sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[30:12]  ¹²³⁷ tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:13]  ¹²⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

[30:13]  ¹²⁴¹ tn Heb “daughters.”

[30:13]  ¹²⁴² sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.

[30:14]  ¹²⁴³ tn Heb “during the days.”

[30:14]  ¹²⁴⁴ sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.

[30:15]  ¹²⁴⁶ tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:15]  ¹²⁴⁷ tn Heb “therefore.”

[30:15]  ¹²⁴⁸ tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

[30:16]  ¹²⁴⁹ tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.

[30:16]  ¹²⁵⁰ tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.

[30:16]  ¹²⁵¹ tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.

[30:17]  ¹²⁵² tn Heb “listened to.”

[30:17]  ¹²⁵³ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).

[30:17]  ¹²⁵⁴ tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:18]  ¹²⁵⁵ tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  ¹²⁵⁶ tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  ¹²⁵⁷ sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.

[30:19]  ¹²⁵⁸ tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:20]  ¹²⁶¹ sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.

[30:22]  ¹²⁶⁴ tn Heb “remembered.”

[30:22]  ¹²⁶⁵ tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons

[30:23]  ¹²⁶⁷ tn Or “conceived.”

[30:23]  ¹²⁶⁸ tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.

[30:24]  ¹²⁷⁰ sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.

[30:25]  ¹²⁷³ tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.

[30:25]  ¹²⁷⁴ tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.

[30:25]  ¹²⁷⁵ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:25]  ¹²⁷⁶ tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”

[30:26]  ¹²⁷⁶ tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.

[30:26]  ¹²⁷⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:26]  ¹²⁷⁸ tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”

[30:27]  ¹²⁷⁹ tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[30:27]  ¹²⁸⁰ tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the Lord has blessed me” (cf. NEB). See J. Finkelstein, “An Old Babylonian Herding Contract and Genesis 31:38f.,” JAOS 88 (1968): 34, n. 19.

[30:28]  ¹²⁸² tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”

[30:29]  ¹²⁸⁵ tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:29]  ¹²⁸⁶ tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”

[30:30]  ¹²⁸⁸ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ¹²⁸⁹ tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ¹²⁹⁰ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ¹²⁹¹ tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ¹²⁹² tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

[30:31]  ¹²⁹¹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ¹²⁹² tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ¹²⁹³ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ¹²⁹⁴ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ¹²⁹⁵ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[30:32]  ¹²⁹⁴ tn Heb “pass through.”

[30:32]  ¹²⁹⁵ tn Or “every black lamb”; Heb “and every dark sheep among the lambs.”

[30:32]  ¹²⁹⁶ tn Heb “and the spotted and speckled among the goats.”

[30:32]  ¹²⁹⁷ tn Heb “and it will be my wage.” The referent collective singular pronoun (“it) has been specified as “these animals” in the translation for clarity.

[30:33]  ¹²⁹⁷ tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”

[30:33]  ¹²⁹⁸ tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”

[30:33]  ¹²⁹⁹ tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”

[30:33]  ¹³⁰⁰ tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”

[30:34]  ¹³⁰⁰ tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘Good, let it be according to your word.’” On the asseverative use of the particle לוּ (lu) here, see HALOT 521 s.v. לוּ.

[30:35]  ¹³⁰³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:35]  ¹³⁰⁴ tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”

[30:36]  ¹³⁰⁶ tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”

[30:36]  ¹³⁰⁷ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.

[30:38]  ¹³⁰⁹ sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).

[30:39]  ¹³¹² tn The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to be in heat” (see v. 38) or “to mate; to conceive; to become pregnant.” The latter nuance makes better sense in this verse, for the next clause describes them giving birth.

[30:39]  ¹³¹³ tn Heb “the sheep.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:40]  ¹³¹⁵ tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”

[30:41]  ¹³¹⁸ tn Heb “and at every breeding-heat of the flock.”

[30:42]  ¹³²¹ tn Heb “he did not put [them] in.” The referent of the [understood] direct object, “them,” has been specified as “the branches” in the translation for clarity.

[30:42]  ¹³²² tn Heb “were for Laban.”

[30:43]  ¹³²⁴ tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[30:43]  ¹³²⁵ tn Heb “and there were to him.”

[44:4]  ¹³²⁷ tn See 7:13 for an explanation of this idiom and compare 7:25; 25:4; 26:5; 29:19; 35:15 for similar references to the persistent warnings of the prophets.

[44:4]  ¹³²⁸ tn Heb “sent…over again, saying, ‘Do not do this terrible thing that I hate.’” The indirect quote has been used to shorten the sentence and eliminate one level of embedded quotes.

[15:20]  ¹³³⁰ tn Grk “but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”

[7:10]  ¹³³³ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[7:10]  ¹³³⁴ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[7:11]  ¹³³⁶ sn Corban is a Hebrew loanword (transliterated in the Greek text and in most modern English translations) referring to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner (L&N 53.22). According to contemporary Jewish tradition the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 10).

[7:13]  ¹³³⁹ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

[7:14]  ¹³⁴² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:16]  ¹³⁴⁵ tc Most later mss add 7:16 “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen.” This verse is included in A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt sy, but is lacking in important Alexandrian mss and a few others (א B L Δ* 0274 28 2427). It appears to be a scribal gloss (see 4:9 and 4:23), perhaps introduced as a reiteration of the thought in 7:14, and is almost certainly not an original part of the Greek text of Mark. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

[7:17]  ¹³⁴⁸ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[7:17]  ¹³⁴⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:19]  ¹³⁵¹ tn Or “into the latrine.”

[7:19]  ¹³⁵² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[7:1]  ¹³⁵⁴ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[7:1]  ¹³⁵⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[7:1]  ¹³⁵⁶ tn Or “and some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[7:1]  ¹³⁵⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.