Discovery BoxGenesis 7:1-24
Context7:1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. 1 7:2 You must take with you seven 2 of every kind of clean animal, 3 the male and its mate, 4 two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also seven 5 of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, 6 to preserve their offspring 7 on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in seven days 8 I will cause it to rain 9 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 10 that the Lord commanded him.
7:6 Noah 11 was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed 12 the earth. 7:7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because 13 of the floodwaters. 7:8 Pairs 14 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, 15 just as God had commanded him. 16 7:10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 17
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 18 burst open and the floodgates of the heavens 19 were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell 20 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. 21 7:14 They entered, 22 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. 23 7:15 Pairs 24 of all creatures 25 that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 7:16 Those that entered were male and female, 26 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 27 the earth, and the ark floated 28 on the surface of the waters. 7:19 The waters completely inundated 29 the earth so that even 30 all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 7:20 The waters rose more than twenty feet 31 above the mountains. 32 7:21 And all living things 33 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 34 in its nostrils died. 7:23 So the Lord 35 destroyed 36 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. 37 They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 38 7:24 The waters prevailed over 39 the earth for 150 days.
Genesis 32:2
Context32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, 40 “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. 41
Genesis 39:1-3
Context39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. 42 An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, 43 purchased him from 44 the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 39:2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful 45 and lived 46 in the household of his Egyptian master. 39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. 47
Genesis 1:4-11
Context1:4 God saw 48 that the light was good, 49 so God separated 50 the light from the darkness. 1:5 God called 51 the light “day” and the darkness 52 “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. 53
1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse 54 in the midst of the waters and let it separate water 55 from water. 1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. 56 It was so. 57 1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” 58 There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place 59 and let dry ground appear.” 60 It was so. 1:10 God called the dry ground “land” 61 and the gathered waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.
1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: 62 plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, 63 and 64 trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so.
Genesis 1:2
Context1:2 Now 65 the earth 66 was without shape and empty, 67 and darkness 68 was over the surface of the watery deep, 69 but the Spirit of God 70 was moving 71 over the surface 72 of the water. 73
Genesis 25:1-9
Context25:1 Abraham had taken 74 another 75 wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. 76 The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants 77 of Keturah.
25:5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac. 25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines 78 and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. 79
25:7 Abraham lived a total of 80 175 years. 25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. 81 He joined his ancestors. 82 25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah 83 near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite.
Genesis 25:2
Context25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
Genesis 36:12-17
Context36:12 Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons 84 of Esau’s wife Adah.
36:13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons 85 of Esau’s wife Basemath.
36:14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter 86 of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.
36:15 These were the chiefs 87 among the descendants 88 of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 36:16 chief Korah, 89 chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons 90 of Adah.
36:17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons 91 of Esau’s wife Basemath.
[7:1] 1 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] 2 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:2] 3 sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.
[7:2] 4 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] 5 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:3] 6 tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).
[7:3] 7 tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”
[7:4] 8 tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”
[7:4] 9 tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.
[7:5] 10 tn Heb “according to all.”
[7:6] 11 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] 12 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] 13 tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark.
[7:8] 14 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:9] 15 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] 16 tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:11] 18 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] 19 sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.
[7:13] 21 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] 22 tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:14] 23 tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”
[7:15] 24 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:16] 26 tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”
[7:18] 27 tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.
[7:19] 29 tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.
[7:20] 31 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] 32 tn Heb “the waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward and they covered the mountains.” Obviously, a flood of twenty feet did not cover the mountains; the statement must mean the flood rose about twenty feet above the highest mountain.
[7:22] 34 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] 35 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[7:23] 36 tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).
[7:23] 37 tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”
[7:23] 38 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] 39 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.
[32:2] 40 tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”
[32:2] 41 sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.
[39:1] 42 tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.
[39:1] 43 sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.
[39:1] 44 tn Heb “from the hand of.”
[39:2] 45 tn Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).
[39:2] 46 tn Heb “and he was.”
[39:3] 47 tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:4] 48 tn Heb “And God saw the light, that it was good.” The verb “saw” in this passage carries the meaning “reflected on,” “surveyed,” “concluded,” “noted.” It is a description of reflection of the mind – it is God’s opinion.
[1:4] 49 tn The Hebrew word טוֹב (tov) in this context signifies whatever enhances, promotes, produces, or is conducive for life. It is the light that God considers “good,” not the darkness. Whatever is conducive to life in God’s creation is good, for God himself is good, and that goodness is reflected in all of his works.
[1:4] 50 tn The verb “separate, divide” here explains how God used the light to dispel the darkness. It did not do away with the darkness completely, but made a separation. The light came alongside the darkness, but they are mutually exclusive – a theme that will be developed in the Gospel of John (cf. John 1:5).
[1:5] 51 tn Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.”
[1:5] 52 tn Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[1:5] 53 tn Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.”
[1:6] 54 tn The Hebrew word refers to an expanse of air pressure between the surface of the sea and the clouds, separating water below from water above. In v. 8 it is called “sky.”
[1:6] 55 tn Heb “the waters from the waters.”
[1:7] 56 tn Heb “the expanse.”
[1:7] 57 tn This statement indicates that it happened the way God designed it, underscoring the connection between word and event.
[1:8] 58 tn Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”
[1:9] 59 sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.
[1:9] 60 tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.
[1:10] 61 tn Heb “earth,” but here the term refers to the dry ground as opposed to the sea.
[1:11] 62 tn The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created.
[1:11] 63 sn After their kinds. The Hebrew word translated “kind” (מִין, min) indicates again that God was concerned with defining and dividing time, space, and species. The point is that creation was with order, as opposed to chaos. And what God created and distinguished with boundaries was not to be confused (see Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9-11).
[1:11] 64 tn The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.
[1:2] 65 tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction (vav [ו] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1, the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.
[1:2] 66 tn That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10. Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.
[1:2] 67 tn Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ (tohu) and בֹּהוּ (bohu), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2.
[1:2] 68 sn Darkness. The Hebrew word simply means “darkness,” but in the Bible it has come to symbolize what opposes God, such as judgment (Exod 10:21), death (Ps 88:13), oppression (Isa 9:1), the wicked (1 Sam 2:9) and in general, sin. In Isa 45:7 it parallels “evil.” It is a fitting cover for the primeval waste, but it prepares the reader for the fact that God is about to reveal himself through his works.
[1:2] 69 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 7:11).
[1:2] 70 tn The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38; Exod 31:3; 35:31; Num 24:2; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20).
[1:2] 71 tn The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10. (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1.)
[1:2] 73 sn The water. The text deliberately changes now from the term for the watery deep to the general word for water. The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic abyss-like deep. The change may be merely stylistic, but it may also carry some significance. The deep carries with it the sense of the abyss, chaos, darkness – in short, that which is not good for life.
[25:1] 75 tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”
[25:3] 76 sn The names Sheba and Dedan appear in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Ham through Cush and Raamah. Since these two names are usually interpreted to be place names, one plausible suggestion is that some of Abraham’s descendants lived in those regions and took names linked with it.
[25:6] 78 tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”
[25:6] 79 tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”
[25:7] 80 tn Heb “and these are the days of the years of the lifetime of Abraham that he lived.” The normal genealogical formula is expanded here due to the importance of the life of Abraham.
[25:8] 81 tn Heb “old and full.”
[25:8] 82 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
[25:9] 83 sn The cave of Machpelah was the place Abraham had purchased as a burial place for his wife Sarah (Gen 23:17-18).
[36:12] 84 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
[36:13] 85 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
[36:14] 86 tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.
[36:15] 87 tn Or “clan leaders” (so also throughout this chapter).
[36:16] 89 tc The Samaritan Pentateuch omits the name “Korah” (see v. 11 and 1 Chr 1:36).
