Discovery BoxGenesis 7:1--9:29
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.
8:1 But God remembered 40 Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over 41 the earth and the waters receded. 8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, 42 and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 8:3 The waters kept receding steadily 43 from the earth, so that they 44 had gone down 45 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. 46 8:5 The waters kept on receding 47 until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. 48
8:6 At the end of forty days, 49 Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 50 8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying 51 back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.
8:8 Then Noah 52 sent out a dove 53 to see if the waters had receded 54 from the surface of the ground. 8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered 55 the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah 56 in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, 57 and brought it back into the ark. 58 8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 8:11 When 59 the dove returned to him in the evening, there was 60 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, 61 but it did not return to him this time. 62
8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, 63 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 64 the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth 65 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 66 every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase 67 and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” 68
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. 69 8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma 70 and said 71 to himself, 72 “I will never again curse 73 the ground because of humankind, even though 74 the inclination of their minds 75 is evil from childhood on. 76 I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, 77
planting time 78 and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night will not cease.”
9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. 79 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 80 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 81 As I gave you 82 the green plants, I now give 83 you everything.
9:4 But 84 you must not eat meat 85 with its life (that is, 86 its blood) in it. 87 9:5 For your lifeblood 88 I will surely exact punishment, 89 from 90 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 91 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 92 since the man was his relative. 93
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 94
by other humans 95
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 96
God 97 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 98 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 99 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 100 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 101 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. 102 9:11 I confirm 103 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 104 be wiped out 105 by the waters of a flood; 106 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 107 of the covenant I am making 108 with you 109 and every living creature with you, a covenant 110 for all subsequent 111 generations: 9:13 I will place 112 my rainbow 113 in the clouds, and it will become 114 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 115 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 116 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 117 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 118 all living things. 119 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 120 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 121 that are on the earth.”
9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 122 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 123
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, 124 began to plant a vineyard. 125 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself 126 inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 127 saw his father’s nakedness 128 and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 129 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 130 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 131 he learned 132 what his youngest son had done 133 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 136
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 137 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 138
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 139
May he live 140 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.
Genesis 12:1-20
Context12:1 Now the Lord said 141 to Abram, 142
“Go out 143 from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you. 144
12:2 Then I will make you 145 into a great nation, and I will bless you, 146
and I will make your name great, 147
so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 148
12:3 I will bless those who bless you, 149
but the one who treats you lightly 150 I must curse,
and all the families of the earth will bless one another 151 by your name.”
12:4 So Abram left, 152 just as the Lord had told him to do, 153 and Lot went with him. (Now 154 Abram was 75 years old 155 when he departed from Haran.) 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew 156 Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired 157 in Haran, and they left for 158 the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.
12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree 159 of Moreh 160 at Shechem. 161 (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 162 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants 163 I will give this land.” So Abram 164 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 165 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. 166 12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages 167 down to the Negev. 168
12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt 169 to stay for a while 170 because the famine was severe. 171 12:11 As he approached 172 Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, 173 I know that you are a beautiful woman. 174 12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. 175 12:13 So tell them 176 you are my sister 177 so that it may go well 178 for me because of you and my life will be spared 179 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 180 was taken 181 into the household of Pharaoh, 182 12:16 and he did treat Abram well 183 on account of her. Abram received 184 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 185 because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this 186 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 187 to be my wife? 188 Here is your wife! 189 Take her and go!” 190 12:20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, 191 and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.
Genesis 18:1--19:38
Context18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham 192 by the oaks 193 of Mamre while 194 he was sitting at the entrance 195 to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham 196 looked up 197 and saw 198 three men standing across 199 from him. When he saw them 200 he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low 201 to the ground. 202
18:3 He said, “My lord, 203 if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. 204 18:4 Let a little water be brought so that 205 you may all 206 wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get 207 a bit of food 208 so that you may refresh yourselves 209 since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” 210 “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”
18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take 211 three measures 212 of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” 213 18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, 214 who quickly prepared it. 215 18:8 Abraham 216 then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food 217 before them. They ate while 218 he was standing near them under a tree.
18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, 219 in the tent.” 18:10 One of them 220 said, “I will surely return 221 to you when the season comes round again, 222 and your wife Sarah will have a son!” 223 (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. 224 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; 225 Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 226 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, 227 “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, 228 especially when my husband is old too?” 229
18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why 230 did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really 231 have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible 232 for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” 233 18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” 234
18:16 When the men got up to leave, 235 they looked out over 236 Sodom. (Now 237 Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) 238 18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 239 18:18 After all, Abraham 240 will surely become 241 a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 242 using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him 243 so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep 244 the way of the Lord by doing 245 what is right and just. Then the Lord will give 246 to Abraham what he promised 247 him.”
18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against 248 Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 249 18:21 that I must go down 250 and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. 251 If not, 252 I want to know.”
18:22 The two men turned 253 and headed 254 toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 255 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 256 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 257 of the whole earth do what is right?” 258
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 259 (although I am but dust and ashes), 260 18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy 261 the whole city because five are lacking?” 262 He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
18:29 Abraham 263 spoke to him again, 264 “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
18:30 Then Abraham 265 said, “May the Lord not be angry 266 so that I may speak! 267 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
18:31 Abraham 268 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 269 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 270 when he had finished speaking 271 to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. 272
19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while 273 Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. 274 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 275 and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” 276 “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” 277
19:3 But he urged 278 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, 279 all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. 280 19:5 They shouted to Lot, 281 “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex 282 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! 283 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with 284 a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. 285 Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection 286 of my roof.” 287
19:9 “Out of our way!” 288 they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, 289 and now he dares to judge us! 290 We’ll do more harm 291 to you than to them!” They kept 292 pressing in on Lot until they were close enough 293 to break down the door.
19:10 So the men inside 294 reached out 295 and pulled Lot back into the house 296 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, 297 with blindness. The men outside 298 wore themselves out trying to find the door. 19:12 Then the two visitors 299 said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? 300 Do you have 301 any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? 302 Get them out of this 303 place 19:13 because we are about to destroy 304 it. The outcry against this place 305 is so great before the Lord that he 306 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. 307 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy 308 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. 309
19:15 At dawn 310 the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, 311 or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” 312 19:16 When Lot 313 hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. 314 They led them away and placed them 315 outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they 316 said, “Run 317 for your lives! Don’t look 318 behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! 319 Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord! 320 19:19 Your 321 servant has found favor with you, 322 and you have shown me great 323 kindness 324 by sparing 325 my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because 326 this disaster will overtake 327 me and I’ll die. 328 19:20 Look, this town 329 over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. 330 Let me go there. 331 It’s just a little place, isn’t it? 332 Then I’ll survive.” 333
19:21 “Very well,” he replied, 334 “I will grant this request too 335 and will not overthrow 336 the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly, 337 for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) 338
19:23 The sun had just risen 339 over the land as Lot reached Zoar. 340 19:24 Then the Lord rained down 341 sulfur and fire 342 on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. 343 19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, 344 including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew 345 from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s 346 wife looked back longingly 347 and was turned into a pillar of salt.
19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went 348 to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward 349 Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. 350 As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. 351
19:29 So when God destroyed 352 the cities of the region, 353 God honored 354 Abraham’s request. He removed Lot 355 from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed 356 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 357 to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby 358 to have sexual relations with us, 359 according to the way of all the world. 19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine 360 so we can have sexual relations 361 with him and preserve 362 our family line through our father.” 363
19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, 364 and the older daughter 365 came and had sexual relations with her father. 366 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 367 19:34 So in the morning the older daughter 368 said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. 369 Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 370 19:35 So they made their father drunk 371 that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. 372 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 373
19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 19:37 The older daughter 374 gave birth to a son and named him Moab. 375 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. 376 He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.
Genesis 22:1-24
Context22:1 Some time after these things God tested 377 Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham 378 replied. 22:2 God 379 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 380 – and go to the land of Moriah! 381 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 382 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 383 you.”
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. 384 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 385 for the place God had spoken to him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of 386 the place in the distance. 22:5 So he 387 said to his servants, “You two stay 388 here with the donkey while 389 the boy and I go up there. We will worship 390 and then return to you.” 391
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, 392 and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 393 “My father?” “What is it, 394 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 395 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide 396 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 397 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 398 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 399 his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel 400 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 401 the angel said. 402 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 403 that you fear 404 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 405 and saw 406 behind him 407 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 408 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.” 409 It is said to this day, 410 “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” 411
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,’ 412 decrees the Lord, 413 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, 414 and I will greatly multiply 415 your descendants 416 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 417 of the strongholds 418 of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 419 all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 420 using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 421 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 422
22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah 423 also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 424 22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now 425 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.
Genesis 24:1-67
Context24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, 426 and the Lord had blessed him 427 in everything. 24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one 428 in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh 429 24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise 430 by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire 431 a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives 432 to find 433 a wife for my son Isaac.”
24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me 434 to this land? Must I then 435 take your son back to the land from which you came?”
24:6 “Be careful 436 never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. 437 24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, 438 promised me with a solemn oath, 439 ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel 440 before you so that you may find 441 a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, 442 you will be free 443 from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!” 24:9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes. 444
24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. 445 He journeyed 446 to the region of Aram Naharaim 447 and the city of Nahor. 24:11 He made the camels kneel down by the well 448 outside the city. It was evening, 449 the time when the women would go out to draw water. 24:12 He prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today. 450 Be faithful 451 to my master Abraham. 24:13 Here I am, standing by the spring, 452 and the daughters of the people 453 who live in the town are coming out to draw water. 24:14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ 454 In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” 455
24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah 456 with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). 457 24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. 458 She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. 24:17 Abraham’s servant 459 ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.” 24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly lowering 460 her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink. 24:19 When she had done so, 461 she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.” 24:20 She quickly emptied 462 her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels. 24:21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determine 463 if the Lord had made his journey successful 464 or not.
24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka 465 and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels 466 and gave them to her. 467 24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. 468 “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24:24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor. 469 24:25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added, 470 “and room for you 471 to spend the night.”
24:26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord, 24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love 472 for my master! The Lord has led me 473 to the house 474 of my master’s relatives!” 475
24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about 476 these things. 24:29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) 477 Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring. 24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring 478 and heard his sister Rebekah say, 479 “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing 480 by the camels near the spring. 24:31 Laban said to him, 481 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! 482 Why are you standing out here when I have prepared 483 the house and a place for the camels?”
24:32 So Abraham’s servant 484 went to the house and unloaded 485 the camels. Straw and feed were given 486 to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. 487 24:33 When food was served, 488 he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” 489 “Tell us,” Laban said. 490
24:34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began. 24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. 491 The Lord 492 has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 24:36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him 493 when she was old, 494 and my master 495 has given him everything he owns. 24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 24:38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find 496 a wife for my son.’ 24:39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go 497 with me?’ 498 24:40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, 499 will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family. 24:41 You will be free from your oath 500 if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’ 24:42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, 501 may events unfold as follows: 502 24:43 Here I am, standing by the spring. 503 When 504 the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.” 24:44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, 505 along came Rebekah 506 with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ 24:46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water. 24:47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ 507 I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 24:48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter 508 of my master’s brother for his son. 24:49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.” 509
24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing. 510 Our wishes are of no concern. 511 24:51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become 512 the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.” 513
24:52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 24:53 Then he 514 brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother. 24:54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. 515
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” 516 24:55 But Rebekah’s 517 brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.” 24:56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lord 518 has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return 519 to my master.” 24:57 Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.” 520 24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want 521 to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”
24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men. 24:60 They blessed Rebekah with these words: 522
“Our sister, may you become the mother 523 of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholds 524 of their enemies.”
24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with 525 the man. So Abraham’s servant 526 took Rebekah and left.
24:62 Now 527 Isaac came from 528 Beer Lahai Roi, 529 for 530 he was living in the Negev. 531 24:63 He 532 went out to relax 533 in the field in the early evening. 534 Then he looked up 535 and saw that 536 there were camels approaching. 24:64 Rebekah looked up 537 and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 24:65 and asked 538 Abraham’s servant, 539 “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied. 540 So she took her veil and covered herself.
24:66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. 24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah 541 into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her 542 as his wife and loved her. 543 So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. 544
Genesis 34:1-31
Context34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet 545 the young women 546 of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, 547 and sexually assaulted her. 548 34:3 Then he became very attached 549 to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. 550 34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.” 551 34:5 When 552 Jacob heard that Shechem 553 had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent 554 until they came in.
34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. 555 34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. 556 They 557 were offended 558 and very angry because Shechem 559 had disgraced Israel 560 by sexually assaulting 561 Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. 562
34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. 563 Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. 564 Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. 565 34:10 You may live 566 among us, and the land will be open to you. 567 Live in it, travel freely in it, 568 and acquire property in it.”
34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s 569 father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me 570 I’ll give. 571 34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, 572 and I’ll give 573 whatever you ask 574 of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”
34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem 575 had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give 576 our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace 577 to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become 578 like us by circumcising 579 all your males. 34:16 Then we will give 580 you our daughters to marry, 581 and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms 582 by being circumcised, then we will take 583 our sister 584 and depart.”
34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 585 34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked 586 because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah 587 badly. (Now he was more important 588 than anyone in his father’s household.) 589 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate 590 of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough 591 for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. 592 34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand 593 that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, 594 won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”
34:24 All the men who assembled at the city gate 595 agreed with 596 Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate 597 was circumcised. 34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword 598 and went to the unsuspecting city 599 and slaughtered every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them 600 and looted the city because their sister had been violated. 601 34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. 602 34:29 They captured as plunder 603 all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin 604 on me by making me a foul odor 605 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 606 am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!” 34:31 But Simeon and Levi replied, 607 “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”
Genesis 26:12
Context26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, 608 because the Lord blessed him. 609
Proverbs 11:4
Context11:4 Wealth does not profit in the day of wrath, 610
but righteousness delivers from mortal danger. 611
Revelation 18:11-24
Context18:11 Then 612 the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her because no one buys their cargo 613 any longer – 18:12 cargo such as gold, silver, 614 precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, 615 scarlet cloth, 616 all sorts of things made of citron wood, 617 all sorts of objects made of ivory, all sorts of things made of expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble, 18:13 cinnamon, spice, 618 incense, perfumed ointment, 619 frankincense, 620 wine, olive oil and costly flour, 621 wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four-wheeled carriages, 622 slaves and human lives. 623
18:14 (The ripe fruit 624 you greatly desired 625
has gone from you,
and all your luxury 626 and splendor 627
have gone from you –
they will never ever be found again!) 628
18:15 The merchants who sold 629 these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep 630 and mourn, 18:16 saying,
“Woe, woe, O great city –
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing, 631
and adorned with gold, 632 precious stones, and pearls –
18:17 because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!” 633
And every ship’s captain, 634 and all who sail along the coast 635 – seamen, and all who 636 make their living from the sea, stood a long way off 18:18 and began to shout 637 when they saw the smoke from the fire that burned her up, 638 “Who is like the great city?” 18:19 And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning, 639
“Woe, Woe, O great city –
in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth –
because in a single hour she has been destroyed!” 640
18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has pronounced judgment 641 against her on your behalf!) 642
18:21 Then 643 one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,
“With this kind of sudden violent force 644
Babylon the great city will be thrown down 645
and it will never be found again!
18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,
flute players, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you 646 again.
No 647 craftsman 648 who practices any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the noise of a mill 649 will never be heard in you again.
18:23 Even the light from a lamp
will never shine in you again!
The voices of the bridegroom and his bride
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,
because all the nations 650 were deceived by your magic spells! 651
18:24 The 652 blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, 653
along with the blood 654 of all those who had been killed on the earth.”
[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] 3 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:3] 4 tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).
[7:3] 5 tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”
[7:4] 4 tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”
[7:4] 5 tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.
[7:5] 5 tn Heb “according to all.”
[7:6] 6 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] 7 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] 7 tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark.
[7:8] 8 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:9] 9 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] 10 tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:11] 11 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] 12 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] 13 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] 14 tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:14] 15 tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”
[7:15] 15 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:16] 16 tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”
[7:18] 17 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] 18 tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.
[7:20] 19 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] 20 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] 21 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] 22 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[7:23] 23 tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).
[7:23] 24 tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”
[7:23] 25 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] 23 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] 24 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] 25 tn Heb “to pass over.”
[8:2] 25 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] 26 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] 27 tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 28 tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.
[8:4] 27 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] 28 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] 29 tn Or “could be seen.”
[8:6] 29 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] 30 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] 30 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] 31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:8] 32 tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
[8:8] 33 tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.
[8:9] 32 tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:9] 33 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 34 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 35 tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”
[8:11] 33 tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.
[8:11] 34 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] 34 tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:12] 35 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] 35 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] 36 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] 36 tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.
[8:17] 37 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:17] 38 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] 39 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
[8:20] 38 sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the
[8:21] 39 tn The
[8:21] 40 tn Heb “and the
[8:21] 41 tn Heb “in his heart.”
[8:21] 42 tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
[8:21] 43 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] 44 tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
[8:21] 45 tn Heb “from his youth.”
[8:22] 40 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] 41 tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
[9:2] 41 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] 42 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] 42 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 43 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 44 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 45 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] 46 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:5] 44 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] 45 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] 46 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] 47 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 49 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] 45 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 46 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 47 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] 48 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 46 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] 47 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 48 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] 49 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] 49 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 50 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] 53 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 52 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] 53 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 54 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 55 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 52 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] 53 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] 54 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 53 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 54 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:15] 56 tn Heb “to destroy.”
[9:16] 55 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.”
[9:18] 57 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] 58 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] 59 sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
[9:20] 60 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] 60 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] 61 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] 62 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] 62 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] 63 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
[9:24] 63 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
[9:24] 65 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] 64 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] 65 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] 66 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] 65 tn Heb “blessed be.”
[9:26] 66 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 66 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 67 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).
[12:1] 67 sn The
[12:1] 68 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] 69 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] 70 sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the
[12:2] 68 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] 69 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] 70 tn Or “I will make you famous.”
[12:2] 71 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] 69 tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the
[12:3] 70 tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic
[12:3] 71 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] 70 sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).
[12:4] 71 tn Heb “just as the
[12:4] 72 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] 73 tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”
[12:5] 71 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
[12:5] 72 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
[12:5] 73 tn Heb “went out to go.”
[12:6] 73 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] 74 tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”
[12:6] 75 tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature – the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.
[12:7] 73 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] 74 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:8] 74 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[12:8] 75 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
[12:9] 75 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] 76 tn Or “the South [country].”
[12:10] 76 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] 77 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] 78 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] 77 tn Heb “drew near to enter.”
[12:11] 78 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.
[12:11] 79 tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”
[12:12] 78 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] 80 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] 81 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] 82 tn Heb “and my life will live.”
[12:15] 80 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] 81 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] 82 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] 81 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] 82 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
[12:17] 82 tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the
[12:18] 83 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] 84 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.
[12:19] 85 tn Heb “to me for a wife.”
[12:19] 86 tn Heb “Look, your wife!”
[12:19] 87 tn Heb “take and go.”
[12:20] 85 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:1] 86 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:1] 88 tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.
[18:1] 89 tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.
[18:2] 87 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:2] 88 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
[18:2] 89 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] 90 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] 91 tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
[18:2] 92 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] 93 sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the
[18:3] 88 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
[18:3] 89 tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”
[18:4] 89 tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.
[18:4] 90 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] 90 tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.
[18:5] 91 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] 92 tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.
[18:5] 93 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] 91 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] 92 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] 93 sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.
[18:7] 92 tn Heb “the young man.”
[18:7] 93 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] 93 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:8] 94 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] 95 tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.
[18:9] 94 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) often accompanies a gesture of pointing or a focused gaze.
[18:10] 95 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
[18:10] 96 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.
[18:10] 97 tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.
[18:10] 98 tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”
[18:10] 99 tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).
[18:11] 97 tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”
[18:12] 98 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] 99 tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[18:13] 98 tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the
[18:13] 99 tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”
[18:14] 99 tn The Hebrew verb פָּלָא (pala’) means “to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, to be surpassing, to be amazing.”
[18:14] 100 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
[18:15] 100 tn Heb “And he said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” The referent (the
[18:16] 101 tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”
[18:16] 102 tn Heb “toward the face of.”
[18:16] 103 tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.
[18:16] 104 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] 102 tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.
[18:18] 103 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] 104 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.
[18:18] 105 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] 104 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
[18:19] 105 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] 106 tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the
[18:19] 107 tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) indicates result here.
[18:19] 108 tn Heb “spoke to.”
[18:20] 105 tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.
[18:21] 106 tn The cohortative indicates the
[18:21] 107 tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the
[18:21] 108 sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.
[18:22] 107 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
[18:22] 109 tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the
[18:24] 108 tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).
[18:25] 110 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] 110 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[18:27] 111 tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the
[18:28] 111 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.
[18:28] 112 tn Heb “because of five.”
[18:29] 112 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:29] 113 tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”
[18:30] 113 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:30] 114 tn Heb “let it not be hot to the
[18:30] 115 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
[18:31] 114 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:32] 115 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:33] 116 tn Heb “And the
[18:33] 117 tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”
[18:33] 118 tn Heb “to his place.”
[19:1] 117 tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.
[19:1] 118 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] 118 tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.
[19:2] 119 tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”
[19:2] 120 sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.
[19:3] 119 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] 120 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] 121 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] 121 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[19:5] 122 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] 122 tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”
[19:8] 123 tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[19:8] 124 tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”
[19:8] 126 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] 124 tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”
[19:9] 125 tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”
[19:9] 126 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] 127 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] 128 tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”
[19:9] 129 tn Heb “and they drew near.”
[19:10] 125 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] 126 tn The Hebrew text adds “their hand.” These words have not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[19:10] 127 tn Heb “to them into the house.”
[19:11] 126 tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”
[19:11] 127 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:12] 127 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] 128 tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”
[19:12] 129 tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[19:12] 130 tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”
[19:12] 131 tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.
[19:13] 128 tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.
[19:13] 129 tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[19:13] 130 tn Heb “the
[19:14] 129 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] 130 tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.
[19:14] 131 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] 130 tn Heb “When dawn came up.”
[19:15] 131 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] 132 tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[19:16] 131 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:16] 132 tn Heb “in the compassion of the
[19:16] 133 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] 132 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] 134 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] 135 tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[19:18] 133 tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[19:19] 134 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] 135 tn Heb “in your eyes.”
[19:19] 136 tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
[19:19] 137 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] 138 tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
[19:19] 140 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] 141 tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
[19:20] 135 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] 136 tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”
[19:20] 137 tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.
[19:20] 138 tn Heb “Is it not little?”
[19:20] 139 tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.
[19:21] 136 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
[19:21] 137 tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”
[19:21] 138 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] 137 tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.
[19:22] 138 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] 138 sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).
[19:23] 139 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] 139 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.
[19:24] 140 tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).
[19:24] 141 tn Heb “from the
[19:25] 140 tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[19:25] 141 tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”
[19:26] 141 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:26] 142 tn The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5).
[19:27] 142 tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[19:28] 143 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
[19:28] 144 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] 145 tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”
[19:29] 144 tn The construction is a temporal clause comprised of the temporal indicator, an infinitive construct with a preposition, and the subjective genitive.
[19:29] 145 tn Or “of the plain”; Heb “of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[19:29] 146 tn Heb “remembered,” but this means more than mental recollection here. Abraham’s request (Gen 18:23-32) was that the
[19:29] 147 sn God’s removal of Lot before the judgment is paradigmatic. He typically delivers the godly before destroying their world.
[19:29] 148 tn Heb “the overthrow when [he] overthrew.”
[19:31] 145 tn Heb “and the firstborn said.”
[19:31] 146 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] 147 tn Heb “to enter upon us.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations.
[19:32] 146 tn Heb “drink wine.”
[19:32] 147 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] 148 tn Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.
[19:32] 149 tn Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”
[19:33] 147 tn Heb “drink wine.”
[19:33] 148 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
[19:33] 149 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] 150 tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”
[19:34] 148 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
[19:34] 149 tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”
[19:34] 150 tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”
[19:35] 149 tn Heb “drink wine.”
[19:35] 150 tn Heb “lied down with him.”
[19:35] 151 tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”
[19:37] 150 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
[19:37] 151 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] 151 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.
[22:1] 152 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] 153 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 153 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 154 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] 155 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] 156 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] 157 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
[22:3] 154 tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”
[22:3] 155 tn Heb “he arose and he went.”
[22:4] 155 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”
[22:5] 156 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
[22:5] 157 tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.
[22:5] 158 tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.
[22:5] 159 tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”
[22:5] 160 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] 157 sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.
[22:7] 158 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[22:7] 159 tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).
[22:7] 160 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] 159 tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”
[22:9] 160 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] 161 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] 161 tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”
[22:11] 162 sn Heb “the messenger of the
[22:12] 163 tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
[22:12] 164 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] 165 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
[22:12] 166 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.
[22:13] 164 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
[22:13] 165 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] 166 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
[22:13] 167 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:14] 165 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] 166 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] 167 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] 166 tn Heb “By myself I swear.”
[22:16] 167 tn Heb “the oracle of the
[22:17] 167 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] 168 tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).
[22:17] 169 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] 171 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] 168 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] 169 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] 169 tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”
[22:19] 170 tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.
[22:20] 170 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.
[22:21] 171 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] 172 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).
[24:1] 174 tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
[24:2] 174 tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).
[24:2] 175 sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.
[24:3] 175 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.
[24:3] 176 tn Heb “because you must not take.”
[24:4] 176 tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”
[24:5] 177 tn Heb “to go after me.”
[24:5] 178 tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.
[24:6] 178 tn Heb “guard yourself.”
[24:6] 179 tn The introductory clause “And Abraham said to him” has been moved to the end of the opening sentence of direct discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:7] 179 tn Or “the land of my birth.”
[24:7] 180 tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”
[24:7] 181 tn Or “his messenger.”
[24:7] 182 tn Heb “before you and you will take.”
[24:8] 180 tn Heb “ to go after you.”
[24:8] 181 sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.
[24:9] 181 tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”
[24:10] 182 tn Heb “and every good thing of his master was in his hand.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, explaining that he took all kinds of gifts to be used at his discretion.
[24:10] 183 tn Heb “and he arose and went.”
[24:10] 184 tn The words “the region of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:11] 183 tn Heb “well of water.”
[24:11] 184 tn Heb “at the time of evening.”
[24:12] 184 tn Heb “make it happen before me today.” Although a number of English translations understand this as a request for success in the task (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV) it is more likely that the servant is requesting an omen or sign from God (v. 14).
[24:12] 185 tn Heb “act in loyal love with” or “show kindness to.”
[24:13] 185 tn Heb “the spring of water.”
[24:14] 186 sn I will also give your camels water. It would be an enormous test for a young woman to water ten camels. The idea is that such a woman would not only be industrious but hospitable and generous.
[24:14] 187 tn Heb “And let the young woman to whom I say, ‘Lower your jar that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink and I will also give your camels water,’ – her you have appointed for your servant, for Isaac, and by it I will know that you have acted in faithfulness with my master.”
[24:15] 187 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out!” Using the participle introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator dramatically transports the audience back into the event and invites them to see Rebekah through the servant’s eyes.
[24:15] 188 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out – [she] who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham – and her jug [was] on her shoulder.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:16] 188 tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.
[24:17] 189 tn Heb “and the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:18] 190 tn Heb “and she hurried and lowered.”
[24:19] 191 tn Heb “when she had finished giving him a drink.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:20] 192 tn Heb “and she hurried and emptied.”
[24:21] 194 tn The Hebrew term צָלָה (tsalah), meaning “to make successful” in the Hiphil verbal stem, is a key term in the story (see vv. 40, 42, 56).
[24:22] 194 sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).
[24:22] 195 sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).
[24:22] 196 tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[24:23] 195 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:24] 196 tn Heb “whom she bore to Nahor.” The referent (Milcah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:25] 197 tn Heb “and she said, ‘We have plenty of both straw and feed.’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:25] 198 tn Heb The words “for you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[24:27] 198 tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”
[24:27] 199 tn Heb “As for me – in the way the
[24:27] 200 tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.
[24:27] 201 tn Heb “brothers.”
[24:28] 199 tn Heb “according to.”
[24:29] 200 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause introduces the audience to Laban, who will eventually play an important role in the unfolding story.
[24:30] 201 tn Heb “And it was when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister.” The word order is altered in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[24:30] 202 tn Heb “and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying.”
[24:30] 203 tn Heb “and look, he was standing.” The disjunctive clause with the participle following the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites the audience to view the scene through Laban’s eyes.
[24:31] 202 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:31] 203 sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the
[24:31] 204 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.
[24:32] 203 tn Heb “the man”; the referent (Abraham’s servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:32] 204 tn Some translations (e.g., NEB, NASB, NRSV) understand Laban to be the subject of this and the following verbs or take the subject of this and the following verbs as indefinite (referring to an unnamed servant; e.g., NAB, NIV).
[24:32] 205 tn Heb “and [one] gave.” The verb without an expressed subject may be translated as passive.
[24:32] 206 tn Heb “and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”
[24:33] 204 tn Heb “and food was placed before him.”
[24:33] 205 tn Heb “my words.”
[24:33] 206 tc Some ancient textual witnesses have a plural verb, “and they said.”
[24:35] 205 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.
[24:35] 206 tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the
[24:36] 206 tn Heb “to my master.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:36] 207 tn Heb “after her old age.”
[24:36] 208 tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the servant’s master, Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:38] 207 tn Heb “but to the house of my father you must go and to my family and you must take a wife for my son.”
[24:39] 208 tn The imperfect is used here in a modal sense to indicate desire.
[24:39] 209 tn Heb “after me.”
[24:40] 209 tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the
[24:41] 210 tn Heb “my oath” (twice in this verse). From the Hebrew perspective the oath belonged to the person to whom it was sworn (Abraham), although in contemporary English an oath is typically viewed as belonging to the person who swears it (the servant).
[24:42] 211 tn Heb “if you are making successful my way on which I am going.”
[24:42] 212 tn The words “may events unfold as follows” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[24:43] 212 tn Heb “the spring of water.”
[24:43] 213 tn Heb “and it will be.”
[24:45] 213 tn Heb “As for me, before I finished speaking to my heart.” The adverb טֶרֶם (terem) indicates the verb is a preterite; the infinitive that follows is the direct object.
[24:45] 214 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out.” As in 24:15, the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is used here for dramatic effect.
[24:47] 214 tn Heb “whom Milcah bore to him.” The referent (Nahor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:48] 215 tn Heb “daughter.” Rebekah was actually the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. One can either translate the Hebrew term בַּת (bat) as “daughter,” in which case the term אָח (’akh) must be translated more generally as “relative” rather than “brother” (cf. NASB, NRSV) or one can translate בַּת as “granddaughter,” in which case אָח may be translated “brother” (cf. NIV).
[24:49] 216 tn Heb “and I will turn to the right or to the left.” The expression apparently means that Abraham’s servant will know where he should go if there is no further business here.
[24:50] 217 tn Heb “From the
[24:50] 218 tn Heb “We are not able to speak to you bad or good.” This means that Laban and Bethuel could not say one way or the other what they wanted, for they viewed it as God’s will.
[24:51] 218 tn Following the imperatives, the jussive with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[24:51] 219 tn Heb “as the
[24:53] 219 tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:54] 220 tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”
[24:54] 221 tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”
[24:55] 221 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Rebekah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:56] 222 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, indicating a reason for the preceding request.
[24:56] 223 tn After the preceding imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[24:57] 223 tn Heb “and we will ask her mouth.”
[24:58] 224 tn The imperfect verbal form here has a modal nuance, expressing desire.
[24:60] 225 tn Heb “and said to her.”
[24:60] 226 tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”
[24:60] 227 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.
[24:61] 226 tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”
[24:61] 227 tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:62] 227 tn The disjunctive clause switches the audience’s attention to Isaac and signals a new episode in the story.
[24:62] 228 tn Heb “from the way of.”
[24:62] 229 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.” See Gen 16:14.
[24:62] 230 tn This disjunctive clause is explanatory.
[24:62] 231 tn Or “the South [country].”
[24:63] 228 tn Heb “Isaac”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:63] 229 tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain (cf. NASB, NIV “to meditate”; NRSV “to walk”).
[24:63] 230 tn Heb “at the turning of the evening.”
[24:63] 231 tn Heb “And he lifted up his eyes.” This idiom emphasizes the careful look Isaac had at the approaching caravan.
[24:63] 232 tn Heb “and look.” The clause introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the audience to view the scene through Isaac’s eyes.
[24:64] 229 tn Heb “lifted up her eyes.”
[24:65] 230 tn Heb “and she said to.”
[24:65] 231 tn Heb “the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:65] 232 tn Heb “and the servant said.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:67] 231 tn Heb “her”; the referent has been specified here in the translation for clarity.
[24:67] 232 tn Heb “Rebekah”; here the proper name was replaced by the pronoun (“her”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:67] 233 tn Heb “and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her.”
[24:67] 234 tn Heb “after his mother.” This must refer to Sarah’s death.
[34:1] 232 tn Heb “went out to see.” The verb “to see,” followed by the preposition בְּ (bÿ), here has the idea of “look over.” The young girl wanted to meet these women and see what they were like.
[34:1] 233 tn Heb “daughters.”
[34:2] 233 tn Heb “and he took her and lay with her.” The suffixed form following the verb appears to be the sign of the accusative instead of the preposition, but see BDB 1012 s.v. שָׁכַב.
[34:2] 234 tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) in the Piel stem can have various shades of meaning, depending on the context: “to defile; to mistreat; to violate; to rape; to shame; to afflict.” Here it means that Shechem violated or humiliated Dinah by raping her.
[34:3] 234 tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.
[34:3] 235 tn Heb “and he spoke to the heart of the young woman,” which apparently refers in this context to tender, romantic speech (Hos 2:14). Another option is to translate the expression “he reassured the young woman” (see Judg 19:3, 2 Sam 19:7; cf. NEB “comforted her”).
[34:4] 235 tn Heb “Take for me this young woman for a wife.”
[34:5] 236 tn The two disjunctive clauses in this verse (“Now Jacob heard…and his sons were”) are juxtaposed to indicate synchronic action.
[34:5] 237 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:5] 238 sn The expected response would be anger or rage; but Jacob remained silent. He appears too indifferent or confused to act decisively. When the leader does not act decisively, the younger zealots will, and often with disastrous results.
[34:6] 237 tn Heb “went out to Jacob to speak with him.” The words “about Dinah” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:7] 238 tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:7] 239 tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.
[34:7] 240 tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances 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 insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 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 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.
[34:7] 241 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:7] 242 tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”
[34:7] 243 tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.
[34:7] 244 tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.
[34:8] 239 tn Heb “Shechem my son, his soul is attached to your daughter.” The verb means “to love” in the sense of being emotionally attached to or drawn to someone. This is a slightly different way of saying what was reported earlier (v. 3). However, there is no mention here of the offense. Even though Hamor is speaking to Dinah’s brothers, he refers to her as their daughter (see v. 17).
[34:9] 240 tn Heb “form marriage alliances with us.”
[34:9] 241 tn Heb “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” In the translation the words “let…marry” and “as wives” are supplied for clarity.
[34:10] 241 tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
[34:10] 242 tn Heb “before you.”
[34:10] 243 tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”
[34:11] 242 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Dinah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:11] 243 tn Heb “whatever you say.”
[34:12] 243 tn Heb “Make very great upon me the bride price and gift.” The imperatives are used in a rhetorical manner. Shechem’s point is that he will pay the price, no matter how expensive it might be.
[34:12] 244 tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.
[34:13] 244 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:14] 245 tn Heb “we are not able to do this thing, to give.” The second infinitive is in apposition to the first, explaining what they are not able to do.
[34:14] 246 tn The Hebrew word translated “disgrace” usually means “ridicule; taunt; reproach.” It can also refer to the reason the condition of shame or disgrace causes ridicule or a reproach.
[34:15] 246 tn Heb “if you are like us.”
[34:15] 247 tn The infinitive here explains how they would become like them.
[34:16] 247 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
[34:16] 248 tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:17] 248 tn Heb “listen to us.”
[34:17] 249 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
[34:17] 250 tn Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as “sister” for clarity.
[34:18] 249 tn Heb “and their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem son of Hamor.”
[34:19] 250 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
[34:19] 251 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:19] 252 tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).
[34:19] 253 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
[34:20] 251 sn The gate. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the location for conducting important public business.
[34:21] 252 tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.
[34:21] 253 tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[34:22] 253 tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”
[34:23] 254 tn The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[34:24] 255 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
[34:24] 256 tn Heb “listened to.”
[34:24] 257 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
[34:25] 256 tn Heb “a man his sword.”
[34:25] 257 tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.
[34:27] 257 tn Heb “came upon the slain.” Because of this statement the preceding phrase “Jacob’s sons” is frequently taken to mean the other sons of Jacob besides Simeon and Levi, but the text does not clearly affirm this.
[34:27] 258 tn Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.
[34:28] 258 tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”
[34:29] 259 tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”
[34:30] 260 tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.
[34:30] 261 tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.
[34:30] 262 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
[34:31] 261 tn Heb “but they said.” The referent of “they” (Simeon and Levi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:12] 262 tn Heb “a hundredfold.”
[26:12] 263 tn This final clause explains why Isaac had such a bountiful harvest.
[11:4] 263 sn The “day of wrath” refers to divine punishment in this life (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 67; e.g., also Job 21:30; Ezek 7:19; Zeph 1:18). Righteousness and not wealth is more valuable in anticipating judgment.
[11:4] 264 tn Heb “from death.”
[18:11] 264 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
[18:11] 265 tn On γόμος (gomos) BDAG 205 s.v. states, “load, freight…cargo of a ship…Ac 21:3. W. gen. of the owner Rv 18:11. W. gen. of content…γ. χρυσοῦ a cargo of gold vs. 12.”
[18:12] 265 tn Grk “and silver,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before most of these terms since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more
[18:12] 266 tn On this term BDAG 924-25 s.v. σιρικός states, “per. to silk from Ser, subst. τὸ σιρικόν silk cloth or garments w. other costly materials Rv 18:12.”
[18:12] 267 tn On the translation of κόκκινον (kokkinon) as “scarlet cloth” see L&N 6.170.
[18:12] 268 tn On the phrase πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον (pan xulon quinon) L&N 3.63 states, “pertaining to being made or consisting of citron wood (that is, from a citron tree) – ‘of citron wood.’ καὶ πᾶν ξύλον θύϊνον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐλεφάντινον ‘and all kinds of things made of citron wood and all kinds of objects made of ivory’ Re 18:12. The citron tree belongs to the citrus family of plants, and it produces a pale yellow fruit somewhat larger than a lemon, the rind of which is often candied. In Re 18:12, however, the focus is upon the fine quality of the wood.”
[18:13] 266 tn On the term ἄμωμον (amwmon) L&N 5.23 states, “a generic term for any kind of spice, though often a specific reference to amomum, an Indian type of spice – ‘spice, amomum.’ κιννάμωμον καὶ ἄμωμον καὶ θυμιάματα ‘cinnamon and spice and incense’ Re 18:13. In most translations ἄμωμον is interpreted as spice in general.”
[18:13] 267 tn Or “myrrh,” a strong aromatic ointment often used to prepare a body for burial (L&N 6.205).
[18:13] 268 tn The Greek term λίβανος (libano") refers to the aromatic resin of a certain type of tree (L&N 6.212).
[18:13] 269 tn On σεμίδαλις (semidali") L&N 5.10 states, “a fine grade of wheat flour – ‘fine flour.’ οἶνον καὶ ἔλαιον καὶ σεμίδαλιν καὶ σῖτον ‘wine and oil and fine flour and wheat’ Re 18:13. In some languages ‘fine flour’ may be best expressed as ‘expensive flour.’ Such a rendering fits well the context of Re 18:13.”
[18:13] 270 tn Or “and wagons.” On the term ῥέδη (rJedh) see L&N 6.53: “a four-wheeled carriage or wagon used for travel or the transportation of loads – ‘carriage, wagon.’ The term ῥέδη occurs only in Re 18:13 in a list of products bought and sold by merchants.”
[18:13] 271 tn Grk “and bodies and souls of men.” This could be understood (1) as a hendiadys (two things mentioned = one thing meant), referring only to slave trade; (2) it could be referring to two somewhat different concepts: slavery (bodies) and the cheapness of human life – some of the items earlier in the list of merchandise were to be obtained only at great cost of human life; or (3) a somewhat related idea, that the trade is in not just physical bodies (slavery) but human souls (people whose lives are destroyed through this trade).
[18:14] 267 tn On ὀπώρα (opwra) L&N 3.34 states, “ἡ ὀπώρα σου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ψυχῆς ‘the ripe fruit for which you longed’ Re 18:14. In this one occurrence of ὀπώρα in the NT, ‘ripe fruit’ is to be understood in a figurative sense of ‘good things.’”
[18:14] 268 tn Grk “you desired in your soul.”
[18:14] 269 tn On λιπαρός (liparo") BDAG 597 s.v. states, “luxury Rv 18:14.”
[18:14] 270 tn On τὰ λαμπρά (ta lampra) BDAG 585 s.v. λαμπρός 4 states, “splendor…in which a rich man takes delight (cp. Jos., Ant. 12, 220 δωρεὰς δοὺς λαμπράς) Rv 18:14.”
[18:14] 271 tn Verse 14 is set in parentheses because in it the city, Babylon, is addressed directly in second person.
[18:15] 268 tn Grk “the merchants [sellers] of these things.”
[18:15] 269 tn Grk “her torment, weeping.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation by supplying the words “They will” here.
[18:16] 269 tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.
[18:16] 270 tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).
[18:17] 270 tn On ἠρημώθη (hrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”
[18:17] 271 tn On κυβερνήτης (kubernhth") BDAG 574 s.v. 1 states, “one who is responsible for the management of a ship, shipmaster, lit. Rv 18:17.”
[18:17] 272 tn Or perhaps, “everyone who sails as a passenger.” On πλέων (plewn) BDAG 825 s.v. πλέω states, “πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων everyone who sails to a place = seafarer, sea traveler…Rv 18:17. The vv.ll.…have led to various interpretations. Some render: everyone who sails along the coast…See EbNestle, Einführung in das Griech. NT 1909, 182; AFridrichsen, K. Hum. Vetensk.-Samf. i Upps. Årsb. ’43, 31 note ὁ ἐπίτοπον πλέων=one who sails occasionally, a passenger. – S. also IHeikel, StKr 106, ’34/’35, 317).”
[18:17] 273 tn Grk “and as many as.”
[18:18] 271 tn Here the imperfect ἔκραζον (ekrazon) has been translated ingressively.
[18:18] 272 tn Grk “from the burning of her, saying.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burned her up,” see L&N 14.63. Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.
[18:19] 272 tn Grk “with weeping and mourning, saying.” Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.
[18:19] 273 tn On ἡρημώθη (Jhrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”
[18:20] 273 tn On the phrase “pronounced judgment” BDAG 567 s.v. κρίμα 4.b states, “The OT is the source of the expr. κρίνειν τὸ κρ. (cp. Zech 7:9; 8:16; Ezk 44:24) ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς God has pronounced judgment for you against her or God has pronounced on her the judgment she wished to impose on you (HHoltzmann, Hdb. 1893 ad loc.) Rv 18:20.”
[18:20] 274 tn Grk “God has judged a judgment of you of her.” Verse 20 is set in parentheses because in it the saints, etc. are addressed directly in the second person.
[18:21] 274 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[18:21] 275 tn On ὅρμημα ({ormhma) BDAG 724 s.v. states, “violent rush, onset ὁρμήματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλών Babylon will be thrown down with violence Rv 18:21.” L&N 68.82 refers to the suddenness of the force or violence.
[18:21] 276 sn Thrown down is a play on both the words and the action. The angel’s action with the stone illustrates the kind of sudden violent force with which the city will be overthrown.
[18:22] 275 tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.
[18:22] 276 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[18:22] 277 tn On this term BDAG 1001 s.v. τεχνίτης states, “craftsperson, artisan, designer…Of a silversmith Ac 19:24, 25 v.l., 38….Of a potter 2 Cl 8:2 (metaph., cp. Ath. 15:2). πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης Rv 18:22.”
[18:22] 278 tn This is a different Greek word (μύλος, mulos) from the one for the millstone in v. 21 (μύλινος, mulinos). See L&N 7.68.
[18:23] 276 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
[18:23] 277 tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”
[18:24] 277 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[18:24] 278 tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.
[18:24] 279 tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.
