Discovery BoxGenesis 9:1--11:32
Context9:1 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. 1 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 2 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 3 As I gave you 4 the green plants, I now give 5 you everything.
9:4 But 6 you must not eat meat 7 with its life (that is, 8 its blood) in it. 9 9:5 For your lifeblood 10 I will surely exact punishment, 11 from 12 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 13 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 14 since the man was his relative. 15
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 16
by other humans 17
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 18
God 19 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 20 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 21 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 22 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 23 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. 24 9:11 I confirm 25 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 26 be wiped out 27 by the waters of a flood; 28 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 29 of the covenant I am making 30 with you 31 and every living creature with you, a covenant 32 for all subsequent 33 generations: 9:13 I will place 34 my rainbow 35 in the clouds, and it will become 36 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 37 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 38 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 39 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 40 all living things. 41 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 42 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 43 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.) 44 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 45
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, 46 began to plant a vineyard. 47 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself 48 inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 49 saw his father’s nakedness 50 and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 51 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 52 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 53 he learned 54 what his youngest son had done 55 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 58
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 59 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 60
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 61
May he live 62 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 9:29 The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.
10:1 This is the account 63 of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons 64 were born 65 to them after the flood.
10:2 The sons of Japheth 66 were Gomer, 67 Magog, 68 Madai, 69 Javan, 70 Tubal, 71 Meshech, 72 and Tiras. 73 10:3 The sons of Gomer were 74 Askenaz, 75 Riphath, 76 and Togarmah. 77 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, 78 Tarshish, 79 the Kittim, 80 and the Dodanim. 81 10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.
10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, 82 Mizraim, 83 Put, 84 and Canaan. 85 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, 86 Havilah, 87 Sabtah, 88 Raamah, 89 and Sabteca. 90 The sons of Raamah were Sheba 91 and Dedan. 92
10:8 Cush was the father of 93 Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter 94 before the Lord. 95 (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10:10 The primary regions 96 of his kingdom were Babel, 97 Erech, 98 Akkad, 99 and Calneh 100 in the land of Shinar. 101 10:11 From that land he went 102 to Assyria, 103 where he built Nineveh, 104 Rehoboth-Ir, 105 Calah, 106 10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 107
10:13 Mizraim 108 was the father of 109 the Ludites, 110 Anamites, 111 Lehabites, 112 Naphtuhites, 113 10:14 Pathrusites, 114 Casluhites 115 (from whom the Philistines came), 116 and Caphtorites. 117
10:15 Canaan was the father of 118 Sidon his firstborn, 119 Heth, 120 10:16 the Jebusites, 121 Amorites, 122 Girgashites, 123 10:17 Hivites, 124 Arkites, 125 Sinites, 126 10:18 Arvadites, 127 Zemarites, 128 and Hamathites. 129 Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended 130 from Sidon 131 all the way to 132 Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to 133 Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.
10:21 And sons were also born 134 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 135 the father of all the sons of Eber.
10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, 136 Asshur, 137 Arphaxad, 138 Lud, 139 and Aram. 140 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 141 10:24 Arphaxad was the father of 142 Shelah, 143 and Shelah was the father of Eber. 144 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, 145 and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of 146 Almodad, 147 Sheleph, 148 Hazarmaveth, 149 Jerah, 150 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, 151 Diklah, 152 10:28 Obal, 153 Abimael, 154 Sheba, 155 10:29 Ophir, 156 Havilah, 157 and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to 158 Sephar in the eastern hills. 10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.
10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread 159 over the earth after the flood.
11:1 The whole earth 160 had a common language and a common vocabulary. 161 11:2 When the people 162 moved eastward, 163 they found a plain in Shinar 164 and settled there. 11:3 Then they said to one another, 165 “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” 166 (They had brick instead of stone and tar 167 instead of mortar.) 168 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens 169 so that 170 we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise 171 we will be scattered 172 across the face of the entire earth.”
11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people 173 had started 174 building. 11:6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language 175 they have begun to do this, then 176 nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 177 11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse 178 their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” 179
11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building 180 the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called 181 Babel 182 – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
11:10 This is the account of Shem.
Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11:11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other 183 sons and daughters.
11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other 184 sons and daughters. 185
11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other 186 sons and daughters.
11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
11:27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, 187 while his father Terah was still alive. 188 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, 189 and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; 190 she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 The lifetime 191 of Terah was 205 years, and he 192 died in Haran.
Genesis 17:1-27
Context17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, 193 the Lord appeared to him and said, 194 “I am the sovereign God. 195 Walk 196 before me 197 and be blameless. 198 17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant 199 between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” 200
17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, 201 and God said to him, 202 17:4 “As for me, 203 this 204 is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be 205 Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham 206 because I will make you 207 the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you 208 extremely 209 fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 210 17:7 I will confirm 211 my covenant as a perpetual 212 covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 213 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing 214 – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent 215 possession. I will be their God.”
17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 216 the covenantal requirement 217 I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: 218 Every male among you must be circumcised. 219 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder 220 of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old 221 must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, 222 whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant 223 will be visible in your flesh as a permanent 224 reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male 225 who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 226 from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 227
17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 228 Sarah 229 will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. 230 Kings of countries 231 will come from her!”
17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 232 as he said to himself, 233 “Can 234 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 235 Can Sarah 236 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 237 17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that 238 Ishmael might live before you!” 239
17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. 240 I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual 241 covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 242 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 243 He will become the father of twelve princes; 244 I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 245
17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 246 and circumcised them 247 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old 248 when he was circumcised; 249 17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old 250 when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Matthew 18:1-3
Context18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 18:2 He called a child, had him stand among them, 18:3 and said, “I tell you the truth, 251 unless you turn around and become like little children, 252 you will never 253 enter the kingdom of heaven!
Luke 14:7-11
Context14:7 Then 254 when Jesus 255 noticed how the guests 256 chose the places of honor, 257 he told them a parable. He said to them, 14:8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, 258 do not take 259 the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. 260 14:9 So 261 the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then, ashamed, 262 you will begin to move to the least important 263 place. 14:10 But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host 264 approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ 265 Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you. 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but 266 the one who humbles 267 himself will be exalted.”
John 5:44
Context5:44 How can you believe, if you accept praise 268 from one another and don’t seek the praise 269 that comes from the only God? 270
John 5:1
Context5:1 After this 271 there was a Jewish feast, 272 and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 273
Colossians 1:8-9
Context1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, 274 have not ceased praying for you and asking God 275 to fill 276 you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Colossians 1:3
Context1:3 We always 277 give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
Colossians 1:9
Context1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, 278 have not ceased praying for you and asking God 279 to fill 280 you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
[9:2] 1 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] 2 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] 1 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 2 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 3 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 3 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] 4 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:5] 1 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] 2 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] 3 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] 4 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 6 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] 1 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 2 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 3 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] 4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 1 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] 1 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 1 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] 2 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] 1 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 1 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] 4 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 4 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 5 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 1 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] 2 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] 3 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 1 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 1 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:16] 1 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] 1 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] 1 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] 1 sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
[9:20] 2 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] 1 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] 1 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] 2 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] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
[9:24] 1 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
[9:24] 3 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] 1 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] 2 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] 3 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] 2 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 1 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 2 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
[10:1] 1 tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.
[10:1] 2 sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.
[10:1] 3 tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.
[10:2] 1 sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
[10:2] 2 sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.
[10:2] 3 sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.
[10:2] 4 sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
[10:2] 5 sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
[10:2] 6 sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 7 sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 8 sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
[10:3] 1 sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
[10:3] 2 sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.
[10:3] 3 sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
[10:3] 4 sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.
[10:4] 1 sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
[10:4] 2 sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
[10:4] 3 sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
[10:4] 4 tc Most of the MT
[10:6] 1 sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).
[10:6] 2 sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.
[10:6] 3 sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.
[10:6] 4 sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).
[10:7] 1 sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
[10:7] 2 sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
[10:7] 3 sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
[10:7] 4 sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 5 sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
[10:7] 6 sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 7 sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.
[10:8] 1 tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.
[10:9] 1 tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).
[10:9] 2 tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the
[10:10] 1 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
[10:10] 3 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
[10:10] 4 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
[10:10] 5 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
[10:10] 6 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
[10:11] 1 tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
[10:11] 3 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
[10:11] 4 sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
[10:11] 5 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
[10:12] 1 tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”
[10:13] 1 sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).
[10:13] 3 sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.
[10:13] 4 sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.
[10:13] 5 sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.
[10:13] 6 sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).
[10:14] 1 sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.
[10:14] 2 sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.
[10:14] 3 tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.
[10:14] 4 sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.
[10:15] 2 sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
[10:15] 3 tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
[10:16] 1 sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
[10:16] 2 sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.
[10:16] 3 sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).
[10:17] 1 sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
[10:17] 2 sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
[10:17] 3 sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
[10:18] 1 sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
[10:18] 2 sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
[10:18] 3 sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
[10:19] 2 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[10:21] 1 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
[10:21] 2 tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.
[10:22] 1 sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
[10:22] 2 sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.
[10:22] 3 sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
[10:22] 4 sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
[10:22] 5 sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
[10:23] 1 tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”
[10:24] 2 tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[10:24] 3 sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).
[10:25] 1 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
[10:26] 2 sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.
[10:26] 3 sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.
[10:26] 4 sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.
[10:26] 5 sn The name Jerah means “moon.”
[10:27] 1 sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
[10:27] 2 sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
[10:28] 1 sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.
[10:28] 2 sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”
[10:28] 3 sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.
[10:29] 1 sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).
[10:29] 2 sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.
[11:1] 1 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
[11:1] 2 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
[11:2] 1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:2] 2 tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”
[11:2] 3 tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”
[11:3] 1 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
[11:3] 2 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).
[11:3] 3 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
[11:3] 4 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
[11:4] 1 tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.
[11:4] 2 tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.
[11:4] 3 tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”
[11:4] 4 sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.
[11:5] 1 tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.
[11:5] 2 tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.
[11:6] 1 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
[11:6] 2 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
[11:6] 3 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
[11:7] 1 tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the
[11:7] 2 tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
[11:8] 1 tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
[11:9] 1 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.
[11:9] 2 sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[11:11] 1 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 1 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 2 tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[11:15] 1 tn Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:28] 1 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium
[11:28] 2 tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”
[11:29] 1 sn The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.
[11:29] 2 sn The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.
[11:32] 1 tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”
[11:32] 2 tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:1] 1 tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”
[17:1] 2 tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[17:1] 3 tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew
[17:1] 4 tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”
[17:1] 5 tn Or “in my presence.”
[17:1] 6 tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the
[17:2] 1 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the
[17:2] 2 tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:3] 1 tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.
[17:3] 2 tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:4] 2 tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
[17:5] 1 tn Heb “will your name be called.”
[17:5] 2 sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.
[17:5] 3 tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.
[17:6] 1 tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.
[17:6] 2 tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:6] 3 tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”
[17:7] 1 tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).
[17:7] 2 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:7] 3 tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”
[17:8] 1 tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.
[17:8] 2 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:9] 1 tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.
[17:9] 2 tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.
[17:10] 1 tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”
[17:10] 2 sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.
[17:12] 1 tn Heb “the son of eight days.”
[17:13] 1 tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.
[17:13] 2 tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
[17:14] 1 tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.
[17:14] 2 tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:14] 3 tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
[17:15] 1 tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”
[17:15] 2 sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.
[17:16] 1 tn Heb “she will become nations.”
[17:17] 1 sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.
[17:17] 2 tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”
[17:17] 3 tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.
[17:17] 4 tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”
[17:17] 5 sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).
[17:17] 6 tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”
[17:18] 1 tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”
[17:18] 2 tn Or “live with your blessing.”
[17:19] 1 tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).
[17:19] 2 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:20] 1 sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.
[17:20] 2 tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:20] 3 tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.
[17:22] 1 tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:23] 1 tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”
[17:23] 2 tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.
[17:24] 1 tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”
[17:24] 2 tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).
[17:25] 1 tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”
[18:3] 1 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
[18:3] 2 sn The point of the comparison become like little children has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit, as well as willingness to be dependent and receive from others, than any inherent humility the child might possess.
[18:3] 3 tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.
[14:7] 1 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[14:7] 2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:7] 3 tn Grk “those who were invited.”
[14:7] 4 tn Or “the best places.” The “places of honor” at the meal would be those closest to the host.
[14:8] 1 tn Or “banquet.” This may not refer only to a wedding feast, because this term can have broader sense (note the usage in Esth 2:18; 9:22 LXX). However, this difference does not affect the point of the parable.
[14:8] 2 tn Grk “do not recline in the place of honor.” 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.
[14:8] 3 tn Grk “by him”; the referent (the host) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:9] 1 tn Grk “host, and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate this action is a result of the situation described in the previous verse. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[14:9] 2 tn Or “then in disgrace”; Grk “with shame.” In this culture avoiding shame was important.
[14:9] 3 tn Grk “lowest place” (also in the repetition of the phrase in the next verse).
[14:10] 1 tn Grk “the one who invited you.”
[14:10] 2 tn Grk “Go up higher.” This means to move to a more important place.
[14:11] 1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context, which involves the reversal of expected roles.
[14:11] 2 sn The point of the statement the one who humbles himself will be exalted is humility and the reversal imagery used to underline it is common: Luke 1:52-53; 6:21; 10:15; 18:14.
[5:44] 1 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
[5:44] 2 tn Or “honor” (Grk “glory,” in the sense of respect or honor accorded to a person because of their status).
[5:44] 3 tc Several early and important witnesses (Ì66,75 B W a b sa) lack θεοῦ (qeou, “God”) here, thus reading “the only one,” while most of the rest of the tradition, including some important
[5:1] 1 sn The temporal indicator After this is not specific, so it is uncertain how long after the incidents at Cana this occurred.
[5:1] 2 tc The textual variants ἑορτή or ἡ ἑορτή (Jeorth or Jh Jeorth, “a feast” or “the feast”) may not appear significant at first, but to read ἑορτή with the article would almost certainly demand a reference to the Jewish Passover. The article is found in א C L Δ Ψ Ë1 33 892 1424 pm, but is lacking in {Ì66,75 A B D T Ws Θ Ë13 565 579 700 1241 pm}. Overall, the shorter reading has somewhat better support. Internally, the known proclivity of scribes to make the text more explicit argues compellingly for the shorter reading. Thus, the verse refers to a feast other than the Passover. The incidental note in 5:3, that the sick were lying outside in the porticoes of the pool, makes Passover an unlikely time because it fell toward the end of winter and the weather would not have been warm. L. Morris (John [NICNT], 299, n. 6) thinks it impossible to identify the feast with certainty.
[5:1] 3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:9] 1 tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.
[1:9] 2 tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.
[1:9] 3 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.
[1:3] 1 tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).
[1:9] 1 tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.
[1:9] 2 tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.
[1:9] 3 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.
