Exodus 24:5

24:5 He sent young Israelite men, ¹  and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls for peace offerings ²  to the Lord.

Genesis 4:4

4:4 But Abel brought ³  some of the firstborn of his flock – even the fattest ⁴  of them. And the Lord was pleased with ⁵  Abel and his offering,

Genesis 8:20

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. ⁶ 

Genesis 12:7

12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants ⁷  I will give this land.” So Abram ⁸  built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 26:25

26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped ⁹  the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 31:54

31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice ¹¹  on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. ¹²  They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

Job 1:5

1:5 When ¹³  the days of their feasting were finished, ¹⁴  Job would send ¹⁵  for them and sanctify ¹⁶  them; he would get up early ¹⁷  in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to ¹⁸  the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps ¹⁹  my children ²⁰  have sinned and cursed ²¹  God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice. ²² 

Job 42:8

42:8 So now take ²³  seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede ²⁴  for you, and I will respect him, ²⁵  so that I do not deal with you ²⁶  according to your folly, ²⁷  because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” ²⁸ 

[24:5]  ¹ tn The construct has “young men of the Israelites,” and so “Israelite” is a genitive that describes them.

[24:5]  ² tn The verbs and their respective accusatives are cognates. First, they offered up burnt offerings (see Lev 1), which is וַיַּעֲלוּ עֹלֹת (vayya’alu ’olot); then they sacrificed young bulls as peace sacrifices (Lev 3), which is in Hebrew וַיִּזְבְּחוּ זְבָחִים (vayyizbÿkhu zÿvakhim). In the first case the cognate accusative is the direct object; in the second it is an adverbial accusative of product. See on this covenant ritual H. M. Kamsler, “The Blood Covenant in the Bible,” Dor le Dor 6 (1977): 94-98; E. W. Nicholson, “The Covenant Ritual in Exodus 24:3-8,” VT 32 (1982): 74-86.

[4:4]  ³ tn Heb “But Abel brought, also he….” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) stresses the contrast between Cain’s offering and Abel’s.

[4:4]  ⁴ tn Two prepositional phrases are used to qualify the kind of sacrifice that Abel brought: “from the firstborn” and “from the fattest of them.” These also could be interpreted as a hendiadys: “from the fattest of the firstborn of the flock.” Another option is to understand the second prepositional phrase as referring to the fat portions of the sacrificial sheep. In this case one may translate, “some of the firstborn of his flock, even some of their fat portions” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[4:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah) simply means “to gaze at, to have regard for, to look on with favor [or “with devotion”].” The text does not indicate how this was communicated, but it indicates that Cain and Abel knew immediately. Either there was some manifestation of divine pleasure given to Abel and withheld from Cain (fire consuming the sacrifice?), or there was an inner awareness of divine response.

[8:20]  ⁶ sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.

[12:7]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[26:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 21:33). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116.

[26:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”

[31:54]  ¹¹ tn The construction is a cognate accusative with the verb, expressing a specific sacrifice.

[31:54]  ¹² tn Heb “bread, food.” Presumably this was a type of peace offering, where the person bringing the offering ate the animal being sacrificed.

[1:5]  ¹³ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator “and it happened” or “and it came to pass,” which need not be translated. The particle כִּי (ki, “when”) with the initial verbal form indicates it is a temporal clause.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נָקַף (naqaf, “go around”), here it means “to make the round” or “complete the circuit” (BDB 668-69 s.v. II נָקַף Hiph). It indicates that when the feasting had made its circuit of the seven sons, then Job would sanctify them.

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn The form is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive. The same emphasis on repeated or frequent action continues here in this verse. The idea here is that Job would send for them, because the sanctification of them would have consisted of washings and changes of garments as well as the sacrifices (see Gen 35:2; 1 Sam 16:5).

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “purify.”

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn The first verb could also be joined with the next to form a verbal hendiadys: “he would rise early and he would sacrifice” would then simply be “he would sacrifice early in the morning” (see M. Delcor, “Quelques cas de survivances du vocabulaire nomade en hébreu biblique,” VT 25 [1975]: 307-22). This section serves to explain in more detail how Job sanctified his children.

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn The text does not have “according to”; the noun “number” is an accusative that defines the extent of his actions (GKC 373-74 §118.e, h).

[1:5]  ¹⁹ tn The clause stands as an accusative to the verb, here as the direct object introduced with “perhaps” (IBHS 645-46 §38.8d).

[1:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “sons,” but since the three daughters are specifically mentioned in v. 4, “children” has been used in the translation. In this patriarchal culture, however, it is possible that only the sons are in view.

[1:5]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew verb is בָּרַךְ (barakh), which means “to bless.” Here is a case where the writer or a scribe has substituted the word “curse” with the word “bless” to avoid having the expression “curse God.” For similar euphemisms in the ancient world, see K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament, 166. It is therefore difficult to know exactly what Job feared they might have done. The opposite of “bless” would be “curse,” which normally would convey disowning or removing from blessing. Some commentators try to offer a definition of “curse” from the root in the text, and noting that “curse” is too strong, come to something like “renounce.” The idea of blaspheming is probably not meant; rather, in their festivities they may have said things that renounced God or their interest in him. Job feared this momentary turning away from God in their festivities, perhaps as they thought their good life was more important than their religion.

[1:5]  ²² tn The imperfect expresses continual action in past time, i.e., a customary imperfect (GKC 315 §107.e).

[42:8]  ²³ tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.

[42:8]  ²⁴ tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”

[42:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”

[42:8]  ²⁶ tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.

[42:8]  ²⁷ tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.

[42:8]  ²⁸ sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.