Genesis 17:16

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. ¹  Kings of countries ²  will come from her!”

Genesis 18:10

18:10 One of them ³  said, “I will surely return ⁴  to you when the season comes round again, ⁵  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ⁶  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ⁷ 

Genesis 18:1

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ⁸  by the oaks ⁹  of Mamre while ¹⁰  he was sitting at the entrance ¹¹  to his tent during the hottest time of the day.

Genesis 1:20

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms ¹²  of living creatures and let birds fly ¹³  above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

Genesis 1:2

1:2 Now ¹⁴  the earth ¹⁵  was without shape and empty, ¹⁶  and darkness ¹⁷  was over the surface of the watery deep, ¹⁸  but the Spirit of God ¹⁹  was moving ²⁰  over the surface ²¹  of the water. ²² 

Genesis 4:16

4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, ²³  east of Eden.

Luke 1:13

1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, ²⁴  and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you ²⁵  will name him John. ²⁶ 

Luke 1:31

1:31 Listen: ²⁷  You will become pregnant ²⁸  and give birth to ²⁹  a son, and you will name him ³⁰  Jesus. ³¹ 

[17:16]  ¹ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ² tn Heb “peoples.”

[18:10]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

[18:10]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

[18:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

[18:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

[18:10]  ⁷ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

[18:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁶ tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ⁷ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[1:20]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.

[1:20]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.

[1:2]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction (vav [ו] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1, the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10. Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ (tohu) and בֹּהוּ (bohu), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2.

[1:2]  ¹² sn Darkness. The Hebrew word simply means “darkness,” but in the Bible it has come to symbolize what opposes God, such as judgment (Exod 10:21), death (Ps 88:13), oppression (Isa 9:1), the wicked (1 Sam 2:9) and in general, sin. In Isa 45:7 it parallels “evil.” It is a fitting cover for the primeval waste, but it prepares the reader for the fact that God is about to reveal himself through his works.

[1:2]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 7:11).

[1:2]  ¹⁴ tn The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38; Exod 31:3; 35:31; Num 24:2; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20).

[1:2]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10. (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1.)

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “face.”

[1:2]  ¹⁷ sn The water. The text deliberately changes now from the term for the watery deep to the general word for water. The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic abyss-like deep. The change may be merely stylistic, but it may also carry some significance. The deep carries with it the sense of the abyss, chaos, darkness – in short, that which is not good for life.

[4:16]  ¹¹ sn The name Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew (see vv. 12, 14).

[1:13]  ¹³ tn The passive means that the prayer was heard by God.

[1:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “a son, and you”; καί (kai) has not been translated. Instead a semicolon is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “you will call his name John.” The future tense here functions like a command (see ExSyn 569-70). This same construction occurs in v. 31.

[1:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And behold.”

[1:31]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “you will conceive in your womb.”

[1:31]  ¹⁷ tn Or “and bear.”

[1:31]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “you will call his name.”

[1:31]  ¹⁹ tn See v. 13 for a similar construction.