Genesis 20:3-6

20:3 But God appeared ¹  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ²  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ³ 

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ⁴  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ⁵  20:5 Did Abraham ⁶  not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ⁷  ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience ⁸  and with innocent hands!”

20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. ⁹  That is why I have kept you ¹⁰  from sinning against me and why ¹¹  I did not allow you to touch her.

Genesis 31:24

31:24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, ¹²  “Be careful ¹³  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 31:29

31:29 I have ¹⁵  the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful ¹⁶  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ ¹⁷ 

Job 33:14-17

Elihu Disagrees With Job’s View of God

33:14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,

the second time in another,

though a person does not perceive ¹⁸  it.

33:15 In a dream, a night vision,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they sleep in their beds.

33:16 Then he gives a revelation ¹⁹  to people,

and terrifies them with warnings, ²⁰ 

33:17 to turn a person from his sin, ²¹ 

and to cover a person’s pride. ²² 

Proverbs 29:1

29:1 The one who stiffens his neck ²³  after numerous rebukes ²⁴ 

will suddenly be destroyed ²⁵  without remedy. ²⁶ 

[20:3]  ¹ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ² tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.

[20:3]  ³ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[20:4]  ⁵ tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.

[20:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and she, even she.”

[20:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”

[20:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “therefore.”

[31:24]  ¹² tn Heb “said to him.”

[31:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lest you speak with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 29, is uncertain. Since Laban proceeded to speak to Jacob at length, it cannot mean to maintain silence. Nor does it seem to be a prohibition against criticism (see vv. 26-30). Most likely it refers to a formal pronouncement, whether it be a blessing or a curse. Laban was to avoid saying anything to Jacob that would be intended to enhance him or to harm him.

[31:29]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “there is to my hand.”

[31:29]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 24, is uncertain. See the note on the same phrase in v. 24.

[33:14]  ¹⁸ tn The Syriac and the Vulgate have “and he does not repeat it,” a reading of the text as it is, according to E. Dhorme (Job, 403). But his argument is based on another root with this meaning – a root which does not exist (see L. Dennefeld, RB 48 [1939]: 175). The verse is saying that God does speak to man.

[33:16]  ¹⁹ tn The idiom is “he uncovers the ear of men.” This expression means “inform” in Ruth 4:4; 1 Sam 20:2, etc. But when God is the subject it means “make a revelation” (see 1 Sam 9:15; 2 Sam 7:27).

[33:16]  ²⁰ tc Heb “and seals their bonds.” The form of the present translation, “and terrifies them with warnings,” is derived only by emending the text. Aquila, the Vulgate, Syriac, and Targum Job have “their correction” for “their bond,” which is what the KJV used. But the LXX, Aquila, and the Syriac have “terrifies” for the verb. This involves a change in pointing from יָחְתֹּם (yakhtom) to יְחִתֵּם (yÿkhittem). The LXX has “appearances of fear” instead of “bonds.” The point of the verse seems to be that by terrifying dreams God makes people aware of their ways.

[33:17]  ²¹ tc The MT simply has מַעֲשֶׂה (ma’aseh, “deed”). The LXX has “from his iniquity” which would have been מֵעַוְלָה (me’avlah). The two letters may have dropped out by haplography. The MT is workable, but would have to mean “[evil] deeds.”

[33:17]  ²² tc Here too the sense of the MT is difficult to recover. Some translations took it to mean that God hides pride from man. Many commentators changed יְכַסֶּה (yÿkhasseh, “covers”) to יְכַסֵּחַ (yÿkhasseakh, “he cuts away”), or יְכַלֶּה (yÿkhalleh, “he puts an end to”). The various emendations are not all that convincing.

[29:1]  ²³ tn The idiom “to harden the neck” (מַקְשֶׁה־עֹרֶף, maqsheh-’oref) is the idea of resisting the rebukes and persisting in obstinacy (e.g., Exod 32:9). The opposite of a “stiff neck” would be the bending back, i.e., submission.

[29:1]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew construction is אִישׁ תּוֹכָחוֹת (’ish tokhakhot, “a man of rebukes”), meaning “a man who has (or receives) many rebukes.” This describes a person who is deserving of punishment and who has been given many warnings. The text says, then, “a man of rebukes hardening himself.”

[29:1]  ²⁵ sn The stubborn person refuses to listen; he will suddenly be destroyed when the calamity strikes (e.g., Prov 6:15; 13:18; 15:10).

[29:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “healing” (NRSV).