Genesis 3:9-11

3:9 But the Lord God called to ¹  the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ²  3:10 The man replied, ³  “I heard you moving about ⁴  in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the Lord God ⁵  said, “Who told you that you were naked? ⁶  Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ⁷ 

Genesis 4:9-10

4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” ⁸  And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” ⁹  4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? ¹⁰  The voice ¹¹  of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!

Genesis 18:20-21

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ¹²  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ¹³  18:21 that I must go down ¹⁴  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ¹⁵  If not, ¹⁶  I want to know.”

Genesis 18:1

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ¹⁷  by the oaks ¹⁸  of Mamre while ¹⁹  he was sitting at the entrance ²⁰  to his tent during the hottest time of the day.

Genesis 2:23-24

2:23 Then the man said,

“This one at last ²¹  is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called ²²  ‘woman,’

for she was taken out of ²³  man.” ²⁴ 

2:24 That is why ²⁵  a man leaves ²⁶  his father and mother and unites with ²⁷  his wife, and they become a new family. ²⁸ 

Genesis 2:1

2:1 The heavens and the earth ²⁹  were completed with everything that was in them. ³⁰ 

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ³¹  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³²  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:24

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

[3:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call”) followed by the preposition אֶל־ or לְ (’el- or lÿ, “to, unto”) often carries the connotation of “summon.”

[3:9]  ² sn Where are you? The question is probably rhetorical (a figure of speech called erotesis) rather than literal, because it was spoken to the man, who answers it with an explanation of why he was hiding rather than a location. The question has more the force of “Why are you hiding?”

[3:10]  ³ tn Heb “and he said.”

[3:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “your sound.” If one sees a storm theophany here (see the note on the word “time” in v. 8), then one could translate, “your powerful voice.”

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (the Lord God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ⁶ sn Who told you that you were naked? This is another rhetorical question, asking more than what it appears to ask. The second question in the verse reveals the Lord God’s real concern.

[3:11]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew word order (“Did you from the tree – which I commanded you not to eat from it – eat?”) is arranged to emphasize that the man’s and the woman’s eating of the fruit was an act of disobedience. The relative clause inserted immediately after the reference to the tree brings out this point very well.

[4:9]  ⁸ sn Where is Abel your brother? Again the Lord confronts a guilty sinner with a rhetorical question (see Gen 3:9-13), asking for an explanation of what has happened.

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “The one guarding my brother [am] I?”

[4:10]  ¹⁰ sn What have you done? Again the Lord’s question is rhetorical (see Gen 3:13), condemning Cain for his sin.

[4:10]  ¹¹ tn The word “voice” is a personification; the evidence of Abel’s shed blood condemns Cain, just as a human eyewitness would testify in court. For helpful insights, see G. von Rad, Biblical Interpretations in Preaching; and L. Morris, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 6 (1955/56): 77-82.

[18:20]  ¹² tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.

[18:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “heavy.”

[18:21]  ¹⁴ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ¹⁶ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[18:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ¹⁹ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[2:23]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term הַפַּעַם (happa’am) means “the [this] time, this place,” or “now, finally, at last.” The expression conveys the futility of the man while naming the animals and finding no one who corresponded to him.

[2:23]  ²² tn The Hebrew text is very precise, stating: “of this one it will be said, ‘woman’.” The text is not necessarily saying that the man named his wife – that comes after the fall (Gen 3:20).

[2:23]  ²³ tn Or “from” (but see v. 22).

[2:23]  ²⁴ sn This poetic section expresses the correspondence between the man and the woman. She is bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh. Note the wordplay (paronomasia) between “woman” (אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) and “man” (אִישׁ, ’ish). On the surface it appears that the word for woman is the feminine form of the word for man. But the two words are not etymologically related. The sound and the sense give that impression, however, and make for a more effective wordplay.

[2:24]  ²⁵ tn This statement, introduced by the Hebrew phrase עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore” or “that is why”), is an editorial comment, not an extension of the quotation. The statement is describing what typically happens, not what will or should happen. It is saying, “This is why we do things the way we do.” It links a contemporary (with the narrator) practice with the historical event being narrated. The historical event narrated in v. 23 provides the basis for the contemporary practice described in v. 24. That is why the imperfect verb forms are translated with the present tense rather than future.

[2:24]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect verb form has a habitual or characteristic nuance. For other examples of עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore, that is why”) with the imperfect in a narrative framework, see Gen 10:9; 32:32 (the phrase “to this day” indicates characteristic behavior is in view); Num 21:14, 27; 1 Sam 5:5 (note “to this day”); 19:24 (perhaps the imperfect is customary here, “were saying”); 2 Sam 5:8. The verb translated “leave” (עָזָב, ’azab) normally means “to abandon, to forsake, to leave behind, to discard,” when used with human subject and object (see Josh 22:3; 1 Sam 30:13; Ps 27:10; Prov 2:17; Isa 54:6; 60:15; 62:4; Jer 49:11). Within the context of the ancient Israelite extended family structure, this cannot refer to emotional or geographical separation. The narrator is using hyperbole to emphasize the change in perspective that typically overtakes a young man when his thoughts turn to love and marriage.

[2:24]  ²⁷ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same habitual or characteristic nuance as the preceding imperfect. The verb is traditionally translated “cleaves [to]”; it has the basic idea of “stick with/to” (e.g., it is used of Ruth resolutely staying with her mother-in-law in Ruth 1:14). In this passage it describes the inseparable relationship between the man and the woman in marriage as God intended it.

[2:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and they become one flesh.” The perfect with vav consecutive carries the same habitual or characteristic nuance as the preceding verbs in the verse. The retention of the word “flesh” (בָּשָׂר, basar) in the translation often leads to improper or incomplete interpretations. The Hebrew word refers to more than just a sexual union. When they unite in marriage, the man and woman bring into being a new family unit (הָיָה + לְ, hayah + lamed preposition means “become”). The phrase “one flesh” occurs only here and must be interpreted in light of v. 23. There the man declares that the woman is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be related by blood to someone. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Laban and Jacob (Gen 29:14); Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17). The expression “one flesh” seems to indicate that they become, as it were, “kin,” at least legally (a new family unit is created) or metaphorically. In this first marriage in human history, the woman was literally formed from the man’s bone and flesh. Even though later marriages do not involve such a divine surgical operation, the first marriage sets the pattern for how later marriages are understood and explains why marriage supersedes the parent-child relationship.

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn See the note on the phrase “the heavens and the earth” in 1:1.

[2:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and all the host of them.” Here the “host” refers to all the entities and creatures that God created to populate the world.

[1:11]  ³¹ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[1:1]  ³² tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.