Genesis 33:2

33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ¹ 

Genesis 33:2

33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ² 

Genesis 15:1-2

The Cutting of the Covenant

15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield ³  and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ⁴ 

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ⁵  what will you give me since ⁶  I continue to be ⁷  childless, and my heir ⁸  is ⁹  Eliezer of Damascus?” ¹⁰ 

Genesis 23:13

23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ¹¹  to you the price ¹²  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ¹³  bury my dead there.”

Zechariah 14:4

14:4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 26:30

26:30 After ¹⁵  singing a hymn, ¹⁶  they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Acts 1:9

1:9 After ¹⁷  he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Acts 1:12

A Replacement for Judas is Chosen

1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem ¹⁸  from the mountain ¹⁹  called the Mount of Olives ²⁰  (which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey ²¹  away).

[33:2]  ¹ sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.

[33:2]  ² sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.

[15:1]  ³ sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.

[15:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).

[15:2]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master, Lord”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “master”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Master, God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Master” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Master, Lord,” which is rendered here “sovereign Lord.”

[15:2]  ⁶ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “I am going.”

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

[15:2]  ⁹ tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

[15:2]  ¹⁰ sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.

[23:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “give.”

[23:13]  ¹² tn Heb “silver.”

[23:13]  ¹³ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

[14:4]  ¹⁴ sn This seismic activity provides a means of escape from Jerusalem so that the Messiah (the Lord), whose feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, may destroy the wicked nations in the Kidron Valley (the v. of Jehoshaphat, or of “judgment of the Lord”) without harming the inhabitants of the city.

[26:30]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:30]  ¹⁶ sn After singing a hymn. The Hallel Psalms (Pss 113-118) were sung during the meal. Psalms 113 and 114 were sung just before the second cup and 115-118 were sung at the end of the meal, after the fourth, or hallel cup.

[1:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:12]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “from the hill.” The Greek term ὄρος (oros) refers to a relatively high elevation of land in contrast with βουνός (bounos, “hill”).

[1:12]  ²⁰ sn The Mount of Olives is the traditional name for this mountain, also called Olivet. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 1.8 mi (3 km) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 100 ft (30 m) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.

[1:12]  ²¹ sn The phrase a Sabbath day’s journey refers to the distance the rabbis permitted a person to travel on the Sabbath without breaking the Sabbath, specified in tractate Sotah 5:3 of the Mishnah as 2,000 cubits (a cubit was about 18 inches). In this case the distance was about half a mile (1 km).