Genesis 39:3

39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. ¹ 

Genesis 39:1

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. ²  An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, ³  purchased him from ⁴  the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

Genesis 18:28

18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁵  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁶  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

Genesis 18:1

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ⁷  by the oaks ⁸  of Mamre while ⁹  he was sitting at the entrance ¹⁰  to his tent during the hottest time of the day.

Genesis 3:1

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now ¹¹  the serpent ¹²  was more shrewd ¹³ 

than any of the wild animals ¹⁴  that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that ¹⁵  God ¹⁶  said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ¹⁷ 

Zechariah 8:21-23

8:21 The inhabitants of one will go to another and say, “Let’s go up at once to ask the favor of the Lord, to seek the Lord who rules over all. Indeed, I’ll go with you.”’ 8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor. 8:23 The Lord who rules over all says, ‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will grasp hold of – indeed, grab – the robe of one Jew and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’” ¹⁸ 

Acts 7:9-10

7:9 The ¹⁹  patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold ²⁰  him into Egypt. But ²¹  God was with him, 7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made ²²  him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

Acts 9:31

9:31 Then ²³  the church throughout Judea, Galilee, ²⁴  and Samaria experienced ²⁵  peace and thus was strengthened. ²⁶  Living ²⁷  in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church ²⁸  increased in numbers.

[39:3]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:1]  ² tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.

[39:1]  ³ sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.

[39:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the hand of.”

[18:28]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁸ tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.

[3:1]  ¹² sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”

[3:1]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

[3:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”

[3:1]  ¹⁶ sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [Lord God] because there is no covenant relationship involved between God and the serpent. He only speaks of “God.” In the process the serpent draws the woman into his manner of speech so that she too only speaks of “God.”

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.

[8:23]  ¹⁸ sn This scene of universal and overwhelming attraction of the nations to Israel’s God finds initial fulfillment in the establishment of the church (Acts 2:5-11) but ultimate completion in the messianic age (Isa 45:14, 24; 60:14; Zech 14:16-21).

[7:9]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And the.” 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.

[7:9]  ²⁰ tn The meaning “sell” for the middle voice of ἀποδίδωμι (apodidwmi) is given by BDAG 110 s.v. 5.a. See Gen 37:12-36, esp. v. 28.

[7:9]  ²¹ tn Though the Greek term here is καί (kai), in context this remark is clearly contrastive: Despite the malicious act, God was present and protected Joseph.

[7:10]  ²² tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.

[9:31]  ²³ tn Or “Therefore.” This verse is another summary text in Acts (cf. 2:41-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16; 6:7).

[9:31]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and Galilee,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[9:31]  ²⁵ tn Grk “had.”

[9:31]  ²⁶ tn Or “Built up.” The participle οἰκοδομουμένη (oikodomoumenh) has been translated as a participle of result related to εἶχεν (eicen). It could also be understood as adverbial to ἐπληθύνετο (eplhquneto): “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace. Strengthened and living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Although some scholars do not regard the participle of result as a legitimate category, it is actually fairly common (see ExSyn 637-39).

[9:31]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And living.” 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.

[9:31]  ²⁸ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the church) has been specified in the translation for clarity.