Genesis 4:7

4:7 Is it not true ¹  that if you do what is right, you will be fine? ²  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching ³  at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” ⁴ 

Genesis 38:18-23

38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. ⁵  She became pregnant by him. 38:19 She left immediately, ⁶  removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.

38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah ⁷  the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, ⁸  but Hirah ⁹  could not find her. 38:21 He asked the men who were there, ¹⁰  “Where is the cult prostitute ¹¹  who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.” 38:22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’” 38:23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things ¹²  for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. ¹³  I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

Genesis 38:1

Judah and Tamar

38:1 At that time Judah left ¹⁴  his brothers and stayed ¹⁵  with an Adullamite man ¹⁶  named Hirah.

Genesis 15:1

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 ¹⁷  and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ¹⁸ 

Job 20:12-14

20:12 “If ¹⁹  evil is sweet in his mouth

and he hides it under his tongue, ²⁰ 

20:13 if he retains it for himself

and does not let it go,

and holds it fast in his mouth, ²¹ 

20:14 his food is turned sour ²²  in his stomach; ²³ 

it becomes the venom of serpents ²⁴  within him.

Proverbs 28:13

28:13 The one who covers ²⁵  his transgressions will not prosper, ²⁶ 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy. ²⁷ 

Isaiah 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ²⁸  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ²⁹ 

they say wonderful things about me, ³⁰ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ³¹ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ³² 

Matthew 26:70

26:70 But he denied it in front of them all: ³³  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Matthew 26:72

26:72 He denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!”

Matthew 26:74

26:74 At that he began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know the man!” At that moment a rooster crowed. ³⁴ 

[4:7]  ¹ tn The introduction of the conditional clause with an interrogative particle prods the answer from Cain, as if he should have known this. It is not a condemnation, but an encouragement to do what is right.

[4:7]  ² tn The Hebrew text is difficult, because only one word occurs, שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et), which appears to be the infinitive construct from the verb “to lift up” (נָאָשׂ, na’as). The sentence reads: “If you do well, uplifting.” On the surface it seems to be the opposite of the fallen face. Everything will be changed if he does well. God will show him favor, he will not be angry, and his face will reflect that. But more may be intended since the second half of the verse forms the contrast: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching….” Not doing well leads to sinful attack; doing well leads to victory and God’s blessing.

[4:7]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “crouching” (רֹבֵץ, rovets) is an active participle. Sin is portrayed with animal imagery here as a beast crouching and ready to pounce (a figure of speech known as zoomorphism). An Akkadian cognate refers to a type of demon; in this case perhaps one could translate, “Sin is the demon at the door” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 29, 32-33).

[4:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and toward you [is] its desire, but you must rule over it.” As in Gen 3:16, the Hebrew noun “desire” refers to an urge to control or dominate. Here the desire is that which sin has for Cain, a desire to control for the sake of evil, but Cain must have mastery over it. The imperfect is understood as having an obligatory sense. Another option is to understand it as expressing potential (“you can have [or “are capable of having”] mastery over it.”). It will be a struggle, but sin can be defeated by righteousness. In addition to this connection to Gen 3, other linguistic and thematic links between chaps. 3 and 4 are discussed by A. J. Hauser, “Linguistic and Thematic Links Between Genesis 4:1-6 and Genesis 2–3,” JETS 23 (1980): 297-306.

[38:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and she arose and left,” the first verb in the pair emphasizing that she wasted no time.

[38:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “sent by the hand of his friend.” Here the name of the friend (“Hirah”) has been included in the translation for clarity.

[38:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand.”

[38:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Judah’s friend Hirah the Adullamite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[38:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the men of her place,” that is, who lived at the place where she had been.

[38:21]  ¹¹ sn The Hebrew noun translated “cult prostitute” is derived from a verb meaning “to be set apart; to be distinct.” Thus the term refers to a woman who did not marry, but was dedicated to temple service as a cult prostitute. The masculine form of this noun is used for male cult prostitutes. Judah thought he had gone to an ordinary prostitute (v. 15); but Hirah went looking for a cult prostitute, perhaps because it had been a sheep-shearing festival. For further discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, “Cultic Prostitution,” Orient and Occident (AOAT), 213-23.

[38:23]  ¹² tn The words “the things” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[38:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “we will become contemptible.” The Hebrew word בּוּז (buz) describes the contempt that a respectable person would have for someone who is worthless, foolish, or disreputable.

[38:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “went down from.”

[38:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he turned aside unto.”

[38:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a man, an Adullamite.”

[15:1]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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).

[20:12]  ¹⁹ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) introduces clauses that are conditional or concessive. With the imperfect verb in the protasis it indicates what is possible in the present or future. See GKC 496 §159.q).

[20:12]  ²⁰ sn The wicked person holds on to evil as long as he can, savoring the taste or the pleasure of it.

[20:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “in the middle of his palate.”

[20:14]  ²² tn The perfect verb in the apodosis might express the suddenness of the change (see S. R. Driver, Tenses in Hebrew, 204), or it might be a constative perfect looking at the action as a whole without reference to inception, progress, or completion (see IBHS 480-81 §30.1d). The Niphal perfect simply means “is turned” or “turns”; “sour is supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

[20:14]  ²³ tn The word is “in his loins” or “within him.” Some translate more specifically “bowels.”

[20:14]  ²⁴ sn Some commentators suggest that the ancients believed that serpents secreted poison in the gall bladder, or that the poison came from the gall bladder of serpents. In any case, there is poison (from the root “bitter”) in the system of the wicked person; it may simply be saying it is that type of poison.

[28:13]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew participles provide the subject matter in this contrast. On the one hand is the person who covers over (מְכַסֶּה, mÿkhasseh) his sins. This means refusing to acknowledge them in confession, and perhaps rationalizing them away. On the other hand there is the one who both “confesses” (מוֹדֶה, modeh) and “forsakes” (עֹזֵב, ’ozev) the sin. To “confess” sins means to acknowledge them, to say the same thing about them that God does.

[28:13]  ²⁶ sn The verse contrasts the consequences of each. The person who refuses to confess will not prosper. This is an understatement (a figure of speech known as tapeinosis); the opposite is the truth, that eventually such a person will be undone and ruined. On the other hand, the penitent will find mercy. This expression is a metonymy of cause for the effect – although “mercy” is mentioned, what mercy provides is intended, i.e., forgiveness. In other passages the verb “conceal” is used of God’s forgiveness – he covers over the iniquity (Ps 32:1). Whoever acknowledges sin, God will cover it; whoever covers it, God will lay it open.

[28:13]  ²⁷ sn This verse is unique in the book of Proverbs; it captures the theology of forgiveness (e.g., Pss 32 and 51). Every part of the passage is essential to the point: Confession of sins as opposed to concealing them, coupled with a turning away from them, results in mercy.

[29:13]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[29:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

[29:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

[29:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

[29:13]  ³² tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

[26:70]  ³³ tn Grk “he denied it…saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[26:74]  ³⁴ tn It seems most likely that this refers to a real rooster crowing, although a number of scholars have suggested that “cockcrow” is a technical term referring to the trumpet call which ended the third watch of the night (from midnight to 3 a.m.). This would then be a reference to the Roman gallicinium (ἀλεκτοροφωνία, alektorofwnia; the term is used in Mark 13:35 and is found in some mss [Ì^37vid,45 ˹] in Matt 26:34) which would have been sounded at 3 a.m.; in this case Jesus would have prophesied a precise time by which the denials would have taken place. For more details see J. H. Bernard, St. John (ICC), 2:604. However, in light of the fact that Mark mentions the rooster crowing twice (Mark 14:72) and in Luke 22:60 the words are reversed (ἐφώνησεν ἀλέκτωρ, efwnhsen alektwr), it is more probable that a real rooster is in view. In any event natural cockcrow would have occurred at approximately 3 a.m. in Palestine at this time of year (March-April) anyway.