Genesis 4:8

4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” ¹  While they were in the field, Cain attacked ²  his brother ³  Abel and killed him.

Genesis 4:1

The Story of Cain and Abel

4:1 Now ⁴  the man had marital relations with ⁵  his wife Eve, and she became pregnant ⁶  and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created ⁷  a man just as the Lord did!” ⁸ 

Genesis 18:17

18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ⁹ 

Genesis 18:21

18:21 that I must go down ¹⁰  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ¹¹  If not, ¹²  I want to know.”

Genesis 18:2

18:2 Abraham ¹³  looked up ¹⁴  and saw ¹⁵  three men standing across ¹⁶  from him. When he saw them ¹⁷  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹⁸  to the ground. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 3:1

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now ²⁰  the serpent ²¹  was more shrewd ²² 

than any of the wild animals ²³  that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that ²⁴  God ²⁵  said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ²⁶ 

Genesis 13:1

Abram’s Solution to the Strife

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. ²⁷  He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. ²⁸ 

Psalms 55:21-23

55:21 His words are as smooth as butter, ²⁹ 

but he harbors animosity in his heart. ³⁰ 

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords. ³¹ 

55:22 Throw your burden ³²  upon the Lord,

and he will sustain you. ³³ 

He will never allow the godly to be upended. ³⁴ 

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ³⁵  down to the deep Pit. ³⁶ 

Violent and deceitful people ³⁷  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ³⁸ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

[4:8]  ¹ tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָּׂדֶה (basadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָּׂדֶה.

[4:8]  ² tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).

[4:8]  ³ sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).

[4:1]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:1]  ⁶ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “with the Lord.” The particle אֶת־ (’et) is not the accusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancient versions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with the help of” (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer “along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (see Lev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; the latter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand אֶת־ as the accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man – the Lord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she had given birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise the Serpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionable allegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word “heel”).

[18:17]  ⁹ tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.

[18:21]  ¹⁰ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ¹⁷ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ¹⁸ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ¹⁹ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[3:1]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

[3:1]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.

[13:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).

[13:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”

[55:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship.

[55:21]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and war [is in] his heart.”

[55:21]  ³¹ tn Heb “his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.”

[55:22]  ³² tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.

[55:22]  ³³ tn The pronoun is singular; the psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually.

[55:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he will never allow swaying for the righteous.”

[55:23]  ³⁵ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ³⁶ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ³⁸ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”