Genesis 42:13

42:13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. ¹  We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, ²  and one is no longer alive.” ³ 

Genesis 42:36

42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ⁴  Simeon is gone. ⁵  And now you want to take ⁶  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

Job 7:21

7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression,

and take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust, ⁷ 

and you will seek me diligently, ⁸ 

but I will be gone.”

Psalms 37:36

37:36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared! ⁹ 

I looked for them, but they could not be found.

Lamentations 5:7

5:7 Our forefathers ¹⁰  sinned and are dead, ¹¹ 

but we ¹²  suffer ¹³  their punishment. ¹⁴ 

[42:13]  ¹ tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”

[42:13]  ² tn Heb “today.”

[42:13]  ³ tn Heb “and the one is not.”

[42:36]  ⁴ tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ⁶ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.

[7:21]  ⁷ tn The LXX has, “for now I will depart to the earth.”

[7:21]  ⁸ tn The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar) in the Piel has been translated “to seek early in the morning” because of the possible link with the word “dawn.” But the verb more properly means “to seek diligently” (by implication).

[37:36]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he passes by and, look, he is not [there].” The subject of the verb “passes by” is probably indefinite, referring to any passerby. Some prefer to change the form to first person, “and I passed by” (cf. NEB; note the first person verbal forms in preceding verse and in the following line).

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fathers,” but here the term also refers to “forefathers,” i.e., more distant ancestors.

[5:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and are no more.”

[5:7]  ¹² tc The Kethib is written אֲנַחְנוּ (’anakhnu, “we”) but the Qere reads וַאֲנַחְנוּ (va’anakhnu, “but we”). The Qere is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as most of the ancient versions (Aramaic Targum, Syriac Peshitta, Latin Vulgate). The ו (vav) prefixed to וַאֲנַחְנוּ (va’anakhnu) functions either in a disjunctive sense (“but”) or resultant sense (“so”).

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “so we bear.”

[5:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their iniquities.” The noun עָוֹן (’avon) has a broad range of meanings, including: (1) iniquity, (2) guilt of iniquity, and (3) consequence or punishment for iniquity (cause-effect metonymical relation). The context suggests that “punishment for sin” is most appropriate here (e.g., Gen 4:13; 19:15; Exod 28:38, 43; Lev 5:1, 17; 7:18; 10:17; 16:22; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 19; 22:16; 26:39, 41, 43; Num 5:31; 14:34; 18:1, 23; 30:15; 1 Sam 25:24; 28:10; 2 Sam 14:9; 2 Kgs 7:9; Job 10:14; Pss 31:11; 69:28; 106:43; Prov 5:22; Isa 5:18; 30:13; 40:2; 53:6, 11; 64:5, 6; Jer 51:6; Lam 4:22; 5:7; Ezek 4:4-6, 17; 7:16; 14:10; 18:19-20; 21:30, 34; 24:23; 32:27; 35:5; 39:23; 44:10, 12).