Genesis 1:11

1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: ¹  plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, ²  and ³  trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so.

Genesis 1:30

1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give ⁴  every green plant for food.” It was so.

Genesis 6:4

6:4 The Nephilim ⁵  were on the earth in those days (and also after this) ⁶  when the sons of God were having sexual relations with ⁷  the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. ⁸  They were the mighty heroes ⁹  of old, the famous men. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 11:9

11:9 That is why its name was called ¹¹  Babel ¹²  – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

Genesis 19:8

19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ¹³  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ¹⁴  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ¹⁵  of my roof.” ¹⁶ 

Genesis 20:6

20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. ¹⁷  That is why I have kept you ¹⁸  from sinning against me and why ¹⁹  I did not allow you to touch her.

Genesis 29:34

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ²⁰  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ²¹ 

Genesis 32:20

32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” ²²  Jacob thought, ²³  “I will first appease him ²⁴  by sending a gift ahead of me. ²⁵  After that I will meet him. ²⁶  Perhaps he will accept me.” ²⁷ 

Genesis 32:32

32:32 That is why to this day ²⁸  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck ²⁹  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Genesis 33:10

33:10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said. ³⁰  “If I have found favor in your sight, accept ³¹  my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, ³²  it is as if I have seen the face of God. ³³ 

Genesis 42:21

42:21 They said to one other, ³⁴  “Surely we’re being punished ³⁵  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ³⁶  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ³⁷  has come on us!”

Genesis 43:11

43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

Genesis 47:22

47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

Genesis 50:11

50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ³⁸  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ³⁹  Abel Mizraim, ⁴⁰  which is beyond the Jordan.

[1:11]  ¹ tn The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created.

[1:11]  ² sn After their kinds. The Hebrew word translated “kind” (מִין, min) indicates again that God was concerned with defining and dividing time, space, and species. The point is that creation was with order, as opposed to chaos. And what God created and distinguished with boundaries was not to be confused (see Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9-11).

[1:11]  ³ tn The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.

[1:30]  ⁴ tn The phrase “I give” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:4]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).

[6:4]  ⁸ tn This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.

[6:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “were entering to,” referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.

[6:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.

[6:4]  ¹¹ tn The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.

[6:4]  ¹² tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).

[11:9]  ¹⁰ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

[11:9]  ¹¹ sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

[19:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ¹⁶ sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[20:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “therefore.”

[29:34]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ²⁰ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[32:20]  ²² tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

[32:20]  ²³ tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”

[32:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.

[32:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”

[32:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I will see his face.”

[32:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.

[32:32]  ²⁵ sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

[32:32]  ²⁶ tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.

[33:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and Jacob said, ‘No, please.’” The words “take them” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[33:10]  ²⁹ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence.

[33:10]  ³⁰ tn The verbal form is the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive, indicating result here.

[33:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “for therefore I have seen your face like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me.”

[42:21]  ³¹ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ³² tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ³³ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ³⁴ sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[50:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”

[50:11]  ³⁵ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.

[50:11]  ³⁶ sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”