Discovery BoxGenesis 1:11
Context1:11 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 3:1
Context3:1 Now 4 the serpent 5 was more shrewd 6
than any of the wild animals 7 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 8 God 9 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 10
Genesis 21:26
Context21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 11 you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
Genesis 31:1
Context31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, 12 “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich 13 at our father’s expense!” 14
Genesis 31:12
Context31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe 15 that all the male goats mating with 16 the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.
Genesis 34:7
Context34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. 17 They 18 were offended 19 and very angry because Shechem 20 had disgraced Israel 21 by sexually assaulting 22 Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. 23
Genesis 39:22
Context39:22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing. 24
Genesis 42:28
Context42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; 25 they turned trembling one to another 26 and said, “What in the world has God done to us?” 27
[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.
[3:1] 4 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] 5 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] 6 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] 7 tn Heb “animals of the field.”
[3:1] 8 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] 9 sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [
[3:1] 10 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.
[31:1] 10 tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”
[31:1] 11 sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).
[31:1] 12 tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”
[31:12] 13 tn Heb “lift up (now) your eyes and see.”
[31:12] 14 tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.
[34:7] 16 tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:7] 17 tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.
[34:7] 18 tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.
[34:7] 19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:7] 20 tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”
[34:7] 21 tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.
[34:7] 22 tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.
[39:22] 19 tn Heb “all which they were doing there, he was doing.” This probably means that Joseph was in charge of everything that went on in the prison.
[42:28] 22 tn Heb “and their heart went out.” Since this expression is used only here, the exact meaning is unclear. The following statement suggests that it may refer to a sudden loss of emotional strength, so “They were dismayed” adequately conveys the meaning (cf. NRSV); NIV has “Their hearts sank.”
[42:28] 23 tn Heb “and they trembled, a man to his neighbor.”
[42:28] 24 tn Heb “What is this God has done to us?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question.
