Genesis 1:14

1:14 God said, “Let there be lights ¹  in the expanse ²  of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs ³  to indicate seasons and days and years,

Genesis 4:15

4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ⁴  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ⁵  Then the Lord put a special mark ⁶  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ⁷ 

Genesis 9:12

9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee ⁸  of the covenant I am making ⁹  with you ¹⁰  and every living creature with you, a covenant ¹¹  for all subsequent ¹²  generations:

Genesis 9:17

9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things ¹³  that are on the earth.”

[1:14]  ¹ sn Let there be lights. Light itself was created before the light-bearers. The order would not seem strange to the ancient Hebrew mind that did not automatically link daylight with the sun (note that dawn and dusk appear to have light without the sun).

[1:14]  ² tn The language describing the cosmos, which reflects a prescientific view of the world, must be interpreted as phenomenal, describing what appears to be the case. The sun and the moon are not in the sky (below the clouds), but from the viewpoint of a person standing on the earth, they appear that way. Even today we use similar phenomenological expressions, such as “the sun is rising” or “the stars in the sky.”

[1:14]  ³ tn The text has “for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” It seems likely from the meanings of the words involved that “signs” is the main idea, followed by two categories, “seasons” and “days and years.” This is the simplest explanation, and one that matches vv. 11-13. It could even be rendered “signs for the fixed seasons, that is [explicative vav (ו)] days and years.”

[4:15]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”

[4:15]  ⁵ sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[4:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.

[4:15]  ⁷ sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.

[9:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “sign.”

[9:12]  ⁸ sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.

[9:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “between me and between you.”

[9:12]  ¹⁰ tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:12]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.

[9:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all flesh.”