Genesis 1:16

1:16 God made two great lights ¹  – the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. ² 

Genesis 10:25

10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, ³  and his brother’s name was Joktan.

Genesis 11:10

The Genealogy of Shem

11:10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

Genesis 24:22

24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka ⁴  and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels ⁵  and gave them to her. ⁶ 

Genesis 27:9

27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare ⁷  them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them.

Genesis 32:7

32:7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels.

Genesis 41:50

41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. ⁸  Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. ⁹ 

Genesis 45:6

45:6 For these past two years there has been famine in ¹⁰  the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

Genesis 46:27

46:27 Counting the two sons ¹¹  of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered seventy. ¹² 

[1:16]  ¹ sn Two great lights. The text goes to great length to discuss the creation of these lights, suggesting that the subject was very important to the ancients. Since these “lights” were considered deities in the ancient world, the section serves as a strong polemic (see G. Hasel, “The Polemical Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,” EvQ 46 [1974]: 81-102). The Book of Genesis is affirming they are created entities, not deities. To underscore this the text does not even give them names. If used here, the usual names for the sun and moon [Shemesh and Yarih, respectively] might have carried pagan connotations, so they are simply described as greater and lesser lights. Moreover, they serve in the capacity that God gives them, which would not be the normal function the pagans ascribed to them. They merely divide, govern, and give light in God’s creation.

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “and the stars.” Now the term “stars” is added as a third object of the verb “made.” Perhaps the language is phenomenological, meaning that the stars appeared in the sky from this time forward.

[10:25]  ³ tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

[24:22]  ⁵ sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).

[24:22]  ⁶ sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).

[24:22]  ⁷ tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[27:9]  ⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

[41:50]  ⁹ tn Heb “before the year of the famine came.”

[41:50]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “gave birth for him.”

[45:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the famine [has been] in the midst of.”

[46:27]  ¹³ tn The LXX reads “nine sons,” probably counting the grandsons of Joseph born to Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. 1 Chr 7:14-20).

[46:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two people; all the people belonging to the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.”