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 19:1

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ⁴  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ⁵  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

Genesis 25:7

25:7 Abraham lived a total of ⁶  175 years.

Genesis 25:17

25:17 Ishmael lived a total of ⁷  137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. ⁸ 

Genesis 25:23

25:23 and the Lord said to her,

“Two nations ⁹  are in your womb,

and two peoples will be separated from within you.

One people will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

Genesis 27:9

27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare ¹⁰  them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them.

Genesis 38:28

38:28 While she was giving birth, one child ¹¹  put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

Genesis 41:27

41:27 The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent ¹²  seven years of famine.

Genesis 41:30

41:30 But seven years of famine will occur ¹³  after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate ¹⁴  the land.

Genesis 41:34

41:34 Pharaoh should do ¹⁵  this – he should appoint ¹⁶  officials ¹⁷  throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt ¹⁸  during the seven years of abundance.

Genesis 41:36

41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” ¹⁹ 

Genesis 41:50

41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. ²⁰  Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. ²¹ 

Genesis 41:54

41:54 Then the seven years of famine began, ²²  just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food.

Genesis 47:28

47:28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years ²³  of Jacob’s life were 147 in all.

Genesis 48:1

Manasseh and Ephraim

48:1 After these things Joseph was told, ²⁴  “Your father is weakening.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.

[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.

[19:1]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[25:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and these are the days of the years of the lifetime of Abraham that he lived.” The normal genealogical formula is expanded here due to the importance of the life of Abraham.

[25:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”

[25:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.

[25:23]  ¹¹ sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.

[27:9]  ¹³ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

[38:28]  ¹⁵ tn The word “child” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “are.” Another option is to translate, “There will be seven years of famine.”

[41:30]  ¹⁹ tn The perfect with the vav consecutive continues the time frame of the preceding participle, which has an imminent future nuance here.

[41:30]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb כָּלָה (kalah) in the Piel stem means “to finish, to destroy, to bring an end to.” The severity of the famine will ruin the land of Egypt.

[41:34]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The Samaritan Pentateuch has a jussive form here, “and let [Pharaoh] do.”

[41:34]  ²² tn Heb “and let him appoint.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

[41:34]  ²³ tn Heb “appointees.” The noun is a cognate accusative of the preceding verb. Since “appoint appointees” would be redundant in English, the term “officials” was used in the translation instead.

[41:34]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he shall collect a fifth of the land of Egypt.” The language is figurative (metonymy); it means what the land produces, i.e., the harvest.

[41:36]  ²³ tn Heb “and the land will not be cut off in the famine.”

[41:50]  ²⁵ tn Heb “before the year of the famine came.”

[41:50]  ²⁶ tn Heb “gave birth for him.”

[41:54]  ²⁷ tn Heb “began to arrive.”

[47:28]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the days of the years.”

[48:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “and one said.” With no expressed subject in the Hebrew text, the verb can be translated with the passive voice.