Genesis 1:2

1:2 Now ¹  the earth ²  was without shape and empty, ³  and darkness ⁴  was over the surface of the watery deep, ⁵  but the Spirit of God ⁶  was moving ⁷  over the surface ⁸  of the water. ⁹ 

Genesis 4:14

4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land ¹⁰  today, and I must hide from your presence. ¹¹  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.”

Genesis 6:13

6:13 So God said ¹²  to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, ¹³  for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy ¹⁴  them and the earth.

Genesis 10:9

10:9 He was a mighty hunter ¹⁵  before the Lord. ¹⁶  (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”)

Genesis 19:28

19:28 He looked out toward ¹⁷  Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. ¹⁸  As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 25:18

25:18 His descendants ²⁰  settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next ²¹  to Egypt all the way ²²  to Asshur. ²³  They settled ²⁴  away from all their relatives. ²⁵ 

Genesis 32:30

32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, ²⁶  explaining, ²⁷  “Certainly ²⁸  I have seen God face to face ²⁹  and have survived.” ³⁰ 

Genesis 41:46

41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old ³¹  when he began serving ³²  Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by ³³  Pharaoh and was in charge of ³⁴  all the land of Egypt.

[1:2]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction (vav [ו] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1, the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.

[1:2]  ² tn That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10. Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.

[1:2]  ³ tn Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ (tohu) and בֹּהוּ (bohu), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2.

[1:2]  ⁴ sn Darkness. The Hebrew word simply means “darkness,” but in the Bible it has come to symbolize what opposes God, such as judgment (Exod 10:21), death (Ps 88:13), oppression (Isa 9:1), the wicked (1 Sam 2:9) and in general, sin. In Isa 45:7 it parallels “evil.” It is a fitting cover for the primeval waste, but it prepares the reader for the fact that God is about to reveal himself through his works.

[1:2]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 7:11).

[1:2]  ⁶ tn The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38; Exod 31:3; 35:31; Num 24:2; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20).

[1:2]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10. (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1.)

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “face.”

[1:2]  ⁹ sn The water. The text deliberately changes now from the term for the watery deep to the general word for water. The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic abyss-like deep. The change may be merely stylistic, but it may also carry some significance. The deep carries with it the sense of the abyss, chaos, darkness – in short, that which is not good for life.

[4:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”

[4:14]  ¹¹ sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the Lord as a result of sin also appears in Gen 3:8-10.

[6:13]  ¹⁹ sn On the divine style utilized here, see R. Lapointe, “The Divine Monologue as a Channel of Revelation,” CBQ 32 (1970): 161-81.

[6:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the end of all flesh is coming [or “has come”] before me.” (The verb form is either a perfect or a participle.) The phrase “end of all flesh” occurs only here. The term “end” refers here to the end of “life,” as v. 3 and the following context (which describes how God destroys all flesh) make clear. The statement “the end has come” occurs in Ezek 7:2, 6, where it is used of divine judgment. The phrase “come before” occurs in Exod 28:30, 35; 34:34; Lev 15:14; Num 27:17; 1 Sam 18:13, 16; 2 Sam 19:8; 20:8; 1 Kgs 1:23, 28, 32; Ezek 46:9; Pss 79:11 (groans come before God); 88:3 (a prayer comes before God); 100:2; 119:170 (prayer comes before God); Lam 1:22 (evil doing comes before God); Esth 1:19; 8:1; 9:25; 1 Chr 16:29. The expression often means “have an audience with” or “appear before.” But when used metaphorically, it can mean “get the attention of” or “prompt a response.” This is probably the sense in Gen 6:13. The necessity of ending the life of all flesh on earth is an issue that has gotten the attention of God. The term “end” may even be a metonymy for that which has prompted it – violence (see the following clause).

[6:13]  ²¹ tn The participle, especially after הִנֵּה (hinneh) has an imminent future nuance. The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) here has the sense “to destroy” (in judgment). Note the wordplay involving this verb in vv. 11-13: The earth is “ruined” because all flesh has acted in a morally “corrupt” manner. Consequently, God will “destroy” all flesh (the referent of the suffix “them”) along with the ruined earth. They had ruined themselves and the earth with violence, and now God would ruin them with judgment. For other cases where “earth” occurs as the object of the Hiphil of שָׁחָת, see 1 Sam 6:5; 1 Chr 20:1; Jer 36:29; 51:25.

[10:9]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).

[10:9]  ²⁹ tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the Lord [YHWH]”), as a means of expressing the superlative degree. In this case one may translate “Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the world.”

[19:28]  ³⁷ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[19:28]  ³⁸ tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:28]  ³⁹ tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

[25:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.

[25:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “as you go.”

[25:18]  ⁴⁹ sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.

[25:18]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “he fell.”

[25:18]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “upon the face of all his brothers.” This last expression, obviously alluding to the earlier oracle about Ishmael (Gen 16:12), could mean that the descendants of Ishmael lived in hostility to others or that they lived in a territory that was opposite the lands of their relatives. While there is some ambiguity about the meaning, the line probably does give a hint of the Ishmaelite-Israelite conflicts to come.

[32:30]  ⁵⁵ sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

[32:30]  ⁵⁶ tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:30]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “because.”

[32:30]  ⁵⁸ sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

[32:30]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

[41:46]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “a son of thirty years.”

[41:46]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “when he stood before.”

[41:46]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “went out from before.”

[41:46]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and he passed through all the land of Egypt”; this phrase is interpreted by JPS to mean that Joseph “emerged in charge of the whole land.”