Genesis 1:20

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms ¹  of living creatures and let birds fly ²  above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

Genesis 4:14

4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land ³  today, and I must hide from your presence. ⁴  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.”

Genesis 7:3

7:3 and also seven ⁵  of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, ⁶  to preserve their offspring ⁷  on the face of the earth.

Genesis 11:4

11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ⁸  so that ⁹  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ¹⁰  we will be scattered ¹¹  across the face of the entire earth.”

Genesis 16:12

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ¹²  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ¹³ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ¹⁴ 

He will live away from ¹⁵  his brothers.”

Genesis 19:13

19:13 because we are about to destroy ¹⁶  it. The outcry against this place ¹⁷  is so great before the Lord that he ¹⁸  has sent us to destroy it.”

Genesis 23:19

23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 25:9

25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah ¹⁹  near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite.

Genesis 31:5

31:5 There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, ²⁰  but the God of my father has been with me.

Genesis 33:18

33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near ²¹  the city.

Genesis 41:56

41:56 While the famine was over all the earth, ²²  Joseph opened the storehouses ²³  and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt.

Genesis 43:3

43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned ²⁴  us, ‘You will not see my face ²⁵  unless your brother is with you.’

Genesis 43:5

43:5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

Genesis 44:23

44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’

Genesis 44:29

44:29 If you take ²⁶  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ²⁷  in tragedy ²⁸  to the grave.’ ²⁹ 

[1:20]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.

[1:20]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.

[4:14]  ³ tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”

[4:14]  ⁴ 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.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

[7:3]  ⁶ tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).

[7:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”

[11:4]  ⁷ tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.

[11:4]  ⁸ tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.

[11:4]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

[11:4]  ¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.

[16:12]  ⁹ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ¹² tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[19:13]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.

[19:13]  ¹² tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord.” The repetition of the divine name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

[25:9]  ¹³ sn The cave of Machpelah was the place Abraham had purchased as a burial place for his wife Sarah (Gen 23:17-18).

[31:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I see the face of your father, that he is not toward me as formerly.”

[33:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in front of.”

[41:56]  ¹⁹ tn Or “over the entire land”; Heb “over all the face of the earth.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-temporal to the next clause.

[41:56]  ²⁰ tc The MT reads “he opened all that was in [or “among”] them.” The translation follows the reading of the LXX and Syriac versions.

[43:3]  ²¹ tn The infinitive absolute with the finite verb stresses the point. The primary meaning of the verb is “to witness; to testify.” It alludes to Joseph’s oath, which was tantamount to a threat or warning.

[43:3]  ²² tn The idiom “see my face” means “have an audience with me.”

[44:29]  ²³ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

[44:29]  ²⁴ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.

[44:29]  ²⁵ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

[44:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.