Genesis 1:22

1:22 God blessed them ¹  and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ² 

Genesis 7:8

7:8 Pairs ³  of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground,

Genesis 7:19

7:19 The waters completely inundated ⁴  the earth so that even ⁵  all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.

Genesis 13:4

13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, ⁶  and there Abram worshiped the Lord. ⁷ 

Genesis 16:7

16:7 The Lord’s angel ⁸  found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. ⁹ 

Genesis 19:25

19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ¹⁰  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ¹¹  from the ground.

Genesis 21:8

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared ¹²  a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ¹³ 

Genesis 21:33

21:33 Abraham ¹⁴  planted a tamarisk tree ¹⁵  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ¹⁶  the eternal God.

Genesis 26:31

26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. ¹⁷  Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. ¹⁸ 

Genesis 33:4

33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept.

Genesis 33:12

33:12 Then Esau ¹⁹  said, “Let’s be on our way! ²⁰  I will go in front of you.”

Genesis 36:37

36:37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River ²¹  reigned in his place.

Genesis 45:7

45:7 God sent me ²²  ahead of you to preserve you ²³  on the earth and to save your lives ²⁴  by a great deliverance.

[1:22]  ¹ tn While the translation “blessed” has been retained here for the sake of simplicity, it would be most helpful to paraphrase it as “God endowed them with fruitfulness” or something similar, for here it refers to God’s giving the animals the capacity to reproduce. The expression “blessed” needs clarification in its different contexts, for it is one of the unifying themes of the Book of Genesis. The divine blessing occurs after works of creation and is intended to continue that work – the word of blessing guarantees success. The word means “to enrich; to endow,” and the most visible evidence of that enrichment is productivity or fruitfulness. See C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[1:22]  ² sn The instruction God gives to creation is properly a fuller expression of the statement just made (“God blessed them”), that he enriched them with the ability to reproduce. It is not saying that these were rational creatures who heard and obeyed the word; rather, it stresses that fruitfulness in the animal world is a result of the divine decree and not of some pagan cultic ritual for fruitfulness. The repeated emphasis of “be fruitful – multiply – fill” adds to this abundance God has given to life. The meaning is underscored by the similar sounds: בָּרָךְ (barakh) with בָּרָא (bara’), and פָּרָה (parah) with רָבָה (ravah).

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”

[7:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.

[7:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and.”

[13:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).

[13:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[16:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “the messenger of the Lord.” Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, it is more likely that the angel merely represents the Lord; he can speak for the Lord because he is sent with the Lord’s full authority. In some cases the angel is clearly distinct from the Lord (see Judg 6:11-23). It is not certain if the same angel is always in view. Though the proper name following the noun “angel” makes the construction definite, this may simply indicate that a definite angel sent from the Lord is referred to in any given context. It need not be the same angel on every occasion. Note the analogous expression “the servant of the Lord,” which refers to various individuals in the OT (see BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד).

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And the angel of the Lord found her near the spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the way to Shur.”

[19:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:25]  ¹² tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”

[21:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “made.”

[21:8]  ¹⁴ sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.

[21:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:33]  ¹⁶ sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.

[21:33]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[26:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”

[26:31]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”

[33:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “let us travel and let us go.” The two cohortatives are used in combination with the sense, “let’s travel along, get going, be on our way.”

[36:37]  ²¹ tn Typically the Hebrew expression “the River” refers to the Euphrates River, but it is not certain whether that is the case here. Among the modern English versions which take this as a reference to the Euphrates are NASB, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT. Cf. NAB, TEV “Rehoboth-on-the-River.”

[45:7]  ²³ sn God sent me. The repetition of this theme that God sent Joseph is reminiscent of commission narratives in which the leader could announce that God sent him (e.g., Exod 3:15).

[45:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to make you a remnant.” The verb, followed here by the preposition לְ (lÿ), means “to make.”

[45:7]  ²⁵ tn The infinitive gives a second purpose for God’s action.