Genesis 1:26

1:26 Then God said, “Let us make ¹ 

humankind ²  in our image, after our likeness, ³  so they may rule ⁴  over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, ⁵  and over all the creatures that move ⁶  on the earth.”

Genesis 17:23

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ⁷  and circumcised them ⁸  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.

Genesis 19:2

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ⁹  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ¹⁰  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ¹¹ 

Genesis 19:8

19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ¹²  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ¹³  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ¹⁴  of my roof.” ¹⁵ 

Genesis 20:9

20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ¹⁶  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ¹⁷ 

Genesis 24:30

24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring ¹⁸  and heard his sister Rebekah say, ¹⁹  “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing ²⁰  by the camels near the spring.

Genesis 31:42

31:42 If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears ²¹  – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, ²²  and he rebuked you last night.”

Genesis 34:30

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ²³  on me by making me a foul odor ²⁴  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ²⁵  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”

Genesis 37:10

37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? ²⁶  Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” ²⁷ 

Genesis 37:22

37:22 Reuben continued, ²⁸  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ²⁹  (Reuben said this ³⁰  so he could rescue Joseph ³¹  from them ³²  and take him back to his father.)

Genesis 39:5

39:5 From the time ³³  Potiphar ³⁴  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ³⁵  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ³⁶  in his house and in his fields. ³⁷ 

Genesis 44:16

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ³⁸  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ³⁹  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ⁴⁰  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

Genesis 44:20

44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ⁴¹  The boy’s ⁴²  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ⁴³  and his father loves him.’

Genesis 46:34

46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ⁴⁴  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ⁴⁵  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ⁴⁶  to the Egyptians.”

Genesis 47:29

47:29 The time ⁴⁷  for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh ⁴⁸  and show me kindness and faithfulness. ⁴⁹  Do not bury me in Egypt,

[1:26]  ¹ sn The plural form of the verb has been the subject of much discussion through the years, and not surprisingly several suggestions have been put forward. Many Christian theologians interpret it as an early hint of plurality within the Godhead, but this view imposes later trinitarian concepts on the ancient text. Some have suggested the plural verb indicates majesty, but the plural of majesty is not used with verbs. C. Westermann (Genesis, 1:145) argues for a plural of “deliberation” here, but his proposed examples of this use (2 Sam 24:14; Isa 6:8) do not actually support his theory. In 2 Sam 24:14 David uses the plural as representative of all Israel, and in Isa 6:8 the Lord speaks on behalf of his heavenly court. In its ancient Israelite context the plural is most naturally understood as referring to God and his heavenly court (see 1 Kgs 22:19-22; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Isa 6:1-8). (The most well-known members of this court are God’s messengers, or angels. In Gen 3:5 the serpent may refer to this group as “gods/divine beings.” See the note on the word “evil” in 3:5.) If this is the case, God invites the heavenly court to participate in the creation of humankind (perhaps in the role of offering praise, see Job 38:7), but he himself is the one who does the actual creative work (v. 27). Of course, this view does assume that the members of the heavenly court possess the divine “image” in some way. Since the image is closely associated with rulership, perhaps they share the divine image in that they, together with God and under his royal authority, are the executive authority over the world.

[1:26]  ² tn The Hebrew word is אָדָם (’adam), which can sometimes refer to man, as opposed to woman. The term refers here to humankind, comprised of male and female. The singular is clearly collective (see the plural verb, “[that] they may rule” in v. 26b) and the referent is defined specifically as “male and female” in v. 27. Usage elsewhere in Gen 1-11 supports this as well. In 5:2 we read: “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and called their name ‘humankind’ (אָדָם).” The noun also refers to humankind in 6:1, 5-7 and in 9:5-6.

[1:26]  ³ tn The two prepositions translated “in” and “according to” have overlapping fields of meaning and in this context seem to be virtually equivalent. In 5:3 they are reversed with the two words. The word צֶלֶם (tselem, “image”) is used frequently of statues, models, and images – replicas (see D. J. A. Clines, “The Etymology of Hebrew selem,” JNSL 3 [1974]: 19-25). The word דְּמוּת (dÿmut, “likeness”) is an abstract noun; its verbal root means “to be like; to resemble.” In the Book of Genesis the two terms describe human beings who in some way reflect the form and the function of the creator. The form is more likely stressing the spiritual rather than the physical. The “image of God” would be the God-given mental and spiritual capacities that enable people to relate to God and to serve him by ruling over the created order as his earthly vice-regents.

[1:26]  ⁴ tn Following the cohortative (“let us make”), the prefixed verb form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result (see Gen 19:20; 34:23; 2 Sam 3:21). God’s purpose in giving humankind his image is that they might rule the created order on behalf of the heavenly king and his royal court. So the divine image, however it is defined, gives humankind the capacity and/or authority to rule over creation.

[1:26]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “earth”; the Syriac reads “wild animals” (cf. NRSV).

[1:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “creep” (also in v. 28).

[17:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

[17:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.

[19:2]  ¹³ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ¹⁴ tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ¹⁵ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ²² sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[20:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[24:30]  ³¹ tn Heb “And it was when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister.” The word order is altered in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[24:30]  ³² tn Heb “and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying.”

[24:30]  ³³ tn Heb “and look, he was standing.” The disjunctive clause with the participle following the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites the audience to view the scene through Laban’s eyes.

[31:42]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the fear of Isaac,” that is, the one whom Isaac feared and respected. For further discussion of this title see M. Malul, “More on pahad yitschaq (Gen. 31:42,53) and the Oath by the Thigh,” VT 35 (1985): 192-200.

[31:42]  ³⁸ tn Heb “My oppression and the work of my hands God saw.”

[34:30]  ⁴³ tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.

[34:30]  ⁴⁴ tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.

[34:30]  ⁴⁵ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

[37:10]  ⁴⁹ sn The question What is this dream that you had? expresses Jacob’s dismay at what he perceives to be Joseph’s audacity.

[37:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Coming, will we come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you to the ground?” The verb “come” is preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Jacob said, “You don’t really think we will come…to bow down…do you?”

[37:22]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”

[37:22]  ⁵⁶ sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.

[37:22]  ⁵⁷ tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[37:22]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:22]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ⁶² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ⁶³ sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ⁶⁵ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.

[44:16]  ⁶⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ⁶⁸ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ⁶⁹ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[44:20]  ⁷³ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

[46:34]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “your servants are men of cattle.”

[46:34]  ⁸⁰ sn So that you may live in the land of Goshen. Joseph is apparently trying to stress to Pharaoh that his family is self-sufficient, that they will not be a drain on the economy of Egypt. But they will need land for their animals and so Goshen, located on the edge of Egypt, would be a suitable place for them to live. The settled Egyptians were uneasy with nomadic people, but if Jacob and his family settled in Goshen they would represent no threat.

[46:34]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “is an abomination.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 43:32 and Exod 8:22.

[47:29]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “days.”

[47:29]  ⁸⁶ sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

[47:29]  ⁸⁷ tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”