Genesis 1:29

1:29 Then God said, “I now ¹  give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ² 

Genesis 16:2

16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ³  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ⁴  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ⁵  Abram did what ⁶  Sarai told him.

Genesis 19:2

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ⁷  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ⁸  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ⁹ 

Genesis 19:8

19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ¹⁰  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ¹¹  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ¹²  of my roof.” ¹³ 

Genesis 19:19

19:19 Your ¹⁴  servant has found favor with you, ¹⁵  and you have shown me great ¹⁶  kindness ¹⁷  by sparing ¹⁸  my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because ¹⁹  this disaster will overtake ²⁰  me and I’ll die. ²¹ 

Genesis 21:23

21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ²²  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ²³  Show me, and the land ²⁴  where you are staying, ²⁵  the same loyalty ²⁶  that I have shown you.” ²⁷ 

Genesis 26:9

26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really ²⁸  your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.” ²⁹ 

Genesis 27:42

27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, ³⁰  she quickly summoned ³¹  her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. ³² 

Genesis 32:20

32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” ³³  Jacob thought, ³⁴  “I will first appease him ³⁵  by sending a gift ahead of me. ³⁶  After that I will meet him. ³⁷  Perhaps he will accept me.” ³⁸ 

Genesis 34:21

34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough ³⁹  for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. ⁴⁰ 

Genesis 37:9

37:9 Then he had another dream, ⁴¹  and told it to his brothers. “Look,” ⁴²  he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

Genesis 42:28

42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; ⁴³  they turned trembling one to another ⁴⁴  and said, “What in the world has God done to us?” ⁴⁵ 

Genesis 50:5

50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, ⁴⁶  “I am about to die. Bury me ⁴⁷  in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’”

[1:29]  ¹ tn The text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh), often archaically translated “behold.” It is often used to express the dramatic present, the immediacy of an event – “Look, this is what I am doing!”

[1:29]  ² sn G. J. Wenham (Genesis [WBC], 1:34) points out that there is nothing in the passage that prohibits the man and the woman from eating meat. He suggests that eating meat came after the fall. Gen 9:3 may then ratify the postfall practice of eating meat rather than inaugurate the practice, as is often understood.

[16:2]  ³ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

[16:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[19:2]  ⁵ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ⁶ tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ⁷ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

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

[19:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ¹⁰ 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.

[19:19]  ⁹ tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.

[19:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your eyes.”

[19:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”

[19:19]  ¹² sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.

[19:19]  ¹³ tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.

[19:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lest.”

[19:19]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.

[19:19]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.

[21:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ¹² tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ¹³ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[26:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “Surely, look!” See N. H. Snaith, “The meaning of Hebrew ‘ak,” VT 14 (1964): 221-25.

[26:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” Since the verb “said” probably means “said to myself” (i.e., “thought”) here, the direct discourse in the Hebrew statement has been converted to indirect discourse in the translation. In addition the simple prepositional phrase “on account of her” has been clarified in the translation as “to get her” (cf. v. 7).

[27:42]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”

[27:42]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “she sent and called for.”

[27:42]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.

[32:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

[32:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”

[32:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.

[32:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”

[32:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will see his face.”

[32:20]  ²² tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.

[34:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.

[34:21]  ²⁰ tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[37:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”

[37:9]  ²² tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.

[42:28]  ²³ tn Heb “and their heart went out.” Since this expression is used only here, the exact meaning is unclear. The following statement suggests that it may refer to a sudden loss of emotional strength, so “They were dismayed” adequately conveys the meaning (cf. NRSV); NIV has “Their hearts sank.”

[42:28]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they trembled, a man to his neighbor.”

[42:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “What is this God has done to us?” The demonstrative pronoun (“this”) adds emphasis to the question.

[50:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “saying.”

[50:5]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.