Genesis 1:5

1:5 God called ¹  the light “day” and the darkness ²  “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. ³ 

Genesis 39:10

39:10 Even though she continued to speak ⁴  to Joseph day after day, he did not respond ⁵  to her invitation to have sex with her. ⁶ 

Genesis 50:3

50:3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. ⁷  The Egyptians mourned ⁸  for him seventy days. ⁹ 

[1:5]  ¹ tn Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.”

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:5]  ³ tn Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.”

[39:10]  ⁴ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition כְּ (kÿ). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.

[39:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “listen to.”

[39:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[50:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “and forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming.”

[50:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “wept.”

[50:3]  ⁹ sn Seventy days. This probably refers to a time of national mourning.