Genesis 1:9

1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place ¹  and let dry ground appear.” ²  It was so.

Genesis 1:14

1:14 God said, “Let there be lights ³  in the expanse ⁴  of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs ⁵  to indicate seasons and days and years,

Genesis 1:20

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms ⁶  of living creatures and let birds fly ⁷  above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

Genesis 2:20

2:20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam ⁸  no companion who corresponded to him was found. ⁹ 

Genesis 7:3

7:3 and also seven ¹⁰  of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, ¹¹  to preserve their offspring ¹²  on the face of the earth.

Genesis 7:19

7:19 The waters completely inundated ¹³  the earth so that even ¹⁴  all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.

Genesis 24:3

24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise ¹⁵  by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire ¹⁶  a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

Genesis 26:4

26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ¹⁷  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ¹⁸ 

Genesis 27:39

27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,

“Indeed, ¹⁹  your home will be

away from the richness ²⁰  of the earth,

and away from the dew of the sky above.

Genesis 28:17

28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

[1:9]  ¹ sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.

[1:9]  ² tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.

[1:14]  ³ sn Let there be lights. Light itself was created before the light-bearers. The order would not seem strange to the ancient Hebrew mind that did not automatically link daylight with the sun (note that dawn and dusk appear to have light without the sun).

[1:14]  ⁴ tn The language describing the cosmos, which reflects a prescientific view of the world, must be interpreted as phenomenal, describing what appears to be the case. The sun and the moon are not in the sky (below the clouds), but from the viewpoint of a person standing on the earth, they appear that way. Even today we use similar phenomenological expressions, such as “the sun is rising” or “the stars in the sky.”

[1:14]  ⁵ tn The text has “for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” It seems likely from the meanings of the words involved that “signs” is the main idea, followed by two categories, “seasons” and “days and years.” This is the simplest explanation, and one that matches vv. 11-13. It could even be rendered “signs for the fixed seasons, that is [explicative vav (ו)] days and years.”

[1:20]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[2:20]  ⁷ tn Here for the first time the Hebrew word אָדָם (’adam) appears without the article, suggesting that it might now be the name “Adam” rather than “[the] man.” Translations of the Bible differ as to where they make the change from “man” to “Adam” (e.g., NASB and NIV translate “Adam” here, while NEB and NRSV continue to use “the man”; the KJV uses “Adam” twice in v. 19).

[2:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “there was not found a companion who corresponded to him.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is indefinite. Without a formally expressed subject the verb may be translated as passive: “one did not find = there was not found.”

[7:3]  ⁹ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

[7:3]  ¹⁰ tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).

[7:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”

[7:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.

[7:19]  ¹² tn Heb “and.”

[24:3]  ¹³ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

[24:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “because you must not take.”

[26:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ¹⁶ tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)

[27:39]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “look.”

[27:39]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from the fatness.”