Genesis 10:25

10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, ¹  and his brother’s name was Joktan.

Genesis 15:2

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ²  what will you give me since ³  I continue to be ⁴  childless, and my heir ⁵  is ⁶  Eliezer of Damascus?” ⁷ 

Genesis 26:10

26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? ⁸  One of the men ⁹  might easily have had sexual relations with ¹⁰  your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

Genesis 27:20

27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world ¹¹  did you find it so quickly, ¹²  my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” ¹³  he replied. ¹⁴ 

[10:25]  ¹ tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

[15:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master, Lord”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “master”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Master, God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Master” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Master, Lord,” which is rendered here “sovereign Lord.”

[15:2]  ³ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “I am going.”

[15:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

[15:2]  ⁶ tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

[15:2]  ⁷ sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.

[26:10]  ³ tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[26:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “people.”

[26:10]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”

[27:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “What is this?” The enclitic pronoun “this” adds emphasis to the question, which is comparable to the English rhetorical question, “How in the world?”

[27:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.

[27:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “caused to meet before me.”

[27:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Because the Lord your God….’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.