Genesis 10:5

10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.

Genesis 11:7

11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse ¹  their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” ² 

Genesis 26:31

26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. ³  Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. ⁴ 

Genesis 31:49

31:49 It was also called Mizpah ⁵  because he said, “May the Lord watch ⁶  between us ⁷  when we are out of sight of one another. ⁸ 

Genesis 32:24

32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man ⁹  wrestled ¹⁰  with him until daybreak. ¹¹ 

Genesis 37:15

37:15 When Joseph reached Shechem, ¹²  a man found him wandering ¹³  in the field, so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

Genesis 37:19

37:19 They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams! ¹⁴ 

Genesis 38:2

38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man ¹⁵  named Shua. ¹⁶  Judah acquired her as a wife ¹⁷  and had marital relations with her. ¹⁸ 

Genesis 39:2

39:2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful ¹⁹  and lived ²⁰  in the household of his Egyptian master.

Genesis 41:11

41:11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning. ²¹ 

Genesis 41:33

41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look ²²  for a wise and discerning man ²³  and give him authority ²⁴  over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:38

41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ²⁵  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ²⁶ 

Genesis 42:11

42:11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies.”

Genesis 43:33

43:33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. ²⁷  The men looked at each other in astonishment. ²⁸ 

[11:7]  ¹ tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the Lord our God said to us…. And the Lord went down and we went down with him. And we saw the city and the tower which the sons of men built.” On the chiastic structure of the story, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:235.

[11:7]  ² tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”

[26:31]  ¹ tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”

[26:31]  ² tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”

[31:49]  ¹ tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

[31:49]  ² sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

[31:49]  ³ tn Heb “between me and you.”

[31:49]  ⁴ tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”

[32:24]  ¹ sn Reflecting Jacob’s perspective at the beginning of the encounter, the narrator calls the opponent simply “a man.” Not until later in the struggle does Jacob realize his true identity.

[32:24]  ² sn The verb translated “wrestled” (וַיֵּאָבֵק, vayye’aveq) sounds in Hebrew like the names “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב, ya’aqov) and “Jabbok” (יַבֹּק, yabboq). In this way the narrator links the setting, the main action, and the main participant together in the mind of the reader or hearer.

[32:24]  ³ tn Heb “until the rising of the dawn.”

[37:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and he [i.e., Joseph] went to Shechem.” The referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:15]  ² tn Heb “and a man found him and look, he was wandering in the field.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the action through this unnamed man’s eyes.

[37:19]  ¹ tn Heb “Look, this master of dreams is coming.” The brothers’ words have a sarcastic note and indicate that they resent his dreams.

[38:2]  ¹ tn Heb “a man, a Canaanite.”

[38:2]  ² tn Heb “and his name was Shua.”

[38:2]  ³ tn Heb “and he took her.”

[38:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).

[39:2]  ² tn Heb “and he was.”

[41:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we dreamed.”

[41:33]  ¹ tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

[41:33]  ² tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:33]  ³ tn Heb “and let him set him.”

[41:38]  ¹ tn Heb “like this,” but the referent could be misunderstood to be a man like that described by Joseph in v. 33, rather than Joseph himself. For this reason the proper name “Joseph” has been supplied in the translation.

[41:38]  ² tn The rhetorical question expects the answer “No, of course not!”

[43:33]  ¹ tn Heb “the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth.”

[43:33]  ² sn The brothers’ astonishment indicates that Joseph arranged them in this way. They were astonished because there was no way, as far as they were concerned, that Joseph could have known the order of their birth.