Genesis 11:9

11:9 That is why its name was called ¹  Babel ²  – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

Genesis 26:18

26:18 Isaac reopened ³  the wells that had been dug ⁴  back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up ⁵  after Abraham died. Isaac ⁶  gave these wells ⁷  the same names his father had given them. ⁸ 

Genesis 27:36

27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! ⁹  He has tripped me up ¹⁰  two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”

Genesis 29:34

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ¹¹  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ¹² 

Genesis 50:11

50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ¹³  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ¹⁴  Abel Mizraim, ¹⁵  which is beyond the Jordan.

[11:9]  ¹ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

[11:9]  ² sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

[26:18]  ³ tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

[26:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

[26:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

[26:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”

[27:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.

[27:36]  ⁶ sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”

[29:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ⁸ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[50:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”

[50:11]  ¹⁰ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.

[50:11]  ¹¹ sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”