Genesis 12:14-15

12:14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife ¹  was taken ²  into the household of Pharaoh, ³ 

Genesis 37:18

37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers ⁴  saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

Genesis 6:2

6:2 the sons of God ⁵  saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.

Genesis 37:4

37:4 When Joseph’s ⁶  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ⁷  they hated Joseph ⁸  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ⁹ 

Genesis 42:35

42:35 When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid.

Genesis 37:25

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ¹⁰  and saw ¹¹  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ¹² 

Genesis 50:15

50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay ¹³  us in full ¹⁴  for all the harm ¹⁵  we did to him?”

[12:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.

[12:15]  ² tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.

[12:15]  ³ tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.

[37:18]  ¹ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:2]  ¹ sn The Hebrew phrase translated “sons of God” (בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים, bÿne-ha’elohim) occurs only here (Gen 6:2, 4) and in Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. There are three major interpretations of the phrase here. (1) In the Book of Job the phrase clearly refers to angelic beings. In Gen 6 the “sons of God” are distinct from “humankind,” suggesting they were not human. This is consistent with the use of the phrase in Job. Since the passage speaks of these beings cohabiting with women, they must have taken physical form or possessed the bodies of men. An early Jewish tradition preserved in 1 En. 6-7 elaborates on this angelic revolt and even names the ringleaders. (2) Not all scholars accept the angelic interpretation of the “sons of God,” however. Some argue that the “sons of God” were members of Seth’s line, traced back to God through Adam in Gen 5, while the “daughters of humankind” were descendants of Cain. But, as noted above, the text distinguishes the “sons of God” from humankind (which would include the Sethites as well as the Cainites) and suggests that the “daughters of humankind” are human women in general, not just Cainites. (3) Others identify the “sons of God” as powerful tyrants, perhaps demon-possessed, who viewed themselves as divine and, following the example of Lamech (see Gen 4:19), practiced polygamy. But usage of the phrase “sons of God” in Job militates against this view. For literature on the subject see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:135.

[37:4]  ¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:4]  ² tn Heb “of his brothers.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “them.”

[37:4]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “speak to him for peace.”

[37:25]  ¹ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

[37:25]  ² tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.

[37:25]  ³ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

[50:15]  ¹ tn The imperfect tense could be a simple future; it could also have a desiderative nuance.

[50:15]  ² tn The infinitive absolute makes the statement emphatic, “repay in full.”

[50:15]  ³ tn Or “evil.”