Genesis 12:17

12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases ¹  because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

Genesis 15:12

15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, ²  and great terror overwhelmed him. ³ 

Genesis 16:4

16:4 He had sexual relations with ⁴  Hagar, and she became pregnant. ⁵  Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. ⁶ 

Genesis 17:9

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep ⁷  the covenantal requirement ⁸  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

Genesis 18:22

18:22 The two men turned ⁹  and headed ¹⁰  toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ¹¹ 

Genesis 18:26

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Genesis 20:1

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ¹²  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ¹³  in Gerar,

Genesis 22:18

22:18 Because you have obeyed me, ¹⁴  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ¹⁵  using the name of your descendants.’”

Genesis 24:59

24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men.

Genesis 31:55

31:55 (32:1) ¹⁶  Early in the morning Laban kissed ¹⁷  his grandchildren ¹⁸  and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 35:9

35:9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him.

Genesis 43:6

43:6 Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble ²⁰  on me by telling ²¹  the man you had one more brother?”

Genesis 43:31

43:31 Then he washed his face and came out. With composure he said, ²²  “Set out the food.”

[12:17]  ¹ tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the Lord inflicted numerous plagues, probably diseases (see Exod 15:26). The adjective “great” emphasizes that the plagues were severe and overwhelming.

[15:12]  ² tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”

[15:12]  ³ tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”

[16:4]  ³ tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.

[16:4]  ⁴ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)

[16:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “and she saw that she was pregnant and her mistress was despised in her eyes.” The Hebrew verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to despise, to treat lightly, to treat with contempt.” In Hagar’s opinion Sarai had been demoted.

[17:9]  ⁴ tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.

[17:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.

[18:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the Lord was the third visitor, who remained behind with Abraham here. The words “from there” are not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “went.”

[18:22]  ⁷ tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” This reading is problematic because the phrase “standing before” typically indicates intercession, but the Lord would certainly not be interceding before Abraham.

[20:1]  ⁶ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[22:18]  ⁷ tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.

[22:18]  ⁸ 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 26:4). 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.)

[31:55]  ⁸ sn Beginning with 31:55, the verse numbers in the English Bible through 32:32 differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 31:55 ET = 32:1 HT, 32:1 ET = 32:2 HT, etc., through 32:32 ET = 32:33 HT. From 33:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[31:55]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Laban got up early in the morning and he kissed.”

[31:55]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his sons.”

[31:55]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to his place.”

[43:6]  ⁹ tn The verb may even have a moral connotation here, “Why did you do evil to me?”

[43:6]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive construct here explains how they brought trouble on Jacob.

[43:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he controlled himself and said.”