Genesis 13:10

13:10 Lot looked up and saw ¹  the whole region ²  of the Jordan. He noticed ³  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ⁴  Sodom and Gomorrah) ⁵  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ⁶  all the way to Zoar.

Genesis 13:14

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ⁷  “Look ⁸  from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west.

Genesis 21:16

21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ⁹  away; for she thought, ¹⁰  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ¹¹  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ¹² 

Genesis 22:13

22:13 Abraham looked up ¹³  and saw ¹⁴  behind him ¹⁵  a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he ¹⁶  went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Genesis 31:12

31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe ¹⁷  that all the male goats mating with ¹⁸  the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.

Genesis 32:20

32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” ¹⁹  Jacob thought, ²⁰  “I will first appease him ²¹  by sending a gift ahead of me. ²²  After that I will meet him. ²³  Perhaps he will accept me.” ²⁴ 

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ²⁵  and saw that Esau was coming ²⁶  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 33:5

33:5 When Esau ²⁷  looked up ²⁸  and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob ²⁹  replied, “The children whom God has graciously given ³⁰  your servant.”

Genesis 40:13

40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you ³¹  and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before ³²  when you were cupbearer.

Genesis 40:20

40:20 On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He “lifted up” ³³  the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants.

Genesis 43:29

43:29 When Joseph looked up ³⁴  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁵ 

Genesis 44:1

The Final Test

44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

Genesis 45:27

45:27 But when they related to him everything Joseph had said to them, ³⁶  and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, their father Jacob’s spirit revived.

Genesis 50:13

50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.

[13:10]  ¹ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.

[13:10]  ² tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

[13:10]  ³ tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ⁴ sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).

[13:10]  ⁵ tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ⁶ sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

[13:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated himself from with him.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse signals a new scene.

[13:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”

[21:16]  ¹³ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

[22:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”

[22:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.

[22:13]  ²¹ tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac, and Samaritan Pentateuch read “one” (אֶחָד, ’ekhad) instead of “behind him” (אַחַר, ’akhar).

[22:13]  ²² tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “lift up (now) your eyes and see.”

[31:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.

[32:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

[32:20]  ³² tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”

[32:20]  ³³ tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.

[32:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”

[32:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I will see his face.”

[32:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.

[33:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ³⁸ tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[33:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[33:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”

[40:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head.” This Hebrew idiom usually refers to restoring dignity, office, or power. It is comparable to the modern saying “someone can hold his head up high.”

[40:13]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “according to the former custom.”

[40:20]  ⁵⁵ tn The translation puts the verb in quotation marks because it is used rhetorically here and has a double meaning. With respect to the cup bearer it means “reinstate” (see v. 13), but with respect to the baker it means “decapitate” (see v. 19).

[43:29]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ⁶² sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.

[45:27]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and they spoke to him all the words of Joseph which he had spoke to them.”