Genesis 13:4

13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, ¹  and there Abram worshiped the Lord. ² 

Genesis 25:25

25:25 The first came out reddish ³  all over, ⁴  like a hairy ⁵  garment, so they named him Esau. ⁶ 

Genesis 28:19

28:19 He called that place Bethel, ⁷  although the former name of the town was Luz.

Genesis 41:20

41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven ⁸  fat cows.

Genesis 26:1

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred ⁹  in the days of Abraham. ¹⁰  Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Genesis 32:17

32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd, ¹¹  “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? ¹²  Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’ ¹³ 

Genesis 33:2

33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 38:28

38:28 While she was giving birth, one child ¹⁵  put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

Genesis 8:13

8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, ¹⁶  in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that ¹⁷  the surface of the ground was dry.

Genesis 40:13

40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you ¹⁸  and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before ¹⁹  when you were cupbearer.

[13:4]  ¹ tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).

[13:4]  ² tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[25:25]  ³ sn Reddish. The Hebrew word translated “reddish” is אַדְמוֹנִי (’admoni), which forms a wordplay on the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. The writer sees in Esau’s appearance at birth a sign of what was to come. After all, the reader has already been made aware of the “nations” that were being born.

[25:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “all of him.”

[25:25]  ⁵ sn Hairy. Here is another wordplay involving the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word translated “hairy” is שֵׂעָר (se’ar); the Edomites will later live in Mount Seir, perhaps named for its wooded nature.

[25:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “And they called his name Esau.” The name “Esau” (עֵשָׂו, ’esav) is not etymologically related to שֵׂעָר (se’ar), but it draws on some of the sounds.

[28:19]  ⁵ tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).

[41:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “the seven first fat cows.”

[26:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”

[26:1]  ¹⁰ sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.

[32:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.

[32:17]  ¹² tn Heb “to whom are you?”

[32:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”

[33:2]  ¹³ sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.

[38:28]  ¹⁵ tn The word “child” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.

[40:13]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “according to the former custom.”