Genesis 14:5

14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated ¹  the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

Genesis 16:2

16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ²  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ³  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ⁴  Abram did what ⁵  Sarai told him.

Genesis 19:9

19:9 “Out of our way!” ⁶  they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, ⁷  and now he dares to judge us! ⁸  We’ll do more harm ⁹  to you than to them!” They kept ¹⁰  pressing in on Lot until they were close enough ¹¹  to break down the door.

Genesis 27:30

27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left ¹²  his father’s ¹³  presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ¹⁵  and saw that Esau was coming ¹⁶  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 38:9

38:9 But Onan knew that the child ¹⁷  would not be considered his. ¹⁸  So whenever ¹⁹  he had sexual relations with ²⁰  his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely ²¹  so as not to give his brother a descendant.

Genesis 39:14

39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought ²²  in a Hebrew man ²³  to us to humiliate us. ²⁴  He tried to have sex with me, ²⁵  but I screamed loudly. ²⁶ 

Genesis 43:23

43:23 “Everything is fine,” ²⁷  the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. ²⁸  I had your money.” ²⁹  Then he brought Simeon out to them.

[14:5]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to attack, to strike, to smite.” In this context it appears that the strike was successful, and so a translation of “defeated” is preferable.

[16:2]  ² tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ³ tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[19:9]  ³ tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”

[19:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”

[19:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”

[19:9]  ⁶ tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.

[19:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”

[19:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they drew near.”

[27:30]  ⁴ tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.

[27:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was

[27:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”

[33:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ⁶ 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.

[38:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “offspring.”

[38:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.

[38:9]  ⁸ tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.

[38:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.

[39:14]  ⁷ tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[39:14]  ⁸ sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.

[39:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.

[39:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”

[43:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he said, ‘peace to you.’” Here the statement has the force of “everything is fine,” or perhaps even “calm down.” The referent of “he” (the man in charge of Joseph’ household) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[43:23]  ⁹ sn Your God and the God of your father…This is the first clear reference in the story to the theme of divine providence – that God works through the human actions to do his will.

[43:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your money came to me.”