Discovery BoxGenesis 14:1
Context14:1 At that time 1 Amraphel king of Shinar, 2 Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations 3
Genesis 9:1-29
Context9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. 4 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 5 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 6 As I gave you 7 the green plants, I now give 8 you everything.
9:4 But 9 you must not eat meat 10 with its life (that is, 11 its blood) in it. 12 9:5 For your lifeblood 13 I will surely exact punishment, 14 from 15 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 16 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 17 since the man was his relative. 18
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 19
by other humans 20
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 21
God 22 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 23 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 24 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 25 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 26 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. 27 9:11 I confirm 28 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 29 be wiped out 30 by the waters of a flood; 31 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 32 of the covenant I am making 33 with you 34 and every living creature with you, a covenant 35 for all subsequent 36 generations: 9:13 I will place 37 my rainbow 38 in the clouds, and it will become 39 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 40 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 41 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 42 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 43 all living things. 44 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 45 the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”
9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things 46 that are on the earth.”
9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 47 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 48
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, 49 began to plant a vineyard. 50 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself 51 inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 52 saw his father’s nakedness 53 and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 54 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 55 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 56 he learned 57 what his youngest son had done 58 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 61
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 62 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 63
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 64
May he live 65 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 9:29 The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.
Genesis 20:1--21:34
Context20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev 66 region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident 67 in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God appeared 68 to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead 69 because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” 70
20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, 71 would you really slaughter an innocent nation? 72 20:5 Did Abraham 73 not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, 74 ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience 75 and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. 76 That is why I have kept you 77 from sinning against me and why 78 I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed 79 he is a prophet 80 and he will pray for you; thus you will live. 81 But if you don’t give her back, 82 know that you will surely die 83 along with all who belong to you.”
20:8 Early in the morning 84 Abimelech summoned 85 all his servants. When he told them about all these things, 86 they 87 were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? 88 You have done things to me that should not be done!” 89 20:10 Then Abimelech asked 90 Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” 91
20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, 92 ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of 93 my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, 94 she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander 95 from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: 96 Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
20:14 So Abimelech gave 97 sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” 98
20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver 99 to your ‘brother.’ 100 This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” 101
20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Lord 102 had caused infertility to strike every woman 103 in the household of Abimelech because he took 104 Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
21:1 The Lord visited 105 Sarah just as he had said he would and did 106 for Sarah what he had promised. 107 21:2 So Sarah became pregnant 108 and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 109 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, 110 Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. 111 21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) 112
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 113 Everyone who hears about this 114 will laugh 115 with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, 116 “Who would 117 have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared 118 a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 119 21:9 But Sarah noticed 120 the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 121 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish 122 that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 123 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset 124 about the boy or your slave wife. Do 125 all that Sarah is telling 126 you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 127 21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 128 some food 129 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 130 and sent her away. So she went wandering 131 aimlessly through the wilderness 132 of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved 133 the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot 134 away; for she thought, 135 “I refuse to watch the child die.” 136 So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. 137
21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 138 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 139 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 140 the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. 141 She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. 142 His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 143
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you 144 in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 145 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 146 Show me, and the land 147 where you are staying, 148 the same loyalty 149 that I have shown you.” 150
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 151 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint 152 against Abimelech concerning a well 153 that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 154 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 155 you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 156 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these 157 seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof 158 that I dug this well.” 159 21:31 That is why he named that place 160 Beer Sheba, 161 because the two of them swore 162 an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty 163 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 164 to the land of the Philistines. 165 21:33 Abraham 166 planted a tamarisk tree 167 in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, 168 the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. 169
[14:1] 1 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”
[14:1] 2 sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.
[14:1] 3 tn Or “king of Goyim.” The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם (goyim) means “nations,” but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB “Goyim”; NIV, NRSV “Goiim”).
[9:2] 4 tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.
[9:2] 5 tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.
[9:3] 7 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 8 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 9 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 12 tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.
[9:4] 13 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:5] 13 tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
[9:5] 14 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
[9:5] 15 tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
[9:5] 16 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 18 tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
[9:6] 16 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 17 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 18 sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.
[9:6] 19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 19 sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).
[9:8] 22 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 25 tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
[9:9] 26 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
[9:10] 28 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 31 tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
[9:11] 34 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 35 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
[9:12] 36 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 37 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 38 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 37 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
[9:13] 38 sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
[9:13] 39 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 40 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 43 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:15] 45 tn Heb “to destroy.”
[9:16] 46 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
[9:18] 52 sn The concluding disjunctive clause is parenthetical. It anticipates the following story, which explains that the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants through Canaan, were cursed because they shared the same moral abandonment that their ancestor displayed. See A. van Selms, “The Canaanites in the Book of Genesis,” OTS 12 (1958): 182-213.
[9:19] 55 tn Heb “was scattered.” The verb פָּצָה (patsah, “to scatter” [Niphal, “to be scattered”]) figures prominently in story of the dispersion of humankind in chap. 11.
[9:20] 58 sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
[9:20] 59 tn Or “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard”; Heb “and Noah, a man of the ground, began and he planted a vineyard.”
[9:21] 61 tn The Hebrew verb גָּלָה (galah) in the Hitpael verbal stem (וַיִּתְגַּל, vayyitggal) means “to uncover oneself” or “to be uncovered.” Noah became overheated because of the wine and uncovered himself in the tent.
[9:22] 64 sn For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.
[9:22] 65 tn Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6-11, 15-19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24-28).
[9:23] 67 tn The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?
[9:23] 68 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
[9:24] 70 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
[9:24] 72 tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
[9:25] 73 sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.
[9:25] 74 sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
[9:25] 75 tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.
[9:26] 76 tn Heb “blessed be.”
[9:26] 77 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 79 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 80 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
[20:1] 82 tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”
[20:1] 83 tn Heb “and he sojourned.”
[20:3] 86 tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.
[20:3] 87 tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.
[20:4] 88 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[20:4] 89 tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.
[20:5] 91 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:5] 92 tn Heb “and she, even she.”
[20:5] 93 tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”
[20:6] 94 tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”
[20:6] 95 tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”
[20:7] 97 tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.
[20:7] 98 sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.
[20:7] 99 tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.
[20:7] 100 tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.
[20:7] 101 tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.
[20:8] 100 tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”
[20:8] 101 tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”
[20:8] 102 tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”
[20:8] 103 tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 103 tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.
[20:9] 104 tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.
[20:10] 106 tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”
[20:10] 107 tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.
[20:11] 109 tn Heb “Because I said.”
[20:11] 110 tn Heb “over the matter of.”
[20:12] 112 tn Heb “but also.”
[20:13] 115 tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”
[20:13] 116 tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”
[20:14] 118 tn Heb “took and gave.”
[20:15] 121 tn Heb “In the [place that is] good in your eyes live!”
[20:16] 124 sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).
[20:16] 125 sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).
[20:16] 126 tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).
[20:18] 127 tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”
[20:18] 128 tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
[20:18] 129 tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[21:1] 130 sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the
[21:1] 131 tn Heb “and the
[21:2] 133 tn Or “she conceived.”
[21:3] 136 tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.
[21:4] 139 tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.
[21:4] 140 sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the
[21:5] 142 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).
[21:6] 145 tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”
[21:6] 146 tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[21:6] 147 sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).
[21:7] 149 tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.
[21:8] 152 sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.
[21:9] 155 tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.
[21:10] 157 tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.
[21:11] 160 tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.
[21:12] 163 tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”
[21:12] 164 tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.
[21:12] 165 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.
[21:12] 166 tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.
[21:14] 166 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
[21:14] 167 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
[21:14] 168 tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”
[21:14] 169 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
[21:14] 170 tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.
[21:15] 169 tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.
[21:16] 172 sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).
[21:16] 174 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] 175 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.
[21:17] 175 sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the
[21:17] 176 tn Heb “What to you?”
[21:17] 177 sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
[21:19] 178 tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:21] 181 sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.
[21:21] 182 tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”
[21:22] 184 sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.
[21:23] 187 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
[21:23] 188 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
[21:23] 189 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
[21:23] 190 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
[21:23] 192 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
[21:24] 190 tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.
[21:25] 193 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.
[21:25] 194 tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”
[21:25] 195 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.
[21:26] 196 tn Heb “and also.”
[21:27] 199 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:29] 202 tn Heb “What are these?”
[21:30] 205 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
[21:30] 206 sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.
[21:31] 208 tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”
[21:31] 209 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.
[21:31] 210 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
[21:32] 211 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:32] 212 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
[21:32] 213 sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.
[21:33] 214 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:33] 215 sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.
[21:33] 216 tn Heb “he called there in the name of the
