Genesis 15:1

The Cutting of the Covenant

15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield ¹  and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” ² 

Genesis 15:13

15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ³  that your descendants will be strangers ⁴  in a foreign country. ⁵  They will be enslaved and oppressed ⁶  for four hundred years.

Genesis 22:11

22:11 But the Lord’s angel ⁷  called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered.

Numbers 12:6

12:6 The Lord ⁸  said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, ⁹  I the Lord ¹⁰  will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream.

Numbers 24:4

24:4 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,

who sees a vision from the Almighty,

although falling flat on the ground ¹¹  with eyes open: ¹² 

Numbers 24:2

24:2 When Balaam lifted up his eyes, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; ¹³  and the Spirit of God came upon him.

Numbers 26:5

Reuben

26:5 Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. The Reubenites: from ¹⁴  Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; from Pallu, the family of the Palluites;

Job 4:13

4:13 In the troubling thoughts ¹⁵  of the dreams ¹⁶  in the night

when a deep sleep ¹⁷  falls on men,

Job 33:14-15

Elihu Disagrees With Job’s View of God

33:14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,

the second time in another,

though a person does not perceive ¹⁸  it.

33:15 In a dream, a night vision,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they sleep in their beds.

Daniel 2:19

2:19 Then in a night vision the mystery was revealed to Daniel. So Daniel praised ¹⁹  the God of heaven,

Acts 9:10

9:10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The ²⁰  Lord ²¹  said to him in a vision, “Ananias,” and he replied, “Here I am, ²²  Lord.”

Acts 10:3

10:3 About three o’clock one afternoon ²³  he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God ²⁴  who came in ²⁵  and said to him, “Cornelius.”

Acts 16:9

16:9 A ²⁶  vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there ²⁷  urging him, ²⁸  “Come over ²⁹  to Macedonia ³⁰  and help us!”

[15:1]  ¹ sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.

[15:1]  ² tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).

[15:13]  ³ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.

[15:13]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.

[15:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

[15:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.

[22:11]  ⁷ sn Heb “the messenger of the Lord” (also in v. 15). Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, see the note on the phrase “the Lord’s angel” in Gen 16:7.

[12:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “he.”

[12:6]  ⁹ tn The form of this construction is rare: נְבִיאֲכֶם (nÿvi’akhem) would normally be rendered “your prophet.” The singular noun is suffixed with a plural pronominal suffix. Some commentators think the MT has condensed “a prophet” with “to you.”

[12:6]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew syntax is difficult here. “The Lord” is separated from the verb by two intervening prepositional phrases. Some scholars conclude that this word belongs with the verb at the beginning of v. 6 (“And the Lord spoke”).

[24:4]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “flat on the ground” is supplied in the translation for clarity. The Greek version interprets the line to mean “falling asleep.” It may mean falling into a trance.

[24:4]  ¹² tn The last colon simply has “falling, but opened eyes.” The falling may simply refer to lying prone; and the opened eyes may refer to his receiving a vision. See H. E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets, 37-41.

[24:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “living according to their tribes.”

[26:5]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text has no preposition here, but one has been supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. vv. 23, 30, 31, 32.

[4:13]  ¹⁵ tn Here too the word is rare. The form שְׂעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim, “disquietings”) occurs only here and in 20:2. The form שַׂרְעַפִּים (sar’appim, “disquieting thoughts”), possibly related by dissimilation, occurs in Pss 94:19 and 139:23. There seems to be a connection with סְעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim) in 1 Kgs 18:21 with the meaning “divided opinion”; this is related to the idea of סְעִפָּה (sÿ’ippah, “bough”). H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 47) concludes that the point is that like branches the thoughts lead off into different and bewildering places. E. Dhorme (Job, 50) links the word to an Arabic root (“to be passionately smitten”) for the idea of “intimate thoughts.” The idea here and in Ps 139 has more to do with anxious, troubling, disquieting thoughts, as in a nightmare.

[4:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “visions” of the night.

[4:13]  ¹⁷ tn The word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) is a “deep sleep.” It is used in the creation account when the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam; and it is used in the story of Jonah when the prophet was asleep during the storm. The LXX interprets it to mean “fear,” rendering the whole verse “but terror falls upon men with dread and a sound in the night.”

[33:14]  ¹⁸ tn The Syriac and the Vulgate have “and he does not repeat it,” a reading of the text as it is, according to E. Dhorme (Job, 403). But his argument is based on another root with this meaning – a root which does not exist (see L. Dennefeld, RB 48 [1939]: 175). The verse is saying that God does speak to man.

[2:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “blessed.”

[9:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[9:10]  ²¹ sn The Lord is directing all the events leading to the expansion of the gospel as he works on both sides of the meeting between Paul and Ananias. “The Lord” here refers to Jesus (see v. 17).

[9:10]  ²² tn Grk “behold, I,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

[10:3]  ²³ tn Grk “at about the ninth hour of the day.” This would be the time for afternoon prayer.

[10:3]  ²⁴ tn Or “the angel of God.” Linguistically, “angel of God” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of God” or “the angel of God” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[10:3]  ²⁵ tn The participles εἰσελθόντα (eiselqonta) and εἰπόντα (eiponta) are accusative, and thus best taken as adjectival participles modifying ἄγγελον (angelon): “an angel who came in and said.”

[16:9]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And a.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[16:9]  ²⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[16:9]  ²⁸ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[16:9]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Coming over.” The participle διαβάς (diabas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:9]  ³⁰ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.