Genesis 15:2-3

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ¹  what will you give me since ²  I continue to be ³  childless, and my heir ⁴  is ⁵  Eliezer of Damascus?” ⁶  15:3 Abram added, ⁷  “Since ⁸  you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” ⁹ 

Genesis 16:1-2

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, ¹⁰  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ¹¹  but she had an Egyptian servant ¹²  named Hagar. ¹³  16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ¹⁴  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ¹⁵  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ¹⁶  Abram did what ¹⁷  Sarai told him.

Genesis 18:11-12

18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; ¹⁸  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) ¹⁹  18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ²⁰  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, ²¹  especially when my husband is old too?” ²² 

Genesis 21:1-2

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ²³  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²⁴  for Sarah what he had promised. ²⁵  21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ²⁶  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.

Genesis 25:21

25:21 Isaac prayed to ²⁷  the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

Genesis 29:31

The Family of Jacob

29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ²⁸  he enabled her to become pregnant ²⁹  while Rachel remained childless.

Genesis 30:1-2

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ³⁰  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ³¹  or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious ³²  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” ³³ 

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ³⁴ 

Jude 1:1-2

Salutation

1:1 From Jude, ³⁵  a slave ³⁶  of Jesus Christ and brother of James, ³⁷  to those who are called, wrapped in the love of ³⁸  God the Father and kept for ³⁹  Jesus Christ. 1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁴⁰ 

Psalms 113:9

113:9 He makes the barren woman of the family ⁴¹ 

a happy mother of children. ⁴² 

Praise the Lord!

Luke 1:7

1:7 But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, ⁴³  and they were both very old. ⁴⁴ 

Luke 1:36

1:36 “And look, ⁴⁵  your relative ⁴⁶  Elizabeth has also become pregnant with ⁴⁷  a son in her old age – although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! ⁴⁸ 

[15:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master, Lord”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “master”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Master, God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Master” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Master, Lord,” which is rendered here “sovereign Lord.”

[15:2]  ² tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

[15:2]  ³ tn Heb “I am going.”

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

[15:2]  ⁵ tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

[15:2]  ⁶ sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.

[15:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “And Abram said.”

[15:3]  ⁸ tn The construction uses הֵן (hen) to introduce the foundational clause (“since…”), and וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) to introduce the main clause (“then look…”).

[15:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “is inheriting me.”

[16:1]  ¹⁰ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

[16:1]  ¹¹ sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

[16:1]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

[16:1]  ¹³ sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)

[16:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

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

[16:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[18:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “days.”

[18:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”

[18:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “saying.”

[18:12]  ²¹ tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.

[18:12]  ²² tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ²³ 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 Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “spoken.”

[21:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “she conceived.”

[25:21]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (’atar), translated “prayed [to]” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the Lord to remove the plagues. The cognate word in Arabic means “to slaughter for sacrifice,” and the word is used in Zeph 3:10 to describe worshipers who bring offerings. Perhaps some ritual accompanied Isaac’s prayer here.

[29:31]  ²⁸ tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.

[29:31]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”

[30:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:2]  ³² tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”

[30:2]  ³³ tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:1]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Judas,” traditionally “Jude” in English versions to distinguish him from the one who betrayed Jesus. The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁶ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). At the same time, perhaps “servant” is apt in that the δοῦλος of Jesus Christ took on that role voluntarily, unlike a slave. The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³⁷ sn Although Jude was half-brother of Jesus, he humbly associates himself with James, his full brother. By first calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, it is evident that he wants no one to place stock in his physical connections. At the same time, he must identify himself further: Since Jude was a common name in the 1st century (two of Jesus’ disciples were so named, including his betrayer), more information was needed, that is to say, brother of James.

[1:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “loved in.” The perfect passive participle suggests that the audience’s relationship to God is not recent; the preposition ἐν (en) before πατρί (patri) could be taken as sphere or instrument (agency is unlikely, however). Another possible translation would be “dear to God.”

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Or “by.” Datives of agency are quite rare in the NT (and other ancient Greek), almost always found with a perfect verb. Although this text qualifies, in light of the well-worn idiom of τηρέω (threw) in eschatological contexts, in which God or Christ keeps the believer safe until the parousia (cf. 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 3:10; other terms meaning “to guard,” “to keep” are also found in similar eschatological contexts [cf. 2 Thess 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12; 1 Pet 1:5; Jude 24]), it is probably better to understand this verse as having such an eschatological tinge. It is at the same time possible that Jude’s language was intentionally ambiguous, implying both ideas (“kept by Jesus Christ [so that they might be] kept for Jesus Christ”). Elsewhere he displays a certain fondness for wordplays; this may be a hint of things to come.

[1:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[113:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “of the house.”

[113:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “sons.”

[1:7]  ⁴³ sn Elizabeth was barren. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth are regarded by Luke as righteous in the sight of God, following all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly (v. 6). With this language, reminiscent of various passages in the OT, Luke is probably drawing implicit comparisons to the age and barrenness of such famous OT personalities as Abraham and Sarah (see, e.g., Gen 18:9-15), the mother of Samson (Judg 13:2-5), and Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Sam 1:1-20). And, as it was in the case of these OT saints, so it is with Elizabeth: After much anguish and seeking the Lord, she too is going to have a son in her barrenness. In that day it was a great reproach to be childless, for children were a sign of God’s blessing (cf. Gen 1:28; Lev 20:20-21; Pss 127 and 128; Jer 22:30). As the dawn of salvation draws near, however, God will change this elderly couple’s grief into great joy and grant them the one desire time had rendered impossible.

[1:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “were both advanced in days” (an idiom for old age).

[1:36]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:36]  ⁴⁶ tn Some translations render the word συγγενίς (sungeni") as “cousin” (so Phillips) but the term is not necessarily this specific.

[1:36]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “has conceived.”

[1:36]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.” Yet another note on Elizabeth’s loss of reproach also becomes a sign of the truth of the angel’s declaration.