Genesis 18:21

18:21 that I must go down ¹  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ²  If not, ³  I want to know.”

Genesis 34:17

34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms ⁴  by being circumcised, then we will take ⁵  our sister ⁶  and depart.”

Genesis 4:7

4:7 Is it not true ⁷  that if you do what is right, you will be fine? ⁸  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching ⁹  at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” ¹⁰ 

Genesis 13:9

13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go ¹¹  to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

Genesis 14:23

14:23 that I will take nothing ¹²  belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I ¹³  who made Abram rich.’

Genesis 17:17

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ¹⁴  as he said to himself, ¹⁵  “Can ¹⁶  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ¹⁷  Can Sarah ¹⁸  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹⁹ 

Genesis 24:8

24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, ²⁰  you will be free ²¹  from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”

Genesis 24:41

24:41 You will be free from your oath ²²  if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’

Genesis 31:50

31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize ²³  that God is witness to your actions.” ²⁴ 

Genesis 43:5

43:5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

Genesis 20:7

20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ²⁵  he is a prophet ²⁶  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ²⁷  But if you don’t give her back, ²⁸  know that you will surely die ²⁹  along with all who belong to you.”

Genesis 24:49

24:49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.” ³⁰ 

Genesis 30:1

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ³¹  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ³²  or I’ll die!”

Genesis 31:8

31:8 If he said, ³³  ‘The speckled animals ³⁴  will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring.

Genesis 31:52

31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. ³⁵ 

Genesis 42:16

42:16 One of you must go and get ³⁶  your brother, while ³⁷  the rest of you remain in prison. ³⁸  In this way your words may be tested to see if ³⁹  you are telling the truth. ⁴⁰  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

Genesis 47:6

47:6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men ⁴¹  among them, put them in charge ⁴²  of my livestock.”

[18:21]  ¹ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ² tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ³ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[34:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “listen to us.”

[34:17]  ⁵ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.

[34:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as “sister” for clarity.

[4:7]  ⁷ tn The introduction of the conditional clause with an interrogative particle prods the answer from Cain, as if he should have known this. It is not a condemnation, but an encouragement to do what is right.

[4:7]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text is difficult, because only one word occurs, שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et), which appears to be the infinitive construct from the verb “to lift up” (נָאָשׂ, na’as). The sentence reads: “If you do well, uplifting.” On the surface it seems to be the opposite of the fallen face. Everything will be changed if he does well. God will show him favor, he will not be angry, and his face will reflect that. But more may be intended since the second half of the verse forms the contrast: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching….” Not doing well leads to sinful attack; doing well leads to victory and God’s blessing.

[4:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “crouching” (רֹבֵץ, rovets) is an active participle. Sin is portrayed with animal imagery here as a beast crouching and ready to pounce (a figure of speech known as zoomorphism). An Akkadian cognate refers to a type of demon; in this case perhaps one could translate, “Sin is the demon at the door” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 29, 32-33).

[4:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and toward you [is] its desire, but you must rule over it.” As in Gen 3:16, the Hebrew noun “desire” refers to an urge to control or dominate. Here the desire is that which sin has for Cain, a desire to control for the sake of evil, but Cain must have mastery over it. The imperfect is understood as having an obligatory sense. Another option is to understand it as expressing potential (“you can have [or “are capable of having”] mastery over it.”). It will be a struggle, but sin can be defeated by righteousness. In addition to this connection to Gen 3, other linguistic and thematic links between chaps. 3 and 4 are discussed by A. J. Hauser, “Linguistic and Thematic Links Between Genesis 4:1-6 and Genesis 2–3,” JETS 23 (1980): 297-306.

[13:9]  ¹⁰ tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.

[14:23]  ¹³ tn The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: “…if I take.” It is as if Abram says, “[May the Lord deal with me] if I take,” meaning, “I will surely not take.” The positive oath would add the negative adverb and be the reverse: “[God will deal with me] if I do not take,” meaning, “I certainly will.”

[14:23]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun (“I”) to the verb form for emphasis.

[17:17]  ¹⁶ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

[17:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ²⁰ sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

[17:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[24:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “ to go after you.”

[24:8]  ²⁰ sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.

[24:41]  ²² tn Heb “my oath” (twice in this verse). From the Hebrew perspective the oath belonged to the person to whom it was sworn (Abraham), although in contemporary English an oath is typically viewed as belonging to the person who swears it (the servant).

[31:50]  ²⁵ tn Heb “see.”

[31:50]  ²⁶ tn Heb “between me and you.”

[20:7]  ²⁸ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ²⁹ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ³⁰ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ³² tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[24:49]  ³¹ tn Heb “and I will turn to the right or to the left.” The expression apparently means that Abraham’s servant will know where he should go if there is no further business here.

[30:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[31:8]  ³⁷ tn In the protasis (“if” section) of this conditional clause, the imperfect verbal form has a customary nuance – whatever he would say worked to Jacob’s benefit.

[31:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “speckled” (twice this verse). The word “animals” (after the first occurrence of “speckled”) and “offspring” (after the second) have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The same two terms (“animals” and “offspring”) have been supplied after the two occurrences of “streaked” later in this verse.

[31:52]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness, if I go past this pile to you and if you go past this pile and this pillar to me for harm.”

[42:16]  ⁴³ tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

[42:16]  ⁴⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

[42:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “bound.”

[42:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:16]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

[47:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “men of skill.”

[47:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “make them rulers.”