Genesis 19:14

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ¹  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ²  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ³ 

Genesis 22:3

22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. ⁴  He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out ⁵  for the place God had spoken to him about.

Genesis 37:10

37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? ⁶  Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” ⁷ 

Genesis 38:11

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ⁸  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ⁹  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

[19:14]  ¹ sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.

[19:14]  ² tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ³ tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.

[22:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”

[22:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “he arose and he went.”

[37:10]  ⁷ sn The question What is this dream that you had? expresses Jacob’s dismay at what he perceives to be Joseph’s audacity.

[37:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “Coming, will we come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you to the ground?” The verb “come” is preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Jacob said, “You don’t really think we will come…to bow down…do you?”

[38:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “said.”

[38:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”