Genesis 19:18

19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord! ¹ 

Genesis 15:8

15:8 But ²  Abram ³  said, “O sovereign Lord, ⁴  by what ⁵  can I know that I am to possess it?”

Genesis 18:27

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁶  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁷ 

Genesis 20:4

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ⁸  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ⁹ 

Genesis 15:2

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ¹⁰  what will you give me since ¹¹  I continue to be ¹²  childless, and my heir ¹³  is ¹⁴  Eliezer of Damascus?” ¹⁵ 

Genesis 18:30-32

18:30 Then Abraham ¹⁶  said, “May the Lord not be angry ¹⁷  so that I may speak! ¹⁸  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ¹⁹  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ²⁰  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

[19:18]  ¹ tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[15:8]  ² tn Here the vav carries adversative force and is translated “but.”

[15:8]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:8]  ⁴ tn See note on the phrase “sovereign Lord” in 15:2.

[15:8]  ⁵ tn Or “how.”

[18:27]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[20:4]  ⁵ 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.

[15:2]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “I am going.”

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

[15:2]  ⁹ tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

[15:2]  ¹⁰ 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.

[18:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ⁸ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.