Genesis 19:24

19:24 Then the Lord rained down ¹  sulfur and fire ²  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ³ 

Genesis 27:16

27:16 She put the skins of the young goats ⁴  on his hands ⁵  and the smooth part of his neck.

Genesis 40:2

40:2 Pharaoh was enraged with his two officials, ⁶  the cupbearer and the baker,

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ⁷  and saw that Esau was coming ⁸  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 16:12

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ⁹  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ¹⁰ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ¹¹ 

He will live away from ¹²  his brothers.”

Genesis 19:28

19:28 He looked out toward ¹³  Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. ¹⁴  As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 27:40

27:40 You will live by your sword

but you will serve your brother.

When you grow restless,

you will tear off his yoke

from your neck.” ¹⁶ 

Genesis 37:8

37:8 Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” ¹⁷  They hated him even more ¹⁸  because of his dream and because of what he said. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 41:32

41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh ²⁰  because the matter has been decreed ²¹  by God, and God will make it happen soon. ²² 

Genesis 41:40

41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. ²³  Only I, the king, will be greater than you. ²⁴ 

Genesis 9:2

9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. ²⁵  Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. ²⁶ 

Genesis 20:9

20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ²⁷  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ²⁸ 

Genesis 21:12

21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ²⁹  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ³⁰  all that Sarah is telling ³¹  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ³² 

Genesis 39:5

39:5 From the time ³³  Potiphar ³⁴  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ³⁵  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ³⁶  in his house and in his fields. ³⁷ 

[19:24]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ² tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ³ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:16]  ⁴ tn In the Hebrew text the object (“the skins of the young goats”) precedes the verb. The disjunctive clause draws attention to this key element in the subterfuge.

[27:16]  ⁵ tn The word “hands” probably includes the forearms here. How the skins were attached is not specified in the Hebrew text; cf. NLT “she made him a pair of gloves.”

[40:2]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word סָרִיס (saris), used here of these two men and of Potiphar (see 39:1), normally means “eunuch.” But evidence from Akkadian texts shows that in early times the title was used of a court official in general. Only later did it become more specialized in its use.

[33:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[16:12]  ¹³ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[19:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[19:28]  ¹⁷ tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

[27:40]  ¹⁹ sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.

[37:8]  ²² tn Heb “Ruling, will you rule over us, or reigning, will you reign over us?” The statement has a poetic style, with the two questions being in synonymous parallelism. Both verbs in this statement are preceded by the infinitive absolute, which lends emphasis. It is as if Joseph’s brothers said, “You don’t really think you will rule over us, do you? You don’t really think you will have dominion over us, do you?”

[37:8]  ²³ tn This construction is identical to the one in Gen 37:5.

[37:8]  ²⁴ sn The response of Joseph’s brothers is understandable, given what has already been going on in the family. But here there is a hint of uneasiness – they hated him because of his dream and because of his words. The dream bothered them, as well as his telling them. And their words in the rhetorical question are ironic, for this is exactly what would happen. The dream was God’s way of revealing it.

[41:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and concerning the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh two times.” The Niphal infinitive here is the object of the preposition; it is followed by the subjective genitive “of the dream.”

[41:32]  ²⁶ tn Heb “established.”

[41:32]  ²⁷ tn The clause combines a participle and an infinitive construct: God “is hurrying…to do it,” meaning he is going to do it soon.

[41:40]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and at your mouth (i.e., instructions) all my people will kiss.” G. J. Wenham translates this “shall kowtow to your instruction” (Genesis [WBC], 2:395). Although there is some textual support for reading “will be judged, ruled by you,” this is probably an attempt to capture the significance of this word. Wenham lists a number of references where individuals have tried to make connections with other words or expressions – such as a root meaning “order themselves” lying behind “kiss,” or an idiomatic idea of “kiss” meaning “seal the mouth,” and so “be silent and submit to.” See K. A. Kitchen, “The Term Nsq in Genesis 41:40,” ExpTim 69 (1957): 30; D. S. Sperling, “Genesis 41:40: A New Interpretation,” JANESCU 10 (1978): 113-19.

[41:40]  ²⁹ tn Heb “only the throne, I will be greater than you.”

[9:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.

[9:2]  ³² tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.

[20:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[21:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ³⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[39:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ⁴² sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ⁴⁴ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.