Genesis 19:25

19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ¹  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ²  from the ground.

Genesis 26:4

26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ³  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ⁴ 

Genesis 19:8

19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ⁵  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ⁶  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ⁷  of my roof.” ⁸ 

Genesis 26:3

26:3 Stay ⁹  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ¹⁰  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ¹¹  and I will fulfill ¹²  the solemn promise I made ¹³  to your father Abraham.

[19:25]  ¹ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:25]  ² tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”

[26:4]  ³ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ⁴ tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)

[19:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ⁸ sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[26:3]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.

[26:3]  ⁸ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

[26:3]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[26:3]  ¹⁰ tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.

[26:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”