Genesis 2:10

2:10 Now ¹  a river flows ²  from Eden ³  to

water the orchard, and from there it divides ⁴  into four headstreams. ⁵ 

Genesis 14:9

14:9 Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, ⁶  Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against ⁷  five.

Genesis 11:16

11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.

Genesis 32:6

32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.”

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ⁸  and saw that Esau was coming ⁹  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 23:15

23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth ¹⁰  400 pieces of silver, ¹¹  but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

Genesis 15:13

15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ¹²  that your descendants will be strangers ¹³  in a foreign country. ¹⁴  They will be enslaved and oppressed ¹⁵  for four hundred years.

Genesis 11:13

11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other ¹⁶  sons and daughters. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 11:15

11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other ¹⁸  sons and daughters.

Genesis 11:17

11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 23:16

23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price ¹⁹  and weighed ²⁰  out for him ²¹  the price ²²  that Ephron had quoted ²³  in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. ²⁴ 

Genesis 47:24

47:24 When you gather in the crop, ²⁵  give ²⁶  one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest ²⁷  will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.”

Genesis 14:11

14:11 The four victorious kings ²⁸  took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left.

Genesis 22:24

22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Genesis 15:16

15:16 In the fourth generation ²⁹  your descendants ³⁰  will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” ³¹ 

Genesis 8:20

8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ³² 

[2:10]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause (note the construction conjunction + subject + predicate) introduces an entire paragraph about the richness of the region in the east.

[2:10]  ² tn The Hebrew active participle may be translated here as indicating past durative action, “was flowing,” or as a present durative, “flows.” Since this river was the source of the rivers mentioned in vv. 11-14, which appear to describe a situation contemporary with the narrator, it is preferable to translate the participle in v. 10 with the present tense. This suggests that Eden and its orchard still existed in the narrator’s time. According to ancient Jewish tradition, Enoch was taken to the Garden of Eden, where his presence insulated the garden from the destructive waters of Noah’s flood. See Jub. 4:23-24.

[2:10]  ³ sn Eden is portrayed here as a source of life-giving rivers (that is, perennial streams). This is no surprise because its orchard is where the tree of life is located. Eden is a source of life, but tragically its orchard is no longer accessible to humankind. The river flowing out of Eden is a tantalizing reminder of this. God continues to provide life-giving water to sustain physical existence on the earth, but immortality has been lost.

[2:10]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verb form has the same nuance as the preceding participle. (If the participle is taken as past durative, then the imperfect would be translated “was dividing.”)

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Or “branches”; Heb “heads.” Cf. NEB “streams”; NASB “rivers.”

[14:9]  ⁶ tn Or “Goyim.” See the note on the word “nations” in 14:1.

[14:9]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has simply “against.” The word “fought” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[33:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ¹² 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.

[23:15]  ¹⁶ tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:15]  ¹⁷ sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).

[15:13]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.

[15:13]  ²² tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.

[15:13]  ²³ tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

[15:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.

[11:13]  ²⁶ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[11:13]  ²⁷ tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.

[11:15]  ³¹ tn Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”

[23:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”

[23:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.

[47:24]  ⁴¹ tn The words “the crop” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:24]  ⁴² tn The perfect form with the vav (ו) consecutive is equivalent to an imperfect of instruction here.

[47:24]  ⁴³ tn Heb “four parts.”

[14:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the four victorious kings, see v. 9) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ⁵¹ sn The term generation is being used here in its widest sense to refer to a full life span. When the chronological factors are considered and the genealogies tabulated, there are four hundred years of bondage. This suggests that in this context a generation is equivalent to one hundred years.

[15:16]  ⁵² tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ⁵³ tn Heb “is not yet complete.”

[8:20]  ⁵⁶ sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.