Genesis 2:19

2:19 The Lord God formed ¹  out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would ²  name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 3:1

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now ³  the serpent ⁴  was more shrewd ⁵ 

than any of the wild animals ⁶  that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that ⁷  God ⁸  said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ⁹ 

Genesis 3:14

3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent, ¹⁰ 

“Because you have done this,

cursed ¹¹  are you above all the wild beasts

and all the living creatures of the field!

On your belly you will crawl ¹² 

and dust you will eat ¹³  all the days of your life.

Genesis 23:13

23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ¹⁴  to you the price ¹⁵  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ¹⁶  bury my dead there.”

Genesis 29:2

29:2 He saw ¹⁷  in the field a well with ¹⁸  three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now ¹⁹  a large stone covered the mouth of the well.

Genesis 30:14

30:14 At the time ²⁰  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ²¹  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

Genesis 30:16

30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ²²  with me because I have paid for your services ²³  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ²⁴  with her that night.

Genesis 34:7

34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. ²⁵  They ²⁶  were offended ²⁷  and very angry because Shechem ²⁸  had disgraced Israel ²⁹  by sexually assaulting ³⁰  Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. ³¹ 

Genesis 39:5

39:5 From the time ³²  Potiphar ³³  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ³⁴  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ³⁵  in his house and in his fields. ³⁶ 

Genesis 41:48

41:48 Joseph ³⁷  collected all the excess food ³⁸  in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. ³⁹  In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it.

Genesis 47:20

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ⁴⁰  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ⁴¹  So the land became Pharaoh’s.

[2:19]  ¹ tn Or “fashioned.” To harmonize the order of events with the chronology of chapter one, some translate the prefixed verb form with vav (ו) consecutive as a past perfect (“had formed,” cf. NIV) here. (In chapter one the creation of the animals preceded the creation of man; here the animals are created after the man.) However, it is unlikely that the Hebrew construction can be translated in this way in the middle of this pericope, for the criteria for unmarked temporal overlay are not present here. See S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 84-88, and especially R. Buth, “Methodological Collision between Source Criticism and Discourse Analysis,” Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, 138-54. For a contrary viewpoint see IBHS 552-53 §33.2.3 and C. J. Collins, “The Wayyiqtol as ‘Pluperfect’: When and Why,” TynBul 46 (1995): 117-40.

[2:19]  ² tn The imperfect verb form is future from the perspective of the past time narrative.

[3:1]  ³ tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.

[3:1]  ⁴ sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”

[3:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”

[3:1]  ⁸ sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [Lord God] because there is no covenant relationship involved between God and the serpent. He only speaks of “God.” In the process the serpent draws the woman into his manner of speech so that she too only speaks of “God.”

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.

[3:14]  ⁵ sn Note that God asks no question of the serpent, does not call for confession, as he did to the man and the woman; there is only the announcement of the curse. The order in this section is chiastic: The man is questioned, the woman is questioned, the serpent is cursed, sentence is passed on the woman, sentence is passed on the man.

[3:14]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word translated “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as comparative, then the idea is “cursed [i.e., punished] are you above [i.e., more than] all the wild beasts.” In this case the comparative preposition reflects the earlier comparison: The serpent was more shrewd than all others, and so more cursed than all others. If the preposition is taken as separative (see the note on the word “ground” in 4:11), then the idea is “cursed and banished from all the wild beasts.” In this case the serpent is condemned to isolation from all the other animals.

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “go”; “walk,” but in English “crawl” or “slither” better describes a serpent’s movement.

[3:14]  ⁸ sn Dust you will eat. Being restricted to crawling on the ground would necessarily involve “eating dust,” although that is not the diet of the serpent. The idea of being brought low, of “eating dust” as it were, is a symbol of humiliation.

[23:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “give.”

[23:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:13]  ⁹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

[29:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he saw, and look.” As in Gen 28:12-15, the narrator uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here and in the next clause to draw the reader into the story.

[29:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and look, there.”

[29:2]  ¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.

[30:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “during the days.”

[30:14]  ¹² sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.

[30:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.

[30:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.

[30:16]  ¹⁵ tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.

[34:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.

[34:7]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.

[34:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”

[34:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.

[34:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.

[39:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ²¹ 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.

[41:48]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:48]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all the food.”

[41:48]  ²¹ tn Heb “of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and placed food in the cities.”

[47:20]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:20]  ²² tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.