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 4:25

4:25 And Adam had marital relations ³  with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given ⁴  me another child ⁵  in place of Abel because Cain killed him.”

Genesis 6:4

6:4 The Nephilim ⁶  were on the earth in those days (and also after this) ⁷  when the sons of God were having sexual relations with ⁸  the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. ⁹  They were the mighty heroes ¹⁰  of old, the famous men. ¹¹ 

Genesis 11:9

11:9 That is why its name was called ¹²  Babel ¹³  – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

Genesis 12:8

12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel ¹⁴  and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 17:19

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ¹⁶  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ¹⁷  covenant for his descendants after him.

Genesis 26:22

26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac ¹⁸  named it ¹⁹  Rehoboth, ²⁰  saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”

Genesis 27:36

27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! ²¹  He has tripped me up ²²  two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”

Genesis 29:33-34

29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, ²³  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ²⁴ 

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ²⁵  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ²⁶ 

Genesis 30:20

30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²⁷ 

Genesis 41:45

41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ²⁸  He also gave him Asenath ²⁹  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ³⁰  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ³¹  all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 50:11

50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ³²  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ³³  Abel Mizraim, ³⁴  which is beyond the Jordan.

[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.

[4:25]  ³ tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:25]  ⁴ sn The name Seth probably means something like “placed”; “appointed”; “set”; “granted,” assuming it is actually related to the verb that is used in the sentiment. At any rate, the name שֵׁת (shet) and the verb שָׁת (shat, “to place, to appoint, to set, to grant”) form a wordplay (paronomasia).

[4:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “offspring.”

[6:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).

[6:4]  ⁶ tn This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.

[6:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “were entering to,” referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.

[6:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.

[6:4]  ⁹ tn The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.

[6:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).

[11:9]  ⁷ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

[11:9]  ⁸ sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

[12:8]  ⁹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[12:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[17:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ¹² tn Or “as an eternal.”

[26:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he called its name.”

[26:22]  ¹⁵ sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.

[27:36]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.

[27:36]  ¹⁶ sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”

[29:33]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.

[29:33]  ¹⁸ sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.

[29:34]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ²⁰ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[30:20]  ²¹ sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.

[41:45]  ²³ sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 1262).

[41:45]  ²⁴ sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.

[41:45]  ²⁵ sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[41:45]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and he passed through.”

[50:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”

[50:11]  ²⁶ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.

[50:11]  ²⁷ sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”