Genesis 2:5

2:5 Now ¹  no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field ²  had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. ³ 

Genesis 20:7

20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ⁴  he is a prophet ⁵  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ⁶  But if you don’t give her back, ⁷  know that you will surely die ⁸  along with all who belong to you.”

Genesis 30:1

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ⁹  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ¹⁰  or I’ll die!”

Genesis 30:33

30:33 My integrity will testify for me ¹¹  later on. ¹²  When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, ¹³  if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 39:9

39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do ¹⁵  such a great evil and sin against God?”

Genesis 41:8

41:8 In the morning he ¹⁶  was troubled, so he called for ¹⁷  all the diviner-priests ¹⁸  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ¹⁹  but no one could interpret ²⁰  them for him. ²¹ 

Genesis 44:26

44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. ²²  If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, ²³  for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

Genesis 47:4

47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents ²⁴  in the land. There ²⁵  is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

[2:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Now every sprig of the field before it was.” The verb forms, although appearing to be imperfects, are technically preterites coming after the adverb טֶּרֶם (terem). The word order (conjunction + subject + predicate) indicates a disjunctive clause, which provides background information for the following narrative (as in 1:2). Two negative clauses are given (“before any sprig…”, and “before any cultivated grain” existed), followed by two causal clauses explaining them, and then a positive circumstantial clause is given – again dealing with water as in 1:2 (water would well up).

[2:5]  ² tn The first term, שִׂיחַ (siakh), probably refers to the wild, uncultivated plants (see Gen 21:15; Job 30:4,7); whereas the second, עֵשֶׂב (’esev), refers to cultivated grains. It is a way of saying: “back before anything was growing.”

[2:5]  ³ tn The two causal clauses explain the first two disjunctive clauses: There was no uncultivated, general growth because there was no rain, and there were no grains because there was no man to cultivate the soil.

[20:7]  ⁴ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ⁵ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ⁶ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ⁸ tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[30:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”

[30:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”

[30:33]  ¹² tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”

[30:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”

[39:9]  ¹³ tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.

[41:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his spirit.”

[41:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he sent and called,” which indicates an official summons.

[41:8]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term חַרְטֹם (khartom) is an Egyptian loanword (hyr-tp) that describes a class of priests who were skilled in such interpretations.

[41:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text has the singular (though the Samaritan Pentateuch reads the plural). If retained, the singular must be collective for the set of dreams. Note the plural pronoun “them,” referring to the dreams, in the next clause. However, note that in v. 15 Pharaoh uses the singular to refer to the two dreams. In vv. 17-24 Pharaoh seems to treat the dreams as two parts of one dream (see especially v. 22).

[41:8]  ²⁰ tn “there was no interpreter.”

[41:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “for Pharaoh.” The pronoun “him” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:26]  ¹⁹ tn The direct object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but is implied; “there” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “go down.”

[47:4]  ²² tn Heb “to sojourn.”

[47:4]  ²³ tn Heb “for there.” The Hebrew uses a causal particle to connect what follows with what precedes. The translation divides the statement into two sentences for stylistic reasons.