Genesis 2:6

2:6 Springs ¹  would well up ²  from the earth and water ³  the whole surface of the ground. ⁴ 

Genesis 3:12

3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave ⁵  me some fruit ⁶  from the tree and I ate it.”

Genesis 4:10

4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? ⁷  The voice ⁸  of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!

Genesis 8:2

8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, ⁹  and the rain stopped falling from the sky.

Genesis 8:10

8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark.

Genesis 8:16

8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.

Genesis 17:6

17:6 I will make you ¹⁰  extremely ¹¹  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ¹² 

Genesis 19:24

19:24 Then the Lord rained down ¹³  sulfur and fire ¹⁴  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 21:15

21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ¹⁶  the child under one of the shrubs.

Genesis 22:11

22:11 But the Lord’s angel ¹⁷  called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered.

Genesis 25:29

25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, ¹⁸  and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.

Genesis 26:16

26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, ¹⁹  for you have become much more powerful ²⁰  than we are.”

Genesis 32:13

32:13 Jacob ²¹  stayed there that night. Then he sent ²²  as a gift ²³  to his brother Esau

Genesis 41:2

41:2 seven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, ²⁴  and they grazed in the reeds.

Genesis 41:18

41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. ²⁵ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn The conjunction vav (ו) introduces a third disjunctive clause. The Hebrew word אֵד (’ed) was traditionally translated “mist” because of its use in Job 36:27. However, an Akkadian cognate edu in Babylonian texts refers to subterranean springs or waterways. Such a spring would fit the description in this context, since this water “goes up” and waters the ground.

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “was going up.” The verb is an imperfect form, which in this narrative context carries a customary nuance, indicating continual action in past time.

[2:6]  ³ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same nuance as the preceding verb. Whenever it would well up, it would water the ground.

[2:6]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word אֲדָמָה (’adamah) actually means “ground; fertile soil.”

[3:12]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew construction in this sentence uses an independent nominative absolute (formerly known as a casus pendens). “The woman” is the independent nominative absolute; it is picked up by the formal subject, the pronoun “she” written with the verb (“she gave”). The point of the construction is to throw the emphasis on “the woman.” But what makes this so striking is that a relative clause has been inserted to explain what is meant by the reference to the woman: “whom you gave me.” Ultimately, the man is blaming God for giving him the woman who (from the man’s viewpoint) caused him to sin.

[3:12]  ⁶ tn The words “some fruit” here and the pronoun “it” at the end of the sentence are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[4:10]  ⁹ sn What have you done? Again the Lord’s question is rhetorical (see Gen 3:13), condemning Cain for his sin.

[4:10]  ¹⁰ tn The word “voice” is a personification; the evidence of Abel’s shed blood condemns Cain, just as a human eyewitness would testify in court. For helpful insights, see G. von Rad, Biblical Interpretations in Preaching; and L. Morris, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 6 (1955/56): 77-82.

[8:2]  ¹³ tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.

[17:6]  ¹⁷ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

[17:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[19:24]  ²¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ²² tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ²³ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.

[22:11]  ²⁹ sn Heb “the messenger of the Lord” (also in v. 15). Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, see the note on the phrase “the Lord’s angel” in Gen 16:7.

[25:29]  ³³ sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

[26:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Go away from us.”

[26:16]  ³⁸ sn You have become much more powerful. This explanation for the expulsion of Isaac from Philistine territory foreshadows the words used later by the Egyptians to justify their oppression of Israel (see Exod 1:9).

[32:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:13]  ⁴² tn Heb “and he took from that which was going into his hand,” meaning that he took some of what belonged to him.

[32:13]  ⁴³ sn The Hebrew noun translated gift can in some contexts refer to the tribute paid by a subject to his lord. Such a nuance is possible here, because Jacob refers to Esau as his lord and to himself as Esau’s servant (v. 4).

[41:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “And look, he was standing by the Nile, and look, from the Nile were coming up seven cows, attractive of appearance and fat of flesh.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to see the dream through Pharaoh’s eyes.

[41:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”