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 6:1

God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness

6:1 When humankind ⁵  began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born ⁶  to them, ⁷ 

Genesis 7:18

7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed ⁸  the earth, and the ark floated ⁹  on the surface of the waters.

Genesis 8:8

8:8 Then Noah ¹⁰  sent out a dove ¹¹  to see if the waters had receded ¹²  from the surface of the ground.

Genesis 11:8

11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building ¹³  the city.

Genesis 11:28

11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, ¹⁴  while his father Terah was still alive. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 18:16

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

18:16 When the men got up to leave, ¹⁶  they looked out over ¹⁷  Sodom. (Now ¹⁸  Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) ¹⁹ 

Genesis 19:27

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went ²⁰  to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

Genesis 23:3

23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife ²¹  and said to the sons of Heth, ²² 

Genesis 31:2

31:2 When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed. ²³ 

Genesis 50:1

The Burials of Jacob and Joseph

50:1 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face. ²⁴  He wept over him and kissed him.

[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.”

[6:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”

[6:1]  ⁶ tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.

[6:1]  ⁷ tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.

[7:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.

[7:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “went.”

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.

[11:8]  ¹⁷ tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.

[11:28]  ²¹ sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium b.c.

[11:28]  ²² tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”

[18:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”

[18:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “toward the face of.”

[18:16]  ²⁷ tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.

[18:16]  ²⁸ tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.

[19:27]  ²⁹ tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:3]  ³³ tn Heb “And Abraham arose from upon the face of his dead.”

[23:3]  ³⁴ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (also in vv. 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[31:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and Jacob saw the face of Laban, and look, he was not with him as formerly.” Jacob knew from the expression on Laban’s face that his attitude toward him had changed – Jacob had become persona non grata.

[50:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “fell on.” The expression describes Joseph’s unrestrained sorrow over Jacob’s death; he probably threw himself across the body and embraced his father.