Genesis 20:9

20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ¹  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ² 

Genesis 34:30

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ³  on me by making me a foul odor ⁴  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ⁵  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”

Genesis 48:7

48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow ⁶  – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). ⁷ 

[20:9]  ¹ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ² tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[34:30]  ³ tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.

[34:30]  ⁴ tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.

[34:30]  ⁵ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

[48:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”

[48:7]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.