Genesis 22:2

22:2 God ¹  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ²  – and go to the land of Moriah! ³  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ⁴  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ⁵  you.”

Genesis 31:13

31:13 I am the God of Bethel, ⁶  where you anointed ⁷  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ⁸  Now leave this land immediately ⁹  and return to your native land.’”

Genesis 36:6

36:6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from ¹⁰  Jacob his brother

Genesis 41:19

41:19 Then ¹¹  seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows ¹²  as these in all the land of Egypt!

Genesis 41:45

41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ¹³  He also gave him Asenath ¹⁴  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ¹⁵  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ¹⁶  all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:55

41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, ¹⁷  “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

Genesis 47:6

47:6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men ¹⁸  among them, put them in charge ¹⁹  of my livestock.”

Genesis 48:7

48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow ²⁰  – 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). ²¹ 

[22:2]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ² sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

[22:2]  ³ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

[22:2]  ⁴ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

[22:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[31:13]  ⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[31:13]  ⁷ sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the Lord as an anointing. Jacob had consecrated the place.

[31:13]  ⁸ sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the Lord when he anointed the stone (Gen 28:20-22). God is now going to take him back to the land, and so he will have to fulfill his vow.

[31:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.

[36:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from before.”

[41:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And look.”

[41:19]  ¹⁷ tn The word “cows” is supplied here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:45]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[41:45]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he passed through.”

[41:55]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[47:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “men of skill.”

[47:6]  ³² tn Heb “make them rulers.”

[48:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”

[48:7]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.