Genesis 25:24

25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, ¹  there were ²  twins in her womb.

Genesis 50:3

50:3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. ³  The Egyptians mourned ⁴  for him seventy days. ⁵ 

Genesis 6:11

6:11 The earth was ruined ⁶  in the sight of ⁷  God; the earth was filled with violence. ⁸ 

Genesis 29:21

29:21 Finally Jacob said ⁹  to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. ¹⁰  I want to have marital relations with her.” ¹¹ 

Genesis 1:22

1:22 God blessed them ¹²  and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ¹³ 

Genesis 6:13

6:13 So God said ¹⁴  to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, ¹⁵  for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy ¹⁶  them and the earth.

Genesis 9:1

God’s Covenant with Humankind through Noah

9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 21:19

21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. ¹⁷  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

Genesis 24:16

24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. ¹⁸  She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.

Genesis 26:15

26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up ¹⁹  all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.

Genesis 29:27-28

29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week. ²⁰  Then we will give you the younger one ²¹  too, in exchange for seven more years of work.” ²² 

29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. ²³  When Jacob ²⁴  completed Leah’s bridal week, ²⁵  Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁶ 

Genesis 42:25

42:25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill ²⁷  their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. ²⁸ 

Genesis 1:28

1:28 God blessed ²⁹  them and said ³⁰  to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! ³¹  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” ³² 

Genesis 44:1

The Final Test

44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

[25:24]  ¹ tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”

[25:24]  ² tn Heb “look!” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene as if they were actually present at the birth.

[50:3]  ³ tn Heb “and forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming.”

[50:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “wept.”

[50:3]  ⁵ sn Seventy days. This probably refers to a time of national mourning.

[6:11]  ⁵ tn Apart from Gen 6:11-12, the Niphal form of this verb occurs in Exod 8:20 HT (8:24 ET), where it describes the effect of the swarms of flies on the land of Egypt; Jer 13:7 and 18:4, where it is used of a “ruined” belt and “marred” clay pot, respectively; and Ezek 20:44, where it describes Judah’s morally “corrupt” actions. The sense “morally corrupt” fits well in Gen 6:11 because of the parallelism (note “the earth was filled with violence”). In this case “earth” would stand by metonymy for its sinful inhabitants. However, the translation “ruined” works just as well, if not better. In this case humankind’s sin is viewed has having an adverse effect upon the earth. Note that vv. 12b-13 make a distinction between the earth and the living creatures who live on it.

[6:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “before.”

[6:11]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word translated “violence” refers elsewhere to a broad range of crimes, including unjust treatment (Gen 16:5; Amos 3:10), injurious legal testimony (Deut 19:16), deadly assault (Gen 49:5), murder (Judg 9:24), and rape (Jer 13:22).

[29:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “and Jacob said.”

[29:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”

[29:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will go in to her.” The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “that I may go in,” or it may be an independent clause expressing his desire. The verb “go in” in this context refers to sexual intercourse (i.e., the consummation of the marriage).

[1:22]  ⁹ tn While the translation “blessed” has been retained here for the sake of simplicity, it would be most helpful to paraphrase it as “God endowed them with fruitfulness” or something similar, for here it refers to God’s giving the animals the capacity to reproduce. The expression “blessed” needs clarification in its different contexts, for it is one of the unifying themes of the Book of Genesis. The divine blessing occurs after works of creation and is intended to continue that work – the word of blessing guarantees success. The word means “to enrich; to endow,” and the most visible evidence of that enrichment is productivity or fruitfulness. See C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[1:22]  ¹⁰ sn The instruction God gives to creation is properly a fuller expression of the statement just made (“God blessed them”), that he enriched them with the ability to reproduce. It is not saying that these were rational creatures who heard and obeyed the word; rather, it stresses that fruitfulness in the animal world is a result of the divine decree and not of some pagan cultic ritual for fruitfulness. The repeated emphasis of “be fruitful – multiply – fill” adds to this abundance God has given to life. The meaning is underscored by the similar sounds: בָּרָךְ (barakh) with בָּרָא (bara’), and פָּרָה (parah) with רָבָה (ravah).

[6:13]  ¹¹ sn On the divine style utilized here, see R. Lapointe, “The Divine Monologue as a Channel of Revelation,” CBQ 32 (1970): 161-81.

[6:13]  ¹² tn Heb “the end of all flesh is coming [or “has come”] before me.” (The verb form is either a perfect or a participle.) The phrase “end of all flesh” occurs only here. The term “end” refers here to the end of “life,” as v. 3 and the following context (which describes how God destroys all flesh) make clear. The statement “the end has come” occurs in Ezek 7:2, 6, where it is used of divine judgment. The phrase “come before” occurs in Exod 28:30, 35; 34:34; Lev 15:14; Num 27:17; 1 Sam 18:13, 16; 2 Sam 19:8; 20:8; 1 Kgs 1:23, 28, 32; Ezek 46:9; Pss 79:11 (groans come before God); 88:3 (a prayer comes before God); 100:2; 119:170 (prayer comes before God); Lam 1:22 (evil doing comes before God); Esth 1:19; 8:1; 9:25; 1 Chr 16:29. The expression often means “have an audience with” or “appear before.” But when used metaphorically, it can mean “get the attention of” or “prompt a response.” This is probably the sense in Gen 6:13. The necessity of ending the life of all flesh on earth is an issue that has gotten the attention of God. The term “end” may even be a metonymy for that which has prompted it – violence (see the following clause).

[6:13]  ¹³ tn The participle, especially after הִנֵּה (hinneh) has an imminent future nuance. The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) here has the sense “to destroy” (in judgment). Note the wordplay involving this verb in vv. 11-13: The earth is “ruined” because all flesh has acted in a morally “corrupt” manner. Consequently, God will “destroy” all flesh (the referent of the suffix “them”) along with the ruined earth. They had ruined themselves and the earth with violence, and now God would ruin them with judgment. For other cases where “earth” occurs as the object of the Hiphil of שָׁחָת, see 1 Sam 6:5; 1 Chr 20:1; Jer 36:29; 51:25.

[21:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.

[26:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”

[29:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.

[29:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “this other one.”

[29:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”

[29:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[29:28]  ²² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:28]  ²³ tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.

[29:28]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:25]  ²³ tn Heb “and they filled.” The clause appears to be elliptical; one expects “Joseph gave orders to fill…and they filled.” See GKC 386 §120.f.

[42:25]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and he did for them so.” Joseph would appear to be the subject of the singular verb. If the text is retained, the statement seems to be a summary of the preceding, more detailed statement. However, some read the verb as plural, “and they did for them so.” In this case the statement indicates that Joseph’s subordinates carried out his orders. Another alternative is to read the singular verb as passive (with unspecified subject), “and this was done for them so” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:28]  ²⁵ tn As in v. 22 the verb “bless” here means “to endow with the capacity to reproduce and be fruitful,” as the following context indicates. As in v. 22, the statement directly precedes the command “be fruitful and multiply.” The verb carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); Gen 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).

[1:28]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and God said.” For stylistic reasons “God” has not been repeated here in the translation.

[1:28]  ²⁷ tn Elsewhere the Hebrew verb translated “subdue” means “to enslave” (2 Chr 28:10; Neh 5:5; Jer 34:11, 16), “to conquer,” (Num 32:22, 29; Josh 18:1; 2 Sam 8:11; 1 Chr 22:18; Zech 9:13; and probably Mic 7:19), and “to assault sexually” (Esth 7:8). None of these nuances adequately meets the demands of this context, for humankind is not viewed as having an adversarial relationship with the world. The general meaning of the verb appears to be “to bring under one’s control for one’s advantage.” In Gen 1:28 one might paraphrase it as follows: “harness its potential and use its resources for your benefit.” In an ancient Israelite context this would suggest cultivating its fields, mining its mineral riches, using its trees for construction, and domesticating its animals.

[1:28]  ²⁸ sn The several imperatives addressed to both males and females together (plural imperative forms) actually form two commands: reproduce and rule. God’s word is not merely a form of blessing, but is now addressed to them personally; this is a distinct emphasis with the creation of human beings. But with the blessing comes the ability to be fruitful and to rule. In procreation they will share in the divine work of creating human life and passing on the divine image (see 5:1-3); in ruling they will serve as God’s vice-regents on earth. They together, the human race collectively, have the responsibility of seeing to the welfare of that which is put under them and the privilege of using it for their benefit.