Genesis 3:11

3:11 And the Lord God ¹  said, “Who told you that you were naked? ²  Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ³ 

Genesis 18:24

18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ⁴  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it?

Genesis 30:8

30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ⁵  So she named him Naphtali. ⁶ 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (the Lord God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ² sn Who told you that you were naked? This is another rhetorical question, asking more than what it appears to ask. The second question in the verse reveals the Lord God’s real concern.

[3:11]  ³ sn The Hebrew word order (“Did you from the tree – which I commanded you not to eat from it – eat?”) is arranged to emphasize that the man’s and the woman’s eating of the fruit was an act of disobedience. The relative clause inserted immediately after the reference to the tree brings out this point very well.

[18:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).

[30:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  ⁸ sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”