Genesis 3:19

3:19 By the sweat of your brow ¹  you will eat food

until you return to the ground, ² 

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” ³ 

Genesis 14:16

14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. ⁴  He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of ⁵  the people.

Genesis 18:10

18:10 One of them ⁶  said, “I will surely return ⁷  to you when the season comes round again, ⁸  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ⁹  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 43:12

43:12 Take double the money with you; ¹¹  you must take back ¹²  the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight.

[3:19]  ¹ tn The expression “the sweat of your brow” is a metonymy, the sweat being the result of painful toil in the fields.

[3:19]  ² sn Until you return to the ground. The theme of humankind’s mortality is critical here in view of the temptation to be like God. Man will labor painfully to provide food, obviously not enjoying the bounty that creation promised. In place of the abundance of the orchard’s fruit trees, thorns and thistles will grow. Man will have to work the soil so that it will produce the grain to make bread. This will continue until he returns to the soil from which he was taken (recalling the creation in 2:7 with the wordplay on Adam and ground). In spite of the dreams of immortality and divinity, man is but dust (2:7), and will return to dust. So much for his pride.

[3:19]  ³ sn In general, the themes of the curse oracles are important in the NT teaching that Jesus became the cursed one hanging on the tree. In his suffering and death, all the motifs are drawn together: the tree, the sweat, the thorns, and the dust of death (see Ps 22:15). Jesus experienced it all, to have victory over it through the resurrection.

[14:16]  ⁴ tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:16]  ⁵ tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[18:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

[18:10]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

[18:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

[18:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

[18:10]  ¹¹ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

[43:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[43:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “take back in your hand.” The imperfect verbal form probably has an injunctive or obligatory force here, since Jacob is instructing his sons.