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 9:10

9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. ⁴ 

Genesis 11:4

11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ⁵  so that ⁶  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ⁷  we will be scattered ⁸  across the face of the entire earth.”

Genesis 19:15

19:15 At dawn ⁹  the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, ¹⁰  or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” ¹¹ 

Genesis 19:17

19:17 When they had brought them outside, they ¹²  said, “Run ¹³  for your lives! Don’t look ¹⁴  behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! ¹⁵  Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

Genesis 27:29

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ¹⁶  lord ¹⁷  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ¹⁸ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Genesis 30:31

30:31 So Laban asked, ¹⁹  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ²⁰  Jacob replied, ²¹  “but if you agree to this one condition, ²²  I will continue to care for ²³  your flocks and protect them:

Genesis 32:9

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, ²⁴  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ²⁵  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ²⁶ 

[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.

[9:10]  ⁴ tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.

[11:4]  ⁷ tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.

[11:4]  ⁸ tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.

[11:4]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

[11:4]  ¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “When dawn came up.”

[19:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.

[19:15]  ¹² tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[19:17]  ¹³ tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.

[19:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “escape.”

[19:17]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.

[19:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[27:29]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.

[27:29]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”

[27:29]  ¹⁸ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ²⁰ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ²¹ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ²² tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ²³ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[32:9]  ²² tn Heb “said.”

[32:9]  ²³ tn Heb “the one who said.”

[32:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.