Genesis 3:22

3:22 And the Lord God said, “Now ¹  that the man has become like one of us, ²  knowing ³  good and evil, he must not be allowed ⁴  to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

Genesis 14:13

14:13 A fugitive ⁵  came and told Abram the Hebrew. ⁶  Now Abram was living by the oaks ⁷  of Mamre the Amorite, the brother ⁸  of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty ⁹  with Abram.) ¹⁰ 

Genesis 42:21

42:21 They said to one other, ¹¹  “Surely we’re being punished ¹²  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ¹³  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ¹⁴  has come on us!”

Genesis 43:8

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. ¹⁵  Then we will live ¹⁶  and not die – we and you and our little ones.

[3:22]  ¹ tn The particle הֵן (hen) introduces a foundational clause, usually beginning with “since, because, now.”

[3:22]  ² sn The man has become like one of us. See the notes on Gen 1:26 and 3:5.

[3:22]  ³ tn The infinitive explains in what way the man had become like God: “knowing good and evil.”

[3:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “and now, lest he stretch forth.” Following the foundational clause, this clause forms the main point. It is introduced with the particle פֶּן (pen) which normally introduces a negative purpose, “lest….” The construction is elliptical; something must be done lest the man stretch forth his hand. The translation interprets the point intended.

[14:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fugitive.” The article carries a generic force or indicates that this fugitive is definite in the mind of the speaker.

[14:13]  ⁶ sn E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103) suggests that part of this chapter came from an outside source since it refers to Abram the Hebrew. That is not impossible, given that the narrator likely utilized traditions and genealogies that had been collected and transmitted over the years. The meaning of the word “Hebrew” has proved elusive. It may be related to the verb “to cross over,” perhaps meaning “immigrant.” Or it might be derived from the name of Abram’s ancestor Eber (see Gen 11:14-16).

[14:13]  ⁷ tn Or “terebinths.”

[14:13]  ⁸ tn Or “a brother”; or “a relative”; or perhaps “an ally.”

[14:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “possessors of a treaty with.” Since it is likely that the qualifying statement refers to all three (Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner) the words “all these” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear.

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn This parenthetical disjunctive clause explains how Abram came to be living in their territory, but it also explains why they must go to war with Abram.

[42:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ¹⁰ tn Or “we are guilty”; the Hebrew word can also refer to the effect of being guilty, i.e., “we are being punished for guilt.”

[42:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ¹² sn The repetition of the Hebrew noun translated distress draws attention to the fact that they regard their present distress as appropriate punishment for their refusal to ignore their brother when he was in distress.

[43:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “and we will rise up and we will go.” The first verb is adverbial and gives the expression the sense of “we will go immediately.”

[43:8]  ¹⁴ tn After the preceding cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form (either imperfect or cohortative) with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or result.