Genesis 3:24

3:24 When he drove ¹  the man out, he placed on the eastern side ²  of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries ³  who used the flame of a whirling sword ⁴  to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 26:4

26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ⁵  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ⁶ 

Genesis 26:18

26:18 Isaac reopened ⁷  the wells that had been dug ⁸  back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up ⁹  after Abraham died. Isaac ¹⁰  gave these wells ¹¹  the same names his father had given them. ¹² 

Genesis 27:46

27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed ¹³  because of these daughters of Heth. ¹⁴  If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” ¹⁵ 

Genesis 28:18

28:18 Early ¹⁶  in the morning Jacob ¹⁷  took the stone he had placed near his head ¹⁸  and set it up as a sacred stone. ¹⁹  Then he poured oil on top of it.

Genesis 37:35

37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by ²⁰  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ²¹  So Joseph’s ²²  father wept for him.

Genesis 41:35-36

41:35 They should gather all the excess food ²³  during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority ²⁴  they should store up grain so the cities will have food, ²⁵  and they should preserve it. ²⁶  41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” ²⁷ 

Genesis 43:21

43:21 But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ²⁸  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ²⁹ 

Genesis 48:20

48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you ³⁰  will Israel bless, ³¹  saying,

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ³² 

[3:24]  ¹ tn The verb with the vav (ו) consecutive is made subordinate to the next verb forming a temporal clause. This avoids any tautology with the previous verse that already stated that the Lord expelled the man.

[3:24]  ² tn Or “placed in front.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

[3:24]  ³ tn The Hebrew word is traditionally transliterated “the cherubim.”

[3:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “the flame of the sword that turns round and round.” The noun “flame” is qualified by the genitive of specification, “the sword,” which in turn is modified by the attributive participle “whirling.” The Hitpael of the verb “turn” has an iterative function here, indicating repeated action. The form is used in Job 37:12 of swirling clouds and in Judg 7:13 of a tumbling roll of bread. Verse 24 depicts the sword as moving from side to side to prevent anyone from passing or as whirling around, ready to cut to shreds anyone who tries to pass.

[26:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ⁶ tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)

[26:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

[26:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

[26:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

[26:18]  ¹² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”

[27:46]  ¹³ tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).

[27:46]  ¹⁴ tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[27:46]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”

[28:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”

[28:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:18]  ¹⁹ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.

[28:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “standing stone.”

[37:35]  ²¹ tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.

[37:35]  ²² tn Heb “and he said, ‘Indeed I will go down to my son mourning to Sheol.’” Sheol was viewed as the place where departed spirits went after death.

[37:35]  ²³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:35]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all the food.”

[41:35]  ²⁶ tn Heb “under the hand of Pharaoh.”

[41:35]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[for] food in the cities.” The noun translated “food” is an adverbial accusative in the sentence.

[41:35]  ²⁸ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the sequence of jussives before it.

[41:36]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the land will not be cut off in the famine.”

[43:21]  ³³ tn Heb “in its weight.”

[43:21]  ³⁴ tn Heb “brought it back in our hand.”

[48:20]  ³⁷ tn The pronoun is singular in the Hebrew text, apparently elevating Ephraim as the more prominent of the two. Note, however, that both are named in the blessing formula that follows.

[48:20]  ³⁸ tn Or “pronounce a blessing.”

[48:20]  ³⁹ sn On the elevation of Ephraim over Manasseh see E. C. Kingsbury, “He Set Ephraim Before Manasseh,” HUCA 38 (1967): 129-36; H. Mowvley, “The Concept and Content of ‘Blessing’ in the Old Testament,” BT 16 (1965): 74-80; and I. Mendelsohn, “On the Preferential Status of the Eldest Son,” BASOR 156 (1959): 38-40.