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 6:7

6:7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, ⁵  including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

Genesis 19:16

19:16 When Lot ⁶  hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. ⁷  They led them away and placed them ⁸  outside the city.

Genesis 24:48

24:48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter ⁹  of my master’s brother for his son.

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 ¹⁰  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ¹¹ 

Genesis 26:29

26:29 so that ¹²  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ¹³  you, but have always treated you well ¹⁴  before sending you away ¹⁵  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ¹⁶ 

Genesis 27:29

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ¹⁷  lord ¹⁸  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ¹⁹ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Genesis 31:12

31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe ²⁰  that all the male goats mating with ²¹  the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.

Genesis 31:18

31:18 He took ²²  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ²³ 

Genesis 32:20

32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” ²⁴  Jacob thought, ²⁵  “I will first appease him ²⁶  by sending a gift ahead of me. ²⁷  After that I will meet him. ²⁸  Perhaps he will accept me.” ²⁹ 

Genesis 37:14

37:14 So Jacob ³⁰  said to him, “Go now and check on ³¹  the welfare ³²  of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob ³³  sent him from the valley of Hebron.

Genesis 37:20

37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild ³⁴  animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!” ³⁵ 

Genesis 42:21

42:21 They said to one other, ³⁶  “Surely we’re being punished ³⁷  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ³⁸  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ³⁹  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. ⁴⁰  Then we will live ⁴¹  and not die – we and you and our little ones.

Genesis 50:10

50:10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad ⁴²  on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. ⁴³  There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father.

[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.

[6:7]  ⁵ tn The text simply has “from man to beast, to creatures, and to birds of the air.” The use of the prepositions עַד…מִן (min...’ad) stresses the extent of the judgment in creation.

[19:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the compassion of the Lord to them.”

[19:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).

[24:48]  ¹³ tn Heb “daughter.” Rebekah was actually the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. One can either translate the Hebrew term בַּת (bat) as “daughter,” in which case the term אָח (’akh) must be translated more generally as “relative” rather than “brother” (cf. NASB, NRSV) or one can translate בַּת as “granddaughter,” in which case אָח may be translated “brother” (cf. NIV).

[26:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your descendants.”

[26:4]  ¹⁸ 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.)

[26:29]  ²¹ tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”

[26:29]  ²² tn Heb “touched.”

[26:29]  ²³ tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”

[26:29]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and we sent you away.”

[26:29]  ²⁵ tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).

[27:29]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[31:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “lift up (now) your eyes and see.”

[31:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.

[31:18]  ³³ tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.

[31:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”

[32:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

[32:20]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”

[32:20]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.

[32:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”

[32:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “I will see his face.”

[32:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.

[37:14]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:14]  ⁴² tn Heb “see.”

[37:14]  ⁴³ tn Heb “peace.”

[37:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:20]  ⁴⁵ tn The Hebrew word can sometimes carry the nuance “evil,” but when used of an animal it refers to a dangerous wild animal.

[37:20]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “what his dreams will be.”

[42:21]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.”

[42:21]  ⁵⁰ 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]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the distress of his soul.”

[42:21]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ tn After the preceding cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form (either imperfect or cohortative) with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or result.

[50:10]  ⁵⁷ sn The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua.

[50:10]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning.” The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow.