Genesis 3:4

3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, ¹ 

Genesis 3:9

3:9 But the Lord God called to ²  the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ³ 

Genesis 3:14

3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent, ⁴ 

“Because you have done this,

cursed ⁵  are you above all the wild beasts

and all the living creatures of the field!

On your belly you will crawl ⁶ 

and dust you will eat ⁷  all the days of your life.

Genesis 9:4

9:4 But ⁸  you must not eat meat ⁹  with its life (that is, ¹⁰  its blood) in it. ¹¹ 

Genesis 26:28

26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see ¹²  that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be ¹³  a pact between us ¹⁴  – between us ¹⁵  and you. Allow us to make ¹⁶  a treaty with you

Genesis 27:24

27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob ¹⁷  replied.

Genesis 29:25

29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! ¹⁸  So Jacob ¹⁹  said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! ²⁰  Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked ²¹  me?”

Genesis 30:31

30:31 So Laban asked, ²²  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ²³  Jacob replied, ²⁴  “but if you agree to this one condition, ²⁵  I will continue to care for ²⁶  your flocks and protect them:

Genesis 31:6

31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could, ²⁷ 

Genesis 42:16

42:16 One of you must go and get ²⁸  your brother, while ²⁹  the rest of you remain in prison. ³⁰  In this way your words may be tested to see if ³¹  you are telling the truth. ³²  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

Genesis 44:19

44:19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’

Genesis 45:11

45:11 I will provide you with food ³³  there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you.”’

Genesis 50:6

50:6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.” ³⁴ 

[3:4]  ¹ tn The response of the serpent includes the infinitive absolute with a blatant negation equal to saying: “Not – you will surely die” (לֹא מוֹת תִּמֻתען, lo’ mot tÿmutun). The construction makes this emphatic because normally the negative particle precedes the finite verb. The serpent is a liar, denying that there is a penalty for sin (see John 8:44).

[3:9]  ² tn The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call”) followed by the preposition אֶל־ or לְ (’el- or lÿ, “to, unto”) often carries the connotation of “summon.”

[3:9]  ³ sn Where are you? The question is probably rhetorical (a figure of speech called erotesis) rather than literal, because it was spoken to the man, who answers it with an explanation of why he was hiding rather than a location. The question has more the force of “Why are you hiding?”

[3:14]  ³ sn Note that God asks no question of the serpent, does not call for confession, as he did to the man and the woman; there is only the announcement of the curse. The order in this section is chiastic: The man is questioned, the woman is questioned, the serpent is cursed, sentence is passed on the woman, sentence is passed on the man.

[3:14]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word translated “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as comparative, then the idea is “cursed [i.e., punished] are you above [i.e., more than] all the wild beasts.” In this case the comparative preposition reflects the earlier comparison: The serpent was more shrewd than all others, and so more cursed than all others. If the preposition is taken as separative (see the note on the word “ground” in 4:11), then the idea is “cursed and banished from all the wild beasts.” In this case the serpent is condemned to isolation from all the other animals.

[3:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “go”; “walk,” but in English “crawl” or “slither” better describes a serpent’s movement.

[3:14]  ⁶ sn Dust you will eat. Being restricted to crawling on the ground would necessarily involve “eating dust,” although that is not the diet of the serpent. The idea of being brought low, of “eating dust” as it were, is a symbol of humiliation.

[9:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “only.”

[9:4]  ⁵ tn Or “flesh.”

[9:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.

[9:4]  ⁷ tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:28]  ⁵ tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.

[26:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:28]  ⁷ tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.

[26:28]  ⁸ tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).

[26:28]  ⁹ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”

[27:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it happened in the morning that look, it was Leah.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[29:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:25]  ⁹ tn Heb What is this you have done to me?” The use of the pronoun “this” is enclitic, adding emphasis to the question: “What in the world have you done to me?”

[29:25]  ¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated tricked here (רָמָה, ramah) is cognate to the noun used in Gen 27:35 to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering that what goes around, comes around. See J. A. Diamond, “The Deception of Jacob: A New Perspective on an Ancient Solution to the Problem,” VT 34 (1984): 211-13.

[30:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ⁹ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ¹⁰ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ¹² tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[31:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “with all my strength.”

[42:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

[42:16]  ¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

[42:16]  ¹² tn Heb “bound.”

[42:16]  ¹³ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”

[45:11]  ¹¹ tn The verb כּוּל (kul) in the Pilpel stem means “to nourish, to support, to sustain.” As in 1 Kgs 20:27, it here means “to supply with food.”

[50:6]  ¹² tn Heb “he made you swear on oath.”