Genesis 37:18

37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers ¹  saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

Genesis 45:28

45:28 Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.”

Genesis 2:5

2:5 Now ²  no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field ³  had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. ⁴ 

Genesis 19:4

19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, ⁵  all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. ⁶ 

Genesis 27:4

27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ⁷  I will eat it so that I may bless you ⁸  before I die.”

Genesis 41:50

41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. ⁹  Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 24:15

24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah ¹¹  with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). ¹² 

Genesis 24:45

24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, ¹³  along came Rebekah ¹⁴  with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

Genesis 27:33

27:33 Isaac began to shake violently ¹⁵  and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. ¹⁶  He will indeed be blessed!”

[37:18]  ¹ tn Heb “and they”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:5]  ² tn Heb “Now every sprig of the field before it was.” The verb forms, although appearing to be imperfects, are technically preterites coming after the adverb טֶּרֶם (terem). The word order (conjunction + subject + predicate) indicates a disjunctive clause, which provides background information for the following narrative (as in 1:2). Two negative clauses are given (“before any sprig…”, and “before any cultivated grain” existed), followed by two causal clauses explaining them, and then a positive circumstantial clause is given – again dealing with water as in 1:2 (water would well up).

[2:5]  ³ tn The first term, שִׂיחַ (siakh), probably refers to the wild, uncultivated plants (see Gen 21:15; Job 30:4,7); whereas the second, עֵשֶׂב (’esev), refers to cultivated grains. It is a way of saying: “back before anything was growing.”

[2:5]  ⁴ tn The two causal clauses explain the first two disjunctive clauses: There was no uncultivated, general growth because there was no rain, and there were no grains because there was no man to cultivate the soil.

[19:4]  ³ tn The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) means “to lie down, to recline,” that is, “to go to bed.” Here what appears to be an imperfect is a preterite after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem). The nuance of potential (perfect) fits well.

[19:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young to the old, all the people from the end [of the city].” The repetition of the phrase “men of” stresses all kinds of men.

[27:4]  ⁴ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

[27:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

[41:50]  ⁵ tn Heb “before the year of the famine came.”

[41:50]  ⁶ tn Heb “gave birth for him.”

[24:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out!” Using the participle introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator dramatically transports the audience back into the event and invites them to see Rebekah through the servant’s eyes.

[24:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out – [she] who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham – and her jug [was] on her shoulder.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:45]  ⁷ tn Heb “As for me, before I finished speaking to my heart.” The adverb טֶרֶם (terem) indicates the verb is a preterite; the infinitive that follows is the direct object.

[24:45]  ⁸ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out.” As in 24:15, the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is used here for dramatic effect.

[27:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.

[27:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”