Genesis 37:35

37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by ¹  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ²  So Joseph’s ³  father wept for him.

Genesis 38:12

38:12 After some time ⁴  Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with ⁵  his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

Genesis 38:1

Judah and Tamar

38:1 At that time Judah left ⁶  his brothers and stayed ⁷  with an Adullamite man ⁸  named Hirah.

Genesis 4:13

4:13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment ⁹  is too great to endure! ¹⁰ 

Genesis 4:15

4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ¹¹  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ¹²  Then the Lord put a special mark ¹³  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ¹⁴ 

[37:35]  ¹ tn Heb “arose, stood”; which here suggests that they stood by him in his time of grief.

[37:35]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[38:12]  ⁴ sn After some time. There is not enough information in the narrative to know how long this was. The text says “the days increased.” It was long enough for Shelah to mature and for Tamar to realize she would not have him.

[38:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he went up to the shearers of his sheep, he and.”

[38:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “went down from.”

[38:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he turned aside unto.”

[38:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “a man, an Adullamite.”

[4:13]  ⁹ tn The primary meaning of the Hebrew word עָוֹן (’avon) is “sin, iniquity.” But by metonymy it can refer to the “guilt” of sin, or to “punishment” for sin. The third meaning applies here. Just before this the Lord announces the punishment for Cain’s actions, and right after this statement Cain complains of the severity of the punishment. Cain is not portrayed as repenting of his sin.

[4:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “great is my punishment from bearing.” The preposition מִן (min, “from”) is used here in a comparative sense.

[4:15]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”

[4:15]  ¹² sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[4:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.

[4:15]  ¹⁴ sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.