Genesis 4:15

4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ¹  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ²  Then the Lord put a special mark ³  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ⁴ 

Genesis 22:12

22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ⁵  the angel said. ⁶  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ⁷  that you fear ⁸  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

Genesis 23:9

23:9 if he will sell ⁹  me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly ¹⁰  for the full price, ¹¹  so that I may own it as a burial site.”

Genesis 24:32

24:32 So Abraham’s servant ¹²  went to the house and unloaded ¹³  the camels. Straw and feed were given ¹⁴  to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 29:25

29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! ¹⁶  So Jacob ¹⁷  said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! ¹⁸  Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked ¹⁹  me?”

Genesis 49:6

49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart, ²⁰ 

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

[4:15]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.

[22:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:12]  ⁷ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ⁸ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[23:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.

[23:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your presence.”

[23:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “silver.”

[24:32]  ¹³ tn Heb “the man”; the referent (Abraham’s servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:32]  ¹⁴ tn Some translations (e.g., NEB, NASB, NRSV) understand Laban to be the subject of this and the following verbs or take the subject of this and the following verbs as indefinite (referring to an unnamed servant; e.g., NAB, NIV).

[24:32]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and [one] gave.” The verb without an expressed subject may be translated as passive.

[24:32]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”

[29:25]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:25]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.

[49:6]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text reads “my glory,” but it is preferable to repoint the form and read “my liver.” The liver was sometimes viewed as the seat of the emotions and will (see HALOT 456 s.v. II כָּבֵד) for which the heart is the modern equivalent.