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 30:31

30:31 So Laban asked, ⁵  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ⁶  Jacob replied, ⁷  “but if you agree to this one condition, ⁸  I will continue to care for ⁹  your flocks and protect them:

Genesis 40:5

40:5 Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream ¹⁰  the same night. ¹¹  Each man’s dream had its own meaning. ¹² 

[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.

[30:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ⁶ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ⁷ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[40:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[40:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a man his dream in one night.”

[40:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”