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 31:12

31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe ⁵  that all the male goats mating with ⁶  the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.

Genesis 40:8

40:8 They told him, “We both had dreams, ⁷  but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them ⁸  to me.”

[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.

[31:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “lift up (now) your eyes and see.”

[31:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.

[40:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “a dream we dreamed.”

[40:8]  ¹⁰ tn The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.