Genesis 4:20-21

4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first ¹  of those who live in tents and keep ²  livestock. 4:21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute.

Genesis 9:22

9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, ³  saw his father’s nakedness ⁴  and told his two brothers who were outside.

Genesis 10:21

10:21 And sons were also born ⁵  to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), ⁶  the father of all the sons of Eber.

Genesis 19:37

19:37 The older daughter ⁷  gave birth to a son and named him Moab. ⁸  He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today.

Genesis 22:21

22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ⁹ 

Genesis 24:38

24:38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find ¹⁰  a wife for my son.’

Genesis 27:12

27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him ¹¹  and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”

Genesis 27:18

27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac ¹²  replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” ¹³ 

Genesis 28:21

28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home, ¹⁴  then the Lord will become my God.

Genesis 44:24

44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

Genesis 44:27

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 44:30

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ¹⁶ 

[4:20]  ¹ tn Heb “father.” In this passage the word “father” means “founder,” referring to the first to establish such lifestyles and occupations.

[4:20]  ² tn The word “keep” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. Other words that might be supplied instead are “tend,” “raise” (NIV), or “have” (NRSV).

[9:22]  ³ sn For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.

[9:22]  ⁴ tn Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6-11, 15-19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24-28).

[10:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

[10:21]  ⁶ tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.

[19:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:37]  ⁸ sn The meaning of the name Moab is not certain. The name sounds like the Hebrew phrase “from our father” (מֵאָבִינוּ, me’avinu) which the daughters used twice (vv. 32, 34). This account is probably included in the narrative in order to portray the Moabites, who later became enemies of God’s people, in a negative light.

[22:21]  ⁹ sn This parenthetical note about Kemuel’s descendant is probably a later insertion by the author/compiler of Genesis and not part of the original announcement.

[24:38]  ¹¹ tn Heb “but to the house of my father you must go and to my family and you must take a wife for my son.”

[27:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”

[27:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:18]  ¹⁶ sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.

[28:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”

[44:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”

[44:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “his life is bound up in his life.”