Genesis 4:22

4:22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped ¹  all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

Genesis 11:10

The Genealogy of Shem

11:10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

Genesis 25:18

25:18 His descendants ²  settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next ³  to Egypt all the way ⁴  to Asshur. ⁵  They settled ⁶  away from all their relatives. ⁷ 

Genesis 27:4

27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ⁸  I will eat it so that I may bless you ⁹  before I die.”

Genesis 30:8

30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ¹⁰  So she named him Naphtali. ¹¹ 

Genesis 38:8

38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with ¹²  your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise ¹³  up a descendant for your brother.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 41:51

41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, ¹⁵  saying, ¹⁶  “Certainly ¹⁷  God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”

Genesis 44:29

44:29 If you take ¹⁸  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹⁹  in tragedy ²⁰  to the grave.’ ²¹ 

Genesis 48:6

48:6 Any children that you father ²²  after them will be yours; they will be listed ²³  under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. ²⁴ 

Genesis 49:28

49:28 These ²⁵  are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing. ²⁶ 

[4:22]  ¹ tn The traditional rendering here, “who forged” (or “a forger of”) is now more commonly associated with counterfeit or fraud (e.g., “forged copies” or “forged checks”) than with the forging of metal. The phrase “heated metal and shaped [it]” has been used in the translation instead.

[25:18]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:18]  ³ tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.

[25:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “as you go.”

[25:18]  ⁵ sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.

[25:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “he fell.”

[25:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “upon the face of all his brothers.” This last expression, obviously alluding to the earlier oracle about Ishmael (Gen 16:12), could mean that the descendants of Ishmael lived in hostility to others or that they lived in a territory that was opposite the lands of their relatives. While there is some ambiguity about the meaning, the line probably does give a hint of the Ishmaelite-Israelite conflicts to come.

[27:4]  ³ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

[27:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

[30:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  ⁵ sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”

[38:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:8]  ⁶ tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.

[38:8]  ⁷ sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.

[41:51]  ⁶ sn The name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh) describes God’s activity on behalf of Joseph, explaining in general the significance of his change of fortune. The name is a Piel participle, suggesting the meaning “he who brings about forgetfulness.” The Hebrew verb נַשַּׁנִי (nashani) may have been used instead of the normal נִשַּׁנִי (nishani) to provide a closer sound play with the name. The giving of this Hebrew name to his son shows that Joseph retained his heritage and faith; and it shows that a brighter future was in store for him.

[41:51]  ⁷ tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:51]  ⁸ tn Or “for.”

[44:29]  ⁷ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

[44:29]  ⁸ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.

[44:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

[44:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[48:6]  ⁸ tn Or “you fathered.”

[48:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “called” or “named.”

[48:6]  ¹⁰ sn Listed under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. This means that any subsequent children of Joseph will be incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

[49:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “All these.”

[49:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”