Genesis 4:23

4:23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah! Listen to me!

You wives of Lamech, hear my words!

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man ¹  for hurting me.

Genesis 20:11

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ²  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ³  my wife.’

Genesis 31:31

31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” ⁴  Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought ⁵  you might take your daughters away from me by force. ⁶ 

Genesis 42:22

42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ⁷ 

[4:23]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term יֶלֶד (yeled) probably refers to a youthful warrior here, not a child.

[20:11]  ² tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ³ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[31:31]  ³ tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid.’” This statement is a not a response to the question about Laban’s household gods that immediately precedes, but to the earlier question about Jacob’s motivation for leaving so quickly and secretly (see v. 27). For this reason the words “I left secretly” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection to Laban’s earlier question in v. 27. Additionally the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “for I said.”

[31:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”

[42:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.