Genesis 4:24

4:24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much,

then Lamech seventy-seven times!” ¹ 

Genesis 13:17

13:17 Get up and ²  walk throughout ³  the land, ⁴  for I will give it to you.”

Genesis 15:8

15:8 But ⁵  Abram ⁶  said, “O sovereign Lord, ⁷  by what ⁸  can I know that I am to possess it?”

Genesis 31:6

31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could, ⁹ 

Genesis 31:22

31:22 Three days later Laban discovered Jacob had left. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 38:15

38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute ¹¹  because she had covered her face.

Genesis 39:13

39:13 When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside,

Genesis 42:12

42:12 “No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” ¹² 

Genesis 46:33

46:33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’

[4:24]  ¹ sn Seventy-seven times. Lamech seems to reason this way: If Cain, a murderer, is to be avenged seven times (see v. 15), then how much more one who has been unjustly wronged! Lamech misses the point of God’s merciful treatment of Cain. God was not establishing a principle of justice when he warned he would avenge Cain’s murder. In fact he was trying to limit the shedding of blood, something Lamech wants to multiply instead. The use of “seventy-seven,” a multiple of seven, is hyperbolic, emphasizing the extreme severity of the vengeance envisioned by Lamech.

[13:17]  ² tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.

[13:17]  ³ tn The Hitpael form הִתְהַלֵּךְ (hithallekh) means “to walk about”; it also can carry the ideas of moving about, traversing, going back and forth, or living in an area. It here has the connotation of traversing the land to survey it, to look it over.

[13:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “the land to its length and to its breadth.” This phrase has not been included in the translation because it is somewhat redundant (see the note on the word “throughout” in this verse).

[15:8]  ³ tn Here the vav carries adversative force and is translated “but.”

[15:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:8]  ⁵ tn See note on the phrase “sovereign Lord” in 15:2.

[15:8]  ⁶ tn Or “how.”

[31:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “with all my strength.”

[31:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it was told to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled.”

[38:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “he reckoned her for a prostitute,” which was what Tamar had intended for him to do. She obviously had some idea of his inclinations, or she would not have tried this risky plan.

[42:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he said, ‘No, for the nakedness of the land you have come to see.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for clarity.