Genesis 4:25

4:25 And Adam had marital relations ¹  with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given ²  me another child ³  in place of Abel because Cain killed him.”

Genesis 12:5

12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew ⁴  Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired ⁵  in Haran, and they left for ⁶  the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

Genesis 17:1

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, ⁷  the Lord appeared to him and said, ⁸  “I am the sovereign God. ⁹  Walk ¹⁰  before me ¹¹  and be blameless. ¹² 

Genesis 17:12

17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old ¹³  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants.

Genesis 17:19

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ¹⁴  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ¹⁵  covenant for his descendants after him.

Genesis 24:15

24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah ¹⁶  with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). ¹⁷ 

Genesis 24:47

24:47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ ¹⁸  I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

Genesis 29:13

29:13 When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob ¹⁹  told Laban how he was related to him. ²⁰ 

Genesis 29:33-34

29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, ²¹  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ²² 

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ²³  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ²⁴ 

Genesis 36:17

36:17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons ²⁵  of Esau’s wife Basemath.

Genesis 36:39

36:39 When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad ²⁶  reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. ²⁷  His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

Genesis 37:2

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ²⁸  was taking care of ²⁹  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ³⁰  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ³¹  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ³²  to their father.

Genesis 43:29

43:29 When Joseph looked up ³³  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁴ 

[4:25]  ¹ tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:25]  ² sn The name Seth probably means something like “placed”; “appointed”; “set”; “granted,” assuming it is actually related to the verb that is used in the sentiment. At any rate, the name שֵׁת (shet) and the verb שָׁת (shat, “to place, to appoint, to set, to grant”) form a wordplay (paronomasia).

[4:25]  ³ tn Heb “offspring.”

[12:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “the son of his brother.”

[12:5]  ⁵ tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.

[12:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “went out to go.”

[17:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[17:1]  ⁹ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the LXX, and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including “blessings of the breast and womb” (49:25). (The direct association of the name with “breasts” suggests the name might mean “the one of the breast” [i.e., the one who gives fertility], but the juxtaposition is probably better explained as wordplay. Note the wordplay involving the name and the root שָׁדַד, shadad, “destroy”] in Isa 13:6 and in Joel 1:15.) Outside Genesis the name Shaddai (minus the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14; Isa 13:6; and Joel 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.) Finally, the name occurs 31 times in the Book of Job. Job and his “friends” assume that Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world (11:7; 37:23a) who is the source of life (33:4b) and is responsible for maintaining justice (8:3; 34:10-12; 37:23b). He provides abundant blessings, including children (22:17-18; 29:4-6), but he can also discipline, punish, and destroy (5:17; 6:4; 21:20; 23:16). It is not surprising to see the name so often in this book, where the theme of God’s justice is primary and even called into question (24:1; 27:2). The most likely proposal is that the name means “God, the one of the mountain” (an Akkadian cognate means “mountain,” to which the Hebrew שַׁד, shad, “breast”] is probably related). For a discussion of proposed derivations see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 70-71. The name may originally have depicted God as the sovereign judge who, in Canaanite style, ruled from a sacred mountain. Isa 14:13 and Ezek 28:14, 16 associate such a mountain with God, while Ps 48:2 refers to Zion as “Zaphon,” the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isa 14 the Canaanite god El may be in view. Note that Isaiah pictures pagan kings as taunting the king of Babylon, suggesting that pagan mythology may provide the background for the language and imagery.)

[17:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”

[17:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “in my presence.”

[17:1]  ¹² tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the Lord, then the second imperative is likely sequential. (2) But if it has a positive moral connotation (“serve me faithfully”), then the second imperative probably indicates purpose (or result). For other uses of the idiom see 1 Sam 2:30, 35 and 12:2 (where it occurs twice).

[17:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the son of eight days.”

[17:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[24:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out!” Using the participle introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator dramatically transports the audience back into the event and invites them to see Rebekah through the servant’s eyes.

[24:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out – [she] who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham – and her jug [was] on her shoulder.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:47]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “whom Milcah bore to him.” The referent (Nahor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:13]  ²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:13]  ²³ tn Heb “and he told to Laban all these things.” This might mean Jacob told Laban how he happened to be there, but Laban’s response (see v. 14) suggests “all these things” refers to what Jacob had previously told Rachel (see v. 12).

[29:33]  ²⁵ tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.

[29:33]  ²⁶ sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.

[29:34]  ²⁸ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ²⁹ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[36:17]  ³¹ tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).

[36:39]  ³⁴ tc Most mss of the MT read “Hadar” here; “Hadad” is the reading found in some Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac (cf. also 1 Chr 1:50).

[36:39]  ³⁵ tn The name of the city is given as “Pai” in 1 Chr 1:50.

[37:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

[37:2]  ³⁸ tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

[37:2]  ³⁹ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

[37:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

[37:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.

[43:29]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ⁴¹ sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.