Genesis 4:26

4:26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people ¹  began to worship ²  the Lord.

Genesis 5:29

5:29 He named him Noah, ³  saying, “This one will bring us comfort ⁴  from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed.”

Genesis 16:11

16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ⁵  pregnant

and are about to give birth ⁶  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ⁷ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ⁸ 

Genesis 19:38

19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. ⁹  He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.

Genesis 25:26

25:26 When his brother came out with ¹⁰  his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. ¹¹  Isaac was sixty years old ¹²  when they were born.

Genesis 25:30

25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed ¹³  me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called ¹⁴  Edom.) ¹⁵ 

Genesis 29:32

29:32 So Leah became pregnant ¹⁶  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ¹⁷  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ¹⁸  Surely my husband will love me now.”

Genesis 29:35

29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. ¹⁹  Then she stopped having children.

Genesis 30:6

30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ²⁰  and given me a son.” That is why ²¹  she named him Dan. ²² 

Genesis 31:48

31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement ²³  today.” That is why it was called Galeed.

Genesis 35:8

35:8 (Deborah, ²⁴  Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named ²⁵  Oak of Weeping.) ²⁶ 

Genesis 35:18

35:18 With her dying breath, ²⁷  she named him Ben-Oni. ²⁸  But his father called him Benjamin instead. ²⁹ 

Genesis 38:29

38:29 But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. ³⁰  She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!” ³¹  So he was named Perez. ³² 

[4:26]  ¹ tn The word “people” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. The construction uses a passive verb without an expressed subject. “To call was begun” can be interpreted to mean that people began to call.

[4:26]  ² tn Heb “call in the name.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 12:8; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116.

[5:29]  ³ sn The name Noah appears to be related to the Hebrew word נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”). There are several wordplays on the name “Noah” in the story of the flood.

[5:29]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb יְנַחֲמֵנוּ (yÿnakhamenu) is from the root נָחָם (nakham), which means “to comfort” in the Piel verbal stem. The letters נ (nun) and ח (heth) pick up the sounds in the name “Noah,” forming a paronomasia on the name. They are not from the same verbal root, and so the connection is only by sound. Lamech’s sentiment reflects the oppression of living under the curse on the ground, but also expresses the hope for relief in some way through the birth of Noah. His words proved to be ironic but prophetic. The relief would come with a new beginning after the flood. See E. G. Kraeling, “The Interpretations of the Name Noah in Genesis 5:29,” JBL 48 (1929): 138-43.

[16:11]  ⁵ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ⁶ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ⁷ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[19:38]  ⁷ sn The name Ben-Ammi means “son of my people.” Like the account of Moab’s birth, this story is probably included in the narrative to portray the Ammonites, another perennial enemy of Israel, in a negative light.

[25:26]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.

[25:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.

[25:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”

[25:30]  ¹¹ tn The rare term לָעַט (la’at), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.

[25:30]  ¹² tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.

[25:30]  ¹³ sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”

[29:32]  ¹³ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

[29:32]  ¹⁴ sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

[29:32]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

[29:35]  ¹⁵ sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.

[30:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.

[30:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  ¹⁹ sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.

[31:48]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a witness between me and you.”

[35:8]  ²¹ sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.

[35:8]  ²² tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.

[35:8]  ²³ tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.

[35:18]  ²³ tn Heb “in the going out of her life, for she was dying.” Rachel named the child with her dying breath.

[35:18]  ²⁴ sn The name Ben-Oni means “son of my suffering.” It is ironic that Rachel’s words to Jacob in Gen 30:1, “Give me children or I’ll die,” take a different turn here, for it was having the child that brought about her death.

[35:18]  ²⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive.

[38:29]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Look, his brother came out.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through the midwife’s eyes. The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[38:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “How you have made a breach for yourself!” The Hebrew verb translated “make a breach” frequently occurs, as here, with a cognate accusative. The event provided the meaningful name Perez, “he who breaks through.”

[38:29]  ²⁷ sn The name Perez means “he who breaks through,” referring to Perez reaching out his hand at birth before his brother was born. The naming signified the completion of Tamar’s struggle and also depicted the destiny of the tribe of Perez who later became dominant (Gen 46:12 and Num 26:20). Judah and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, thinking they could thwart God’s plan that the elder brothers should serve the younger. God demonstrated that principle through these births in Judah’s own family, affirming that the elder will serve the younger, and that Joseph’s leadership could not so easily be set aside. See J. Goldin, “The Youngest Son; or, Where Does Genesis 38 Belong?” JBL 96 (1977): 27-44.