Genesis 4:6

4:6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast?

Genesis 24:31

24:31 Laban said to him, ¹  “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! ²  Why are you standing out here when I have prepared ³  the house and a place for the camels?”

Genesis 31:30

31:30 Now I understand that ⁴  you have gone away ⁵  because you longed desperately ⁶  for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” ⁷ 

Genesis 42:1

Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt

42:1 When Jacob heard ⁸  there was grain in Egypt, he ⁹  said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” ¹⁰ 

Genesis 43:6

43:6 Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble ¹¹  on me by telling ¹²  the man you had one more brother?”

Genesis 44:7

44:7 They answered him, “Why does my lord say such things? ¹³  Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ¹⁴ 

[24:31]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:31]  ² sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the Lord. Already the author is laying the foundation for subsequent events in the narrative, where Laban’s greed becomes his dominant characteristic.

[24:31]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.

[31:30]  ¹ tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[31:30]  ² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.

[31:30]  ³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.

[31:30]  ⁴ sn Yet why did you steal my gods? This last sentence is dropped into the speech rather suddenly. See C. Mabee, “Jacob and Laban: The Structure of Judicial Proceedings,” VT 30 (1980): 192-207, and G. W. Coats, “Self-Abasement and Insult Formulas,” JBL 91 (1972): 90-92.

[42:1]  ¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[42:1]  ² tn Heb “Jacob.” Here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:1]  ³ sn Why are you looking at each other? The point of Jacob’s question is that his sons should be going to get grain rather than sitting around doing nothing. Jacob, as the patriarch, still makes the decisions for the whole clan.

[43:6]  ¹ tn The verb may even have a moral connotation here, “Why did you do evil to me?”

[43:6]  ² tn The infinitive construct here explains how they brought trouble on Jacob.

[44:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Why does my lord speak according to these words?”

[44:7]  ² tn Heb “according to this thing.”