Genesis 4:8

4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” ¹  While they were in the field, Cain attacked ²  his brother ³  Abel and killed him.

Genesis 30:3

30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ⁴  her so that she can bear ⁵  children ⁶  for me ⁷  and I can have a family through her.” ⁸ 

Genesis 30:26

30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. ⁹  Then I’ll depart, ¹⁰  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” ¹¹ 

Genesis 38:8

38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with ¹²  your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise ¹³  up a descendant for your brother.” ¹⁴ 

[4:8]  ¹ tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָּׂדֶה (basadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָּׂדֶה.

[4:8]  ² tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).

[4:8]  ³ sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).

[30:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  ⁵ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  ⁶ tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[30:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.

[30:26]  ⁸ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”

[38:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:8]  ¹¹ tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.

[38:8]  ¹² sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.