Genesis 4:9

4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” ¹  And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” ² 

Genesis 4:11

4:11 So now, you are banished ³  from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

Genesis 22:20

22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah ⁴  also has borne children to your brother Nahor –

Genesis 27:6

27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,

Genesis 27:40

27:40 You will live by your sword

but you will serve your brother.

When you grow restless,

you will tear off his yoke

from your neck.” ⁵ 

Genesis 32:6

32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.”

Genesis 37:13-14

37:13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers ⁶  are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” ⁷  Joseph replied. ⁸  37:14 So Jacob ⁹  said to him, “Go now and check on ¹⁰  the welfare ¹¹  of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob ¹²  sent him from the valley of Hebron.

Genesis 45:17

45:17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go ¹³  to the land of Canaan!

Genesis 48:22

48:22 As one who is above your ¹⁴  brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, ¹⁵  which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

[4:9]  ¹ sn Where is Abel your brother? Again the Lord confronts a guilty sinner with a rhetorical question (see Gen 3:9-13), asking for an explanation of what has happened.

[4:9]  ² tn Heb “The one guarding my brother [am] I?”

[4:11]  ³ tn Heb “cursed are you from the ground.” As in Gen 3:14, the word “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as indicating source, then the idea is “cursed (i.e., punished) are you from [i.e., “through the agency of”] the ground” (see v. 12a). If the preposition is taken as separative, then the idea is “cursed and banished from the ground.” In this case the ground rejects Cain’s efforts in such a way that he is banished from the ground and forced to become a fugitive out in the earth (see vv. 12b, 14).

[22:20]  ⁵ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.

[27:40]  ⁷ sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.

[37:13]  ⁹ tn The text uses an interrogative clause: “Are not your brothers,” which means “your brothers are.”

[37:13]  ¹⁰ sn With these words Joseph is depicted here as an obedient son who is ready to do what his father commands.

[37:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here I am.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[37:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:14]  ¹² tn Heb “see.”

[37:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “peace.”

[37:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[45:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and go! Enter!”

[48:22]  ¹⁵ tn The pronouns translated “your” and “you” in this verse are singular in the Hebrew text.

[48:22]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew word שְׁכֶם (shÿkhem) could be translated either as “mountain slope” or “shoulder, portion,” or even taken as the proper name “Shechem.” Jacob was giving Joseph either (1) one portion above his brothers, or (2) the mountain ridge he took from the Amorites, or (3) Shechem. The ambiguity actually allows for all three to be the referent. He could be referring to the land in Shechem he bought in Gen 33:18-19, but he mentions here that it was acquired by warfare, suggesting that the events of 34:25-29 are in view (even though at the time he denounced it, 34:30). Joseph was later buried in Shechem (Josh 24:32).