Genesis 41:33

41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look ¹  for a wise and discerning man ²  and give him authority ³  over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 30:40

30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face ⁴  the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks.

Genesis 3:15

3:15 And I will put hostility ⁵  between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring; ⁶ 

her offspring will attack ⁷  your head,

and ⁸  you ⁹  will attack her offspring’s heel.” ¹⁰ 

Genesis 46:4

46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. ¹¹  Joseph will close your eyes.” ¹² 

Genesis 4:25

4:25 And Adam had marital relations ¹³  with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given ¹⁴  me another child ¹⁵  in place of Abel because Cain killed him.”

Genesis 48:14

48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. ¹⁶  Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Genesis 48:17

48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. ¹⁷  So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

[41:33]  ¹ tn Heb “let Pharaoh look.” The jussive form expresses Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.

[41:33]  ² tn Heb “a man discerning and wise.” The order of the terms is rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:33]  ³ tn Heb “and let him set him.”

[30:40]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”

[3:15]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word translated “hostility” is derived from the root אֵיב (’ev, “to be hostile, to be an adversary [or enemy]”). The curse announces that there will be continuing hostility between the serpent and the woman. The serpent will now live in a “battle zone,” as it were.

[3:15]  ⁸ sn The Hebrew word translated “offspring” is a collective singular. The text anticipates the ongoing struggle between human beings (the woman’s offspring) and deadly poisonous snakes (the serpent’s offspring). An ancient Jewish interpretation of the passage states: “He made the serpent, cause of the deceit, press the earth with belly and flank, having bitterly driven him out. He aroused a dire enmity between them. The one guards his head to save it, the other his heel, for death is at hand in the proximity of men and malignant poisonous snakes.” See Sib. Or. 1:59-64. For a similar interpretation see Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.50-51).

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “he will attack [or “bruise”] you [on] the head.” The singular pronoun and verb agree grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “head” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A crushing blow to the head would be potentially fatal.

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “but you will…”; or “as they attack your head, you will attack their heel.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is understood as contrastive. Both clauses place the subject before the verb, a construction that is sometimes used to indicate synchronic action (see Judg 15:14).

[3:15]  ¹¹ sn You will attack her offspring’s heel. Though the conflict will actually involve the serpent’s offspring (snakes) and the woman’s offspring (human beings), v. 15b for rhetorical effect depicts the conflict as being between the serpent and the woman’s offspring, as if the serpent will outlive the woman. The statement is personalized for the sake of the addressee (the serpent) and reflects the ancient Semitic concept of corporate solidarity, which emphasizes the close relationship between a progenitor and his offspring. Note Gen 28:14, where the Lord says to Jacob, “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you [second masculine singular] will spread out in all directions.” Jacob will “spread out” in all directions through his offspring, but the text states the matter as if this will happen to him personally.

[3:15]  ¹² tn Heb “you will attack him [on] the heel.” The verb (translated “attack”) is repeated here, a fact that is obscured by some translations (e.g., NIV “crush…strike”). The singular pronoun agrees grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “heel” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A bite on the heel from a poisonous serpent is potentially fatal.

[46:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.”

[46:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.

[4:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:25]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “offspring.”

[48:14]  ¹⁶ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.

[48:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “it was bad in his eyes.”