Genesis 41:44

41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission ¹  no one ²  will move his hand or his foot ³  in all the land of Egypt.”

Genesis 8:9

8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered ⁴  the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah ⁵  in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, ⁶  and brought it back into the ark. ⁷ 

Genesis 33:14

33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, ⁸  until I come to my lord at Seir.”

Genesis 25:25

25:25 The first came out reddish ⁹  all over, ¹⁰  like a hairy ¹¹  garment, so they named him Esau. ¹² 

Genesis 3:15

3:15 And I will put hostility ¹³  between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring; ¹⁴ 

her offspring will attack ¹⁵  your head,

and ¹⁶  you ¹⁷  will attack her offspring’s heel.” ¹⁸ 

Genesis 8:20

8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 25:26

25:26 When his brother came out with ²⁰  his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. ²¹  Isaac was sixty years old ²²  when they were born.

Genesis 49:17

49:17 May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward. ²³ 

Genesis 30:30

30:30 Indeed, ²⁴  you had little before I arrived, ²⁵  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ²⁶  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ²⁷  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ²⁸ 

[41:44]  ¹ tn Heb “apart from you.”

[41:44]  ² tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.

[41:44]  ³ tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”

[33:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”

[25:25]  ¹⁰ sn Reddish. The Hebrew word translated “reddish” is אַדְמוֹנִי (’admoni), which forms a wordplay on the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. The writer sees in Esau’s appearance at birth a sign of what was to come. After all, the reader has already been made aware of the “nations” that were being born.

[25:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all of him.”

[25:25]  ¹² sn Hairy. Here is another wordplay involving the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word translated “hairy” is שֵׂעָר (se’ar); the Edomites will later live in Mount Seir, perhaps named for its wooded nature.

[25:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “And they called his name Esau.” The name “Esau” (עֵשָׂו, ’esav) is not etymologically related to שֵׂעָר (se’ar), but it draws on some of the sounds.

[3:15]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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.

[8:20]  ¹⁶ sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.

[25:26]  ¹⁹ tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.

[25:26]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”

[49:17]  ²² sn The comparison of the tribe of Dan to a venomous serpent is meant to say that Dan, though small, would be potent, gaining victory through its skill and shrewdness. Jewish commentators have linked the image in part with Samson. That link at least illustrates the point: Though a minority tribe, Dan would gain the upper hand over others.

[30:30]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ²⁶ tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ²⁸ tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ²⁹ tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”