Genesis 42:4

42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, ¹  for he said, ²  “What if some accident ³  happens ⁴  to him?”

Genesis 19:30

19:30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.

Genesis 26:7

26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” ⁵  He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, ⁶  “The men of this place will kill me to get ⁷  Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”

Genesis 38:11

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ⁸  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ⁹  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Genesis 28:17

28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

Genesis 31:53

31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ¹⁰  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ¹¹ 

[42:4]  ¹ tn Heb “But Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers.” The disjunctive clause highlights the contrast between Benjamin and the other ten.

[42:4]  ² tn The Hebrew verb אָמַר (’amar, “to say”) could also be translated “thought” (i.e., “he said to himself”) here, giving Jacob’s reasoning rather than spoken words.

[42:4]  ³ tn The Hebrew noun אָסוֹן (’ason) is a rare word meaning “accident, harm.” Apart from its use in these passages it occurs in Exodus 21:22-23 of an accident to a pregnant woman. The term is a rather general one, but Jacob was no doubt thinking of his loss of Joseph.

[42:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “encounters.”

[26:7]  ⁵ sn Rebekah, unlike Sarah, was not actually her husband’s sister.

[26:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “lest.” The words “for he thought to himself” are supplied because the next clause is written with a first person pronoun, showing that Isaac was saying or thinking this.

[26:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “kill me on account of.”

[38:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “said.”

[38:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”

[31:53]  ¹³ tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.

[31:53]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.