Genesis 5:1

From Adam to Noah

5:1 This is the record ¹  of the family line ²  of Adam.

When God created humankind, ³  he made them ⁴  in the likeness of God.

Genesis 6:6

6:6 The Lord regretted ⁵  that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. ⁶ 

Genesis 6:22

6:22 And Noah did all ⁷  that God commanded him – he did indeed. ⁸ 

Genesis 8:6

8:6 At the end of forty days, ⁹  Noah opened the window he had made in the ark ¹⁰ 

Genesis 9:6

9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, ¹¹ 

by other humans ¹² 

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image ¹³ 

God ¹⁴  has made humankind.”

Genesis 9:24

9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor ¹⁵  he learned ¹⁶  what his youngest son had done ¹⁷  to him.

Genesis 13:4

13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, ¹⁸  and there Abram worshiped the Lord. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 21:6

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ²⁰  Everyone who hears about this ²¹  will laugh ²²  with me.”

Genesis 39:3

39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. ²³ 

Genesis 41:28

41:28 This is just what I told ²⁴  Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.

[5:1]  ¹ tn Heb “book” or “roll.” Cf. NIV “written account”; NRSV “list.”

[5:1]  ² tn Heb “generations.” See the note on the phrase “this is the account of” in 2:4.

[5:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has אָדָם (’adam).

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “him.” The Hebrew text uses the third masculine singular pronominal suffix on the accusative sign. The pronoun agrees grammatically with its antecedent אָדָם (’adam). However, the next verse makes it clear that אָדָם is collective here and refers to “humankind,” so it is preferable to translate the pronoun with the English plural.

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Or “was grieved”; “was sorry.” In the Niphal stem the verb נָחָם (nakham) can carry one of four semantic meanings, depending on the context: (1) “to experience emotional pain or weakness,” “to feel regret,” often concerning a past action (see Exod 13:17; Judg 21:6, 15; 1 Sam 15:11, 35; Job 42:6; Jer 31:19). In several of these texts כִּי (ki, “because”) introduces the cause of the emotional sorrow. (2) Another meaning is “to be comforted” or “to comfort oneself” (sometimes by taking vengeance). See Gen 24:67; 38:12; 2 Sam 13:39; Ps 77:3; Isa 1:24; Jer 31:15; Ezek 14:22; 31:16; 32:31. (This second category represents a polarization of category one.) (3) The meaning “to relent from” or “to repudiate” a course of action which is already underway is also possible (see Judg 2:18; 2 Sam 24:16 = 1 Chr 21:15; Pss 90:13; 106:45; Jer 8:6; 20:16; 42:10). (4) Finally, “to retract” (a statement) or “to relent or change one’s mind concerning,” “to deviate from” (a stated course of action) is possible (see Exod 32:12, 14; 1 Sam 15:29; Ps 110:4; Isa 57:6; Jer 4:28; 15:6; 18:8, 10; 26:3, 13, 19; Ezek 24:14; Joel 2:13-14; Am 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9-10; 4:2; Zech 8:14). See R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 388. The first category applies here because the context speaks of God’s grief and emotional pain (see the following statement in v. 6) as a result of a past action (his making humankind). For a thorough study of the word נָחָם, see H. Van Dyke Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[6:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he was grieved to his heart.” The verb עָצָב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic senses, depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain”; “to be depressed emotionally”; “to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed”; “to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself); “to be insulted” (Gen 34:7; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 34:7). The third category fits best in Gen 6:6 because humankind’s sin does not merely wound God emotionally. On the contrary, it prompts him to strike out in judgment against the source of his distress (see v. 7). The verb וַיִּתְעַצֵּב (vayyit’atsev), a Hitpael from עָצָב, alludes to the judgment oracles in Gen 3:16-19. Because Adam and Eve sinned, their life would be filled with pain; but sin in the human race also brought pain to God. The wording of v. 6 is ironic when compared to Gen 5:29. Lamech anticipated relief (נָחָם, nakham) from their work (מַעֲשֶׂה, ma’aseh) and their painful toil (עִצְּבֹן, ’itsÿvon), but now we read that God was sorry (נָחָם, nakham) that he had made (עָשָׂה, ’asah) humankind for it brought him great pain (עָצָב, ’atsav).

[6:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to all.”

[6:22]  ¹⁰ tn The last clause seems redundant: “and thus (כֵּן, ken) he did.” It underscores the obedience of Noah to all that God had said.

[8:6]  ¹³ tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.

[8:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.

[9:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the blood of man.”

[9:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.

[9:6]  ¹⁹ sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.

[9:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.

[9:24]  ²² tn Heb “he knew.”

[9:24]  ²³ tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.

[13:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).

[13:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[21:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ³⁰ tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ³¹ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[39:3]  ³³ tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:28]  ³⁷ tn Heb “it is the word that I spoke.”