Genesis 5:2

5:2 He created them male and female; when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind.” ¹ 

Genesis 16:15

16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. ² 

Genesis 19:37

19:37 The older daughter ³  gave birth to a son and named him Moab. ⁴  He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today.

Genesis 25:25

25:25 The first came out reddish ⁵  all over, ⁶  like a hairy ⁷  garment, so they named him Esau. ⁸ 

Genesis 26:21

26:21 His servants ⁹  dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it ¹⁰  Sitnah. ¹¹ 

Genesis 30:13

30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ¹²  for women ¹³  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 30:18

30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ¹⁵  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ¹⁶  So she named him Issachar. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 30:24

30:24 She named him Joseph, ¹⁸  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

Genesis 31:49

31:49 It was also called Mizpah ¹⁹  because he said, “May the Lord watch ²⁰  between us ²¹  when we are out of sight of one another. ²² 

Genesis 32:2

32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, ²³  “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. ²⁴ 

Genesis 41:52

41:52 He named the second child Ephraim, ²⁵  saying, ²⁶  “Certainly ²⁷  God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

[5:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word used here is אָדָם (’adam).

[16:15]  ² tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”

[19:37]  ³ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:37]  ⁴ sn The meaning of the name Moab is not certain. The name sounds like the Hebrew phrase “from our father” (מֵאָבִינוּ, me’avinu) which the daughters used twice (vv. 32, 34). This account is probably included in the narrative in order to portray the Moabites, who later became enemies of God’s people, in a negative light.

[25:25]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “all of him.”

[25:25]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[26:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Isaac’s servants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he called its name.” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:21]  ⁷ sn The name Sitnah (שִׂטְנָה, sitnah) is derived from a Hebrew verbal root meaning “to oppose; to be an adversary” (cf. Job 1:6). The name was a reminder that the digging of this well caused “opposition” from the Philistines.

[30:13]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

[30:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “daughters.”

[30:13]  ⁸ sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.

[30:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  ⁸ tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  ⁹ sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.

[30:24]  ⁸ sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.

[31:49]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

[31:49]  ¹⁰ sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

[31:49]  ¹¹ tn Heb “between me and you.”

[31:49]  ¹² tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”

[32:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”

[32:2]  ¹¹ sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.

[41:52]  ¹¹ sn The name Ephraim (אֶפְרַיִם, ’efrayim), a form of the Hebrew verb פָּרָה (parah), means “to bear fruit.” The theme of fruitfulness is connected with this line of the family from Rachel (30:2) on down (see Gen 49:22, Deut 33:13-17, and Hos 13:15). But there is some difficulty with the name “Ephraim” itself. It appears to be a dual, for which F. Delitzsch simply said it meant “double fruitfulness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:305). G. J. Spurrell suggested it was a diphthongal pronunciation of a name ending in -an or -am, often thought to be dual suffixes (Notes on the text of the book of Genesis, 334). Many, however, simply connect the name to the territory of Ephraim and interpret it to be “fertile land” (C. Fontinoy, “Les noms de lieux en -ayim dans la Bible,” UF 3 [1971]: 33-40). The dual would then be an old locative ending. There is no doubt that the name became attached to the land in which the tribe settled, and it is possible that is where the dual ending came from, but in this story it refers to Joseph’s God-given fruitfulness.

[41:52]  ¹² tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:52]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”