Genesis 5:3

5:3 When ¹  Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth.

Genesis 19:37

19:37 The older daughter ²  gave birth to a son and named him Moab. ³  He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today.

Genesis 25:25

25:25 The first came out reddish ⁴  all over, ⁵  like a hairy ⁶  garment, so they named him Esau. ⁷ 

Genesis 30:8

30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ⁸  So she named him Naphtali. ⁹ 

Genesis 30:13

30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ¹⁰  for women ¹¹  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ¹² 

Genesis 30:18

30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ¹³  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ¹⁴  So she named him Issachar. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 30:24

30:24 She named him Joseph, ¹⁶  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

Genesis 38:5

38:5 Then she had ¹⁷  yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib. ¹⁸ 

Genesis 38:30

38:30 Afterward his brother came out – the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand – and he was named Zerah. ¹⁹ 

[5:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and Adam lived 130 years.” In the translation the verb is subordinated to the following verb, “and he fathered,” and rendered as a temporal clause.

[19:37]  ² tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:37]  ³ 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “all of him.”

[25:25]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[30:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  ⁵ sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”

[30:13]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

[30:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “daughters.”

[30:13]  ⁷ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  ⁷ tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  ⁸ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[38:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and she added again and she gave birth.” The first verb and the adverb emphasize that she gave birth once more.

[38:5]  ⁹ tn Or “and he [i.e., Judah] was in Kezib when she gave birth to him.”

[38:30]  ⁹ sn Perhaps the child was named Zerah because of the scarlet thread. Though the Hebrew word used for “scarlet thread” in v. 28 is not related to the name Zerah, there is a related root in Babylonian and western Aramaic that means “scarlet” or “scarlet thread.” In Hebrew the name appears to be derived from a root meaning “to shine.” The name could have originally meant something like “shining one” or “God has shined.” Zerah became the head of a tribe (Num 26:20) from whom Achan descended (Josh 7:1).