Genesis 6:16

6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches ¹  from the top. ²  Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

Genesis 15:5

15:5 The Lord ³  took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”

Genesis 16:11

16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ⁴  pregnant

and are about to give birth ⁵  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ⁶ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ⁷ 

Genesis 29:2

29:2 He saw ⁸  in the field a well with ⁹  three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now ¹⁰  a large stone covered the mouth of the well.

Genesis 34:21

34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough ¹¹  for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. ¹² 

Genesis 38:26

38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright ¹³  than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her ¹⁴  again.

Genesis 38:29

38:29 But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. ¹⁵  She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!” ¹⁶  So he was named Perez. ¹⁷ 

[6:16]  ¹ tn Heb “a cubit.”

[6:16]  ² tn Heb “to a cubit you shall finish it from above.” The idea is that Noah was to leave an 18-inch opening from the top for a window for light.

[15:5]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:11]  ⁵ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ⁶ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ⁷ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[29:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he saw, and look.” As in Gen 28:12-15, the narrator uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here and in the next clause to draw the reader into the story.

[29:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and look, there.”

[29:2]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.

[34:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.

[34:21]  ¹⁰ tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[38:26]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally “more righteous”; cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT “more in the right.”

[38:26]  ¹² tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “Look, his brother came out.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through the midwife’s eyes. The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[38:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “How you have made a breach for yourself!” The Hebrew verb translated “make a breach” frequently occurs, as here, with a cognate accusative. The event provided the meaningful name Perez, “he who breaks through.”

[38:29]  ¹⁵ sn The name Perez means “he who breaks through,” referring to Perez reaching out his hand at birth before his brother was born. The naming signified the completion of Tamar’s struggle and also depicted the destiny of the tribe of Perez who later became dominant (Gen 46:12 and Num 26:20). Judah and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, thinking they could thwart God’s plan that the elder brothers should serve the younger. God demonstrated that principle through these births in Judah’s own family, affirming that the elder will serve the younger, and that Joseph’s leadership could not so easily be set aside. See J. Goldin, “The Youngest Son; or, Where Does Genesis 38 Belong?” JBL 96 (1977): 27-44.