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 6:14-15

6:14 Make ³  for yourself an ark of cypress ⁴  wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover ⁵  it with pitch inside and out. 6:15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ⁶ 

Genesis 18:5

18:5 And let me get ⁷  a bit of food ⁸  so that you may refresh yourselves ⁹  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ¹⁰  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

Genesis 26:29

26:29 so that ¹¹  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ¹²  you, but have always treated you well ¹³  before sending you away ¹⁴  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ¹⁵ 

Genesis 21:23

21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ¹⁶  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ¹⁷  Show me, and the land ¹⁸  where you are staying, ¹⁹  the same loyalty ²⁰  that I have shown you.” ²¹ 

Genesis 30:31

30:31 So Laban asked, ²²  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ²³  Jacob replied, ²⁴  “but if you agree to this one condition, ²⁵  I will continue to care for ²⁶  your flocks and protect them:

[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.

[6:14]  ³ sn The Hebrew verb is an imperative. A motif of this section is that Noah did as the Lord commanded him – he was obedient. That obedience had to come from faith in the word of the Lord. So the theme of obedience to God’s word is prominent in this prologue to the law.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn A transliteration of the Hebrew term yields “gopher (גֹּפֶר, gofer) wood” (so KJV, NAB, NASB). While the exact nature of the wood involved is uncertain (cf. NLT “resinous wood”), many modern translations render the Hebrew term as “cypress” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[6:14]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term כָּפָר (kafar, “to cover, to smear” [= to caulk]) appears here in the Qal stem with its primary, nonmetaphorical meaning. The Piel form כִּפֶּר (kipper), which has the metaphorical meaning “to atone, to expiate, to pacify,” is used in Levitical texts (see HALOT 493-94 s.v. כפר). Some authorities regard the form in v. 14 as a homonym of the much more common Levitical term (see BDB 498 s.v. כָּפָר).

[6:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.

[18:5]  ⁷ tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.

[18:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.

[18:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.

[18:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”

[26:29]  ⁹ tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”

[26:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “touched.”

[26:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”

[26:29]  ¹² tn Heb “and we sent you away.”

[26:29]  ¹³ tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).

[21:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ¹² tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ¹³ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[30:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ¹⁴ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ¹⁵ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”