Genesis 6:4

6:4 The Nephilim ¹  were on the earth in those days (and also after this) ²  when the sons of God were having sexual relations with ³  the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. ⁴  They were the mighty heroes ⁵  of old, the famous men. ⁶ 

Genesis 23:16

23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price ⁷  and weighed ⁸  out for him ⁹  the price ¹⁰  that Ephron had quoted ¹¹  in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. ¹² 

Genesis 27:37

27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

Genesis 30:15-16

30:15 But Leah replied, ¹³  “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” ¹⁴  Rachel said, “he may sleep ¹⁵  with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ¹⁶  with me because I have paid for your services ¹⁷  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ¹⁸  with her that night.

Genesis 31:1

Jacob’s Flight from Laban

31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, ¹⁹  “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich ²⁰  at our father’s expense!” ²¹ 

Genesis 31:43

31:43 Laban replied ²²  to Jacob, “These women ²³  are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, ²⁴  and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today ²⁵  or the children to whom they have given birth?

Genesis 32:32

32:32 That is why to this day ²⁶  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck ²⁷  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Genesis 34:25

34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ²⁸  and went to the unsuspecting city ²⁹  and slaughtered every male.

Genesis 35:22

35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ³⁰  Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

Genesis 38:11

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ³¹  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ³²  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Genesis 42:37-38

42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may ³³  put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care ³⁴  and I will bring him back to you.” 42:38 But Jacob ³⁵  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ³⁶  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ³⁷  in sorrow to the grave.” ³⁸ 

Genesis 43:29

43:29 When Joseph looked up ³⁹  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ⁴⁰ 

Genesis 46:5

46:5 Then Jacob started out ⁴¹  from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him.

Genesis 48:19

48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude ⁴²  of nations.”

[6:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).

[6:4]  ² tn This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.

[6:4]  ³ tn Heb “were entering to,” referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.

[6:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.

[6:4]  ⁵ tn The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.

[6:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).

[23:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”

[23:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”

[23:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “silver.”

[23:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[23:16]  ¹² tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.

[30:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “therefore.”

[30:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

[30:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.

[30:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.

[30:16]  ²¹ tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.

[31:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”

[31:1]  ²⁶ sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).

[31:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”

[31:43]  ³¹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[31:43]  ³² tn Heb “daughters.”

[31:43]  ³³ tn Heb “children.”

[31:43]  ³⁴ tn Heb “but to my daughters what can I do to these today?”

[32:32]  ³⁷ sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

[32:32]  ³⁸ tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.

[34:25]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

[34:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.

[35:22]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.

[38:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “said.”

[38:11]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”

[42:37]  ⁶¹ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.

[42:37]  ⁶² tn Heb “my hand.”

[42:38]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  ⁶⁸ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

[42:38]  ⁶⁹ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble.

[42:38]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[43:29]  ⁷³ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ⁷⁴ sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.

[46:5]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “arose.”

[48:19]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “fullness.”