Genesis 7:11

7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep ¹  burst open and the floodgates of the heavens ²  were opened.

Genesis 14:5

14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated ³  the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

Genesis 31:41

31:41 This was my lot ⁴  for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave ⁵  for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!

Genesis 32:22

32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took ⁶  his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons ⁷  and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ⁸ 

Genesis 35:22

35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ⁹  Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

Genesis 37:2

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ¹⁰  was taking care of ¹¹  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ¹²  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ¹³  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ¹⁴  to their father.

Genesis 37:9

37:9 Then he had another dream, ¹⁵  and told it to his brothers. “Look,” ¹⁶  he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

[7:11]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).

[7:11]  ² sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.

[14:5]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to attack, to strike, to smite.” In this context it appears that the strike was successful, and so a translation of “defeated” is preferable.

[31:41]  ⁵ tn Heb “this to me.”

[31:41]  ⁶ tn Heb “served you,” but in this accusatory context the meaning is more “worked like a slave.”

[32:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he arose in that night and he took.” The first verb is adverbial, indicating that he carried out the crossing right away.

[32:22]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term used here is יֶלֶד (yeled) which typically describes male offspring. Some translations render the term “children” but this is a problem because by this time Jacob had twelve children in all, including one daughter, Dinah, born to Leah (Gen 30:21). Benjamin, his twelfth son and thirteenth child, was not born until later (Gen 35:16-19).

[32:22]  ⁹ sn Hebrew narrative style often includes a summary statement of the whole passage followed by a more detailed report of the event. Here v. 22 is the summary statement, while v. 23 begins the detailed account.

[35:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.

[37:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

[37:2]  ¹² tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

[37:2]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

[37:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

[37:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.

[37:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”

[37:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.