Genesis 7:23

7:23 So the Lord ¹  destroyed ²  every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. ³  They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. ⁴ 

Genesis 8:21

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ⁵  and said ⁶  to himself, ⁷  “I will never again curse ⁸  the ground because of humankind, even though ⁹  the inclination of their minds ¹⁰  is evil from childhood on. ¹¹  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Genesis 13:10

13:10 Lot looked up and saw ¹²  the whole region ¹³  of the Jordan. He noticed ¹⁴  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ¹⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah) ¹⁶  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ¹⁷  all the way to Zoar.

Genesis 19:14

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ¹⁸  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ¹⁹  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ²⁰ 

Genesis 47:19

47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ²¹  Pharaoh’s slaves. ²²  Give us seed that we may live ²³  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ²⁴ 

[7:23]  ¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:23]  ² tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).

[7:23]  ³ tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”

[7:23]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.

[8:21]  ⁵ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

[8:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

[8:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[8:21]  ⁸ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

[8:21]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.

[8:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

[8:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from his youth.”

[13:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.

[13:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

[13:10]  ¹¹ tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ¹² sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).

[13:10]  ¹³ tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ¹⁴ sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

[19:14]  ¹³ sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.

[19:14]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.

[47:19]  ¹⁷ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ¹⁸ sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ¹⁹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ²⁰ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.