Genesis 7:4

7:4 For in seven days ¹  I will cause it to rain ²  on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”

Genesis 18:5

18:5 And let me get ³  a bit of food ⁴  so that you may refresh yourselves ⁵  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ⁶  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

Genesis 22:2

22:2 God ⁷  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ⁸  – and go to the land of Moriah! ⁹  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ¹⁰  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ¹¹  you.”

Genesis 22:17

22:17 I will indeed bless you, ¹²  and I will greatly multiply ¹³  your descendants ¹⁴  so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession ¹⁵  of the strongholds ¹⁶  of their enemies.

Genesis 28:18

28:18 Early ¹⁷  in the morning Jacob ¹⁸  took the stone he had placed near his head ¹⁹  and set it up as a sacred stone. ²⁰  Then he poured oil on top of it.

Genesis 28:20

28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ²¹  to eat and clothing to wear,

Genesis 32:32

32:32 That is why to this day ²²  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck ²³  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Genesis 37:25

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ²⁴  and saw ²⁵  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ²⁶ 

Genesis 38:9

38:9 But Onan knew that the child ²⁷  would not be considered his. ²⁸  So whenever ²⁹  he had sexual relations with ³⁰  his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely ³¹  so as not to give his brother a descendant.

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”

[7:4]  ² tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.

[18:5]  ³ tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.

[18:5]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.

[18:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”

[22:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ⁶ sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

[22:2]  ⁷ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

[22:2]  ⁸ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

[22:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[22:17]  ⁷ tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.

[22:17]  ⁸ tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).

[22:17]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[22:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or “inherit.”

[22:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).

[28:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”

[28:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:18]  ¹¹ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.

[28:18]  ¹² tn Heb “standing stone.”

[28:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[32:32]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[37:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes.”

[37:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and they saw and look.” By the use of וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), the narrator invites the reader to see the event through the eyes of the brothers.

[37:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, going to go down to Egypt.”

[38:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “offspring.”

[38:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.

[38:9]  ¹⁹ tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.

[38:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.