Genesis 8:15

8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said,

Genesis 44:6

44:6 When the man ¹  overtook them, he spoke these words to them.

Genesis 17:3

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ²  and God said to him, ³ 

Genesis 23:3

23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife ⁴  and said to the sons of Heth, ⁵ 

Genesis 34:3

34:3 Then he became very attached ⁶  to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. ⁷ 

Genesis 41:9

41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures. ⁸ 

Genesis 41:17

41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing ⁹  by the edge of the Nile.

Genesis 20:8

20:8 Early in the morning ¹⁰  Abimelech summoned ¹¹  all his servants. When he told them about all these things, ¹²  they ¹³  were terrified.

Genesis 23:8

23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree ¹⁴  that I may bury my dead, ¹⁵  then hear me out. ¹⁶  Ask ¹⁷  Ephron the son of Zohar

Genesis 34:8

34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. ¹⁸  Please give her to him as his wife.

Genesis 42:24

42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ¹⁹  he had Simeon taken ²⁰  from them and tied up ²¹  before their eyes.

Genesis 50:21

50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly ²²  to them.

Genesis 19:14

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ²³  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ²⁴  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ²⁵ 

Genesis 23:13

23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay ²⁶  to you the price ²⁷  of the field. Take it from me so that I may ²⁸  bury my dead there.”

Genesis 42:7

42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ²⁹  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ³⁰  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ³¹ 

Genesis 50:4

50:4 When the days of mourning ³²  had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, ³³  “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, ³⁴ 

[44:6]  ¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.

[17:3]  ² tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And Abraham arose from upon the face of his dead.”

[23:3]  ² tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (also in vv. 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.

[34:3]  ¹ tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.

[34:3]  ² tn Heb “and he spoke to the heart of the young woman,” which apparently refers in this context to tender, romantic speech (Hos 2:14). Another option is to translate the expression “he reassured the young woman” (see Judg 19:3, 2 Sam 19:7; cf. NEB “comforted her”).

[41:9]  ¹ tn Heb “sins, offenses.” He probably refers here to the offenses that landed him in prison (see 40:1).

[41:17]  ¹ tn Heb “In my dream look, I was standing.” The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here (and also in vv. 18, 19, 22, 23) invites the hearer (within the context of the narrative, Joseph; but in the broader sense the reader or hearer of the Book of Genesis) to observe the scene through Pharaoh’s eyes.

[20:8]  ¹ tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”

[20:8]  ² tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”

[20:8]  ³ tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”

[20:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:8]  ¹ tn Heb “If it is with your purpose.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here has the nuance “purpose” or perhaps “desire” (see BDB 661 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ).

[23:8]  ² tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:8]  ³ tn Or “hear me.”

[23:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “intercede for me with.”

[34:8]  ¹ tn Heb “Shechem my son, his soul is attached to your daughter.” The verb means “to love” in the sense of being emotionally attached to or drawn to someone. This is a slightly different way of saying what was reported earlier (v. 3). However, there is no mention here of the offense. Even though Hamor is speaking to Dinah’s brothers, he refers to her as their daughter (see v. 17).

[42:24]  ¹ tn Heb “and he turned to them and spoke to them.”

[42:24]  ² tn Heb “took Simeon.” This was probably done at Joseph’s command, however; the grand vizier of Egypt would not have personally seized a prisoner.

[42:24]  ³ tn Heb “and he bound him.” See the note on the preceding verb “taken.”

[50:21]  ¹ tn Heb “spoke to their heart.”

[19:14]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ³ 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.

[23:13]  ¹ tn Heb “give.”

[23:13]  ² tn Heb “silver.”

[23:13]  ³ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.

[42:7]  ¹ sn But pretended to be a stranger. Joseph intends to test his brothers to see if they have changed and have the integrity to be patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. He will do this by putting them in the same situations that they and he were in before. The first test will be to awaken their conscience.

[42:7]  ² tn Heb “said.”

[42:7]  ³ tn The verb is denominative, meaning “to buy grain”; the word “food” could simply be the direct object, but may also be an adverbial accusative.

[50:4]  ¹ tn Heb “weeping.”

[50:4]  ² tn Heb “the house of Pharaoh.”

[50:4]  ³ tn Heb “in the ears of Pharaoh.”