Genesis 8:3
Context8:3 The waters kept receding steadily 1 from the earth, so that they 2 had gone down 3 by the end of the 150 days.
Genesis 47:21
Context47:21 Joseph 4 made all the people slaves 5 from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it.
Genesis 19:4
Context19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, 6 all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. 7


[8:3] 1 tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”
[8:3] 2 tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 3 tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.
[47:21] 4 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[47:21] 5 tc The MT reads “and the people he removed to the cities,” which does not make a lot of sense in this context. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX read “he enslaved them as slaves.”
[19:4] 7 tn The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) means “to lie down, to recline,” that is, “to go to bed.” Here what appears to be an imperfect is a preterite after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem). The nuance of potential (perfect) fits well.
[19:4] 8 tn Heb “and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young to the old, all the people from the end [of the city].” The repetition of the phrase “men of” stresses all kinds of men.