Genesis 9:2

9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. ¹  Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. ² 

Genesis 20:9

20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ³  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ⁴ 

Genesis 21:12

21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ⁵  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ⁶  all that Sarah is telling ⁷  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ⁸ 

Genesis 39:5

39:5 From the time ⁹  Potiphar ¹⁰  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ¹¹  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ¹²  in his house and in his fields. ¹³ 

[9:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.

[9:2]  ² tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.

[20:9]  ³ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[21:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[39:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ⁹ sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ¹¹ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.