Job 1:3

1:3 His possessions ¹  included ²  7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household. ³  Thus he ⁴  was the greatest of all the people in the east. ⁵ 

Job 42:12

42:12 So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

Genesis 23:6

23:6 “Listen, sir, ⁶  you are a mighty prince ⁷  among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you ⁸  from burying your dead.”

Genesis 41:40

41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. ⁹  Only I, the king, will be greater than you. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 41:1

Joseph’s Rise to Power

41:1 At the end of two full years ¹¹  Pharaoh had a dream. ¹²  As he was standing by the Nile,

Genesis 2:8

2:8 The Lord God planted an orchard ¹³  in the east, ¹⁴  in Eden; ¹⁵  and there he placed the man he had formed. ¹⁶ 

Esther 10:3

10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹⁷  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ¹⁸  He worked enthusiastically ¹⁹  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ²⁰  all his descendants. ²¹ 

Psalms 78:70-72

78:70 He chose David, his servant,

and took him from the sheepfolds.

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, ²² 

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation. ²³ 

78:72 David ²⁴  cared for them with pure motives; ²⁵ 

he led them with skill. ²⁶ 

Psalms 113:7-8

113:7 He raises the poor from the dirt,

and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile, ²⁷ 

113:8 that he might seat him with princes,

with the princes of his people.

[1:3]  ¹ tn The word means “cattle, livestock, possessions” (see also Gen 26:14). Here it includes the livestock, but also the entire substance of his household.

[1:3]  ² tn Or “amounted to,” “totaled.” The preterite of הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) is sometimes employed to introduce a total amount or an inventory (see Exod 1:5; Num 3:43).

[1:3]  ³ tn The word עֲבֻדָּה (’avuddah, “service of household servants”) indicates that he had a very large body of servants, meaning a very large household.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and that man.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn The expression is literally “sons of the east.” The use of the genitive after “sons” in this construction may emphasize their nature (like “sons of belial”); it would refer to them as easterners (like “sons of the south” in contemporary American English). BDB 869 s.v. קֶדֶם says “dwellers in the east.”

[23:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”

[23:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.

[23:6]  ⁸ tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “and at your mouth (i.e., instructions) all my people will kiss.” G. J. Wenham translates this “shall kowtow to your instruction” (Genesis [WBC], 2:395). Although there is some textual support for reading “will be judged, ruled by you,” this is probably an attempt to capture the significance of this word. Wenham lists a number of references where individuals have tried to make connections with other words or expressions – such as a root meaning “order themselves” lying behind “kiss,” or an idiomatic idea of “kiss” meaning “seal the mouth,” and so “be silent and submit to.” See K. A. Kitchen, “The Term Nsq in Genesis 41:40,” ExpTim 69 (1957): 30; D. S. Sperling, “Genesis 41:40: A New Interpretation,” JANESCU 10 (1978): 113-19.

[41:40]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “only the throne, I will be greater than you.”

[41:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “two years, days.”

[41:1]  ¹² tn Heb “was dreaming.”

[2:8]  ¹³ tn Traditionally “garden,” but the subsequent description of this “garden” makes it clear that it is an orchard of fruit trees.

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the east” or “off east.”

[2:8]  ¹⁵ sn The name Eden (עֵדֶן, ’eden) means “pleasure” in Hebrew.

[2:8]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect verbal form here requires the past perfect translation since it describes an event that preceded the event described in the main clause.

[10:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “great among the Jews” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “preeminent among the Jews”; NRSV “powerful among the Jews.”

[10:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “brothers”; NASB “kinsmen”; NIV “fellow Jews.”

[10:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he was seeking”; NAB “as the promoter of his people’s welfare.”

[10:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he was speaking peace to”; NRSV “and interceded for the welfare of.”

[10:3]  ²¹ sn A number of additions to the Book of Esther appear in the apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) writings. These additions supply further information about various scenes described in the canonical book and are interesting in their own right. However, they were never a part of the Hebrew Bible. The placement of this additional material in certain Greek manuscripts of the Book of Esther may be described as follows. At the beginning of Esther there is an account (= chapter 11) of a dream in which Mordecai is warned by God of a coming danger for the Jews. In this account two great dragons, representing Mordecai and Haman, prepare for conflict. But God responds to the prayers of his people, and the crisis is resolved. This account is followed by another one (= chapter 12) in which Mordecai is rewarded for disclosing a plot against the king’s life. After Esth 3:13 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes authorizing annihilation of the Jews (= chapter 13). After Esth 4:17 the account continues with a prayer of Mordecai (= part of chapter 13), followed by a prayer of Esther (= chapter 14), and an account which provides details about Esther’s appeal to the king in behalf of her people (= chapter 15). After Esth 8:12 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes in which he denounces Haman and his plot and authorizes his subjects to assist the Jews (= chapter 16). At the end of the book, following Esth 10:3, there is an addition which provides an interpretation to Mordecai’s dream, followed by a brief ascription of genuineness to the entire book (= chapter 11).

[78:71]  ²² tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”

[78:71]  ²³ tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”

[78:72]  ²⁴ tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[78:72]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”

[78:72]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”

[113:7]  ²⁷ sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.