Kejadian 10:1--13:18

The Table of Nations

10:1 This is the account ¹  of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons ²  were born ³  to them after the flood.

10:2 The sons of Japheth ⁴  were Gomer, ⁵  Magog, ⁶  Madai, ⁷  Javan, ⁸  Tubal, ⁹  Meshech, ¹⁰  and Tiras. ¹¹  10:3 The sons of Gomer were ¹²  Askenaz, ¹³  Riphath, ¹⁴  and Togarmah. ¹⁵  10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, ¹⁶  Tarshish, ¹⁷  the Kittim, ¹⁸  and the Dodanim. ¹⁹  10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.

10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, ²⁰  Mizraim, ²¹  Put, ²²  and Canaan. ²³  10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, ²⁴  Havilah, ²⁵  Sabtah, ²⁶  Raamah, ²⁷  and Sabteca. ²⁸  The sons of Raamah were Sheba ²⁹  and Dedan. ³⁰ 

10:8 Cush was the father of ³¹  Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter ³²  before the Lord. ³³  (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10:10 The primary regions ³⁴  of his kingdom were Babel, ³⁵  Erech, ³⁶  Akkad, ³⁷  and Calneh ³⁸  in the land of Shinar. ³⁹  10:11 From that land he went ⁴⁰  to Assyria, ⁴¹  where he built Nineveh, ⁴²  Rehoboth-Ir, ⁴³  Calah, ⁴⁴  10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. ⁴⁵ 

10:13 Mizraim ⁴⁶  was the father of ⁴⁷  the Ludites, ⁴⁸  Anamites, ⁴⁹  Lehabites, ⁵⁰  Naphtuhites, ⁵¹  10:14 Pathrusites, ⁵²  Casluhites ⁵³  (from whom the Philistines came), ⁵⁴  and Caphtorites. ⁵⁵ 

10:15 Canaan was the father of ⁵⁶  Sidon his firstborn, ⁵⁷  Heth, ⁵⁸  10:16 the Jebusites, ⁵⁹  Amorites, ⁶⁰  Girgashites, ⁶¹  10:17 Hivites, ⁶²  Arkites, ⁶³  Sinites, ⁶⁴  10:18 Arvadites, ⁶⁵  Zemarites, ⁶⁶  and Hamathites. ⁶⁷  Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended ⁶⁸  from Sidon ⁶⁹  all the way to ⁷⁰  Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to ⁷¹  Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.

10:21 And sons were also born ⁷²  to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), ⁷³  the father of all the sons of Eber.

10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, ⁷⁴  Asshur, ⁷⁵  Arphaxad, ⁷⁶  Lud, ⁷⁷  and Aram. ⁷⁸  10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ⁷⁹  10:24 Arphaxad was the father of ⁸⁰  Shelah, ⁸¹  and Shelah was the father of Eber. ⁸²  10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, ⁸³  and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of ⁸⁴  Almodad, ⁸⁵  Sheleph, ⁸⁶  Hazarmaveth, ⁸⁷  Jerah, ⁸⁸  10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, ⁸⁹  Diklah, ⁹⁰  10:28 Obal, ⁹¹  Abimael, ⁹²  Sheba, ⁹³  10:29 Ophir, ⁹⁴  Havilah, ⁹⁵  and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to ⁹⁶  Sephar in the eastern hills. 10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.

10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread ⁹⁷  over the earth after the flood.

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

11:1 The whole earth ⁹⁸  had a common language and a common vocabulary. ⁹⁹  11:2 When the people ¹⁰⁰  moved eastward, ¹⁰¹  they found a plain in Shinar ¹⁰²  and settled there. 11:3 Then they said to one another, ¹⁰³  “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” ¹⁰⁴  (They had brick instead of stone and tar ¹⁰⁵  instead of mortar.) ¹⁰⁶  11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ¹⁰⁷  so that ¹⁰⁸  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ¹⁰⁹  we will be scattered ¹¹⁰  across the face of the entire earth.”

11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people ¹¹¹  had started ¹¹²  building. 11:6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language ¹¹³  they have begun to do this, then ¹¹⁴  nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. ¹¹⁵  11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse ¹¹⁶  their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” ¹¹⁷ 

11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building ¹¹⁸  the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called ¹¹⁹  Babel ¹²⁰  – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

The Genealogy of Shem

11:10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11:11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other ¹²¹  sons and daughters.

11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other ¹²²  sons and daughters. ¹²³ 

11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other ¹²⁴  sons and daughters.

11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Record of Terah

11:27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, ¹²⁵  while his father Terah was still alive. ¹²⁶  11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, ¹²⁷  and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; ¹²⁸  she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 The lifetime ¹²⁹  of Terah was 205 years, and he ¹³⁰  died in Haran.

The Obedience of Abram

12:1 Now the Lord said ¹³¹  to Abram, ¹³² 

“Go out ¹³³  from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you. ¹³⁴ 

12:2 Then I will make you ¹³⁵  into a great nation, and I will bless you, ¹³⁶ 

and I will make your name great, ¹³⁷ 

so that you will exemplify divine blessing. ¹³⁸ 

12:3 I will bless those who bless you, ¹³⁹ 

but the one who treats you lightly ¹⁴⁰  I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another ¹⁴¹  by your name.”

12:4 So Abram left, ¹⁴²  just as the Lord had told him to do, ¹⁴³  and Lot went with him. (Now ¹⁴⁴  Abram was 75 years old ¹⁴⁵  when he departed from Haran.) 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew ¹⁴⁶  Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired ¹⁴⁷  in Haran, and they left for ¹⁴⁸  the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree ¹⁴⁹  of Moreh ¹⁵⁰  at Shechem. ¹⁵¹  (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) ¹⁵²  12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants ¹⁵³  I will give this land.” So Abram ¹⁵⁴  built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel ¹⁵⁵  and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. ¹⁵⁶  12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages ¹⁵⁷  down to the Negev. ¹⁵⁸ 

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt ¹⁵⁹  to stay for a while ¹⁶⁰  because the famine was severe. ¹⁶¹  12:11 As he approached ¹⁶²  Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, ¹⁶³  I know that you are a beautiful woman. ¹⁶⁴  12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. ¹⁶⁵  12:13 So tell them ¹⁶⁶  you are my sister ¹⁶⁷  so that it may go well ¹⁶⁸  for me because of you and my life will be spared ¹⁶⁹  on account of you.”

12:14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife ¹⁷⁰  was taken ¹⁷¹  into the household of Pharaoh, ¹⁷²  12:16 and he did treat Abram well ¹⁷³  on account of her. Abram received ¹⁷⁴  sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases ¹⁷⁵  because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this ¹⁷⁶  you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her ¹⁷⁷  to be my wife? ¹⁷⁸  Here is your wife! ¹⁷⁹  Take her and go!” ¹⁸⁰  12:20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, ¹⁸¹  and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

Abram’s Solution to the Strife

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. ¹⁸²  He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. ¹⁸³  13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy ¹⁸⁴  in livestock, silver, and gold.) ¹⁸⁵ 

13:3 And he journeyed from place to place ¹⁸⁶  from the Negev as far as Bethel. ¹⁸⁷  He returned ¹⁸⁸  to the place where he had pitched his tent ¹⁸⁹  at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, ¹⁹⁰  and there Abram worshiped the Lord. ¹⁹¹ 

13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling ¹⁹²  with Abram, also had ¹⁹³  flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could ¹⁹⁴  not support them while they were living side by side. ¹⁹⁵  Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live ¹⁹⁶  alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels ¹⁹⁷  between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. ¹⁹⁸  (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) ¹⁹⁹ 

13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. ²⁰⁰  13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go ²⁰¹  to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

13:10 Lot looked up and saw ²⁰²  the whole region ²⁰³  of the Jordan. He noticed ²⁰⁴  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ²⁰⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah) ²⁰⁶  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ²⁰⁷  all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled ²⁰⁸  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. ²⁰⁹  13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain ²¹⁰  and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now ²¹¹  the people ²¹²  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) ²¹³ 

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ²¹⁴  “Look ²¹⁵  from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 13:15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants ²¹⁶  forever. 13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. ²¹⁷  13:17 Get up and ²¹⁸  walk throughout ²¹⁹  the land, ²²⁰  for I will give it to you.”

13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live ²²¹  by the oaks ²²²  of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

Kejadian 34:1--35:29

Dinah and the Shechemites

34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet ²²³  the young women ²²⁴  of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, ²²⁵  and sexually assaulted her. ²²⁶  34:3 Then he became very attached ²²⁷  to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. ²²⁸  34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.” ²²⁹  34:5 When ²³⁰  Jacob heard that Shechem ²³¹  had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent ²³²  until they came in.

34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. ²³³  34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. ²³⁴  They ²³⁵  were offended ²³⁶  and very angry because Shechem ²³⁷  had disgraced Israel ²³⁸  by sexually assaulting ²³⁹  Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. ²⁴⁰ 

34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. ²⁴¹  Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. ²⁴²  Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. ²⁴³  34:10 You may live ²⁴⁴  among us, and the land will be open to you. ²⁴⁵  Live in it, travel freely in it, ²⁴⁶  and acquire property in it.”

34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s ²⁴⁷  father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me ²⁴⁸  I’ll give. ²⁴⁹  34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, ²⁵⁰  and I’ll give ²⁵¹  whatever you ask ²⁵²  of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”

34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem ²⁵³  had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give ²⁵⁴  our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace ²⁵⁵  to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become ²⁵⁶  like us by circumcising ²⁵⁷  all your males. 34:16 Then we will give ²⁵⁸  you our daughters to marry, ²⁵⁹  and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms ²⁶⁰  by being circumcised, then we will take ²⁶¹  our sister ²⁶²  and depart.”

34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. ²⁶³  34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked ²⁶⁴  because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah ²⁶⁵  badly. (Now he was more important ²⁶⁶  than anyone in his father’s household.) ²⁶⁷  34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate ²⁶⁸  of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough ²⁶⁹  for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. ²⁷⁰  34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand ²⁷¹  that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, ²⁷²  won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”

34:24 All the men who assembled at the city gate ²⁷³  agreed with ²⁷⁴  Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate ²⁷⁵  was circumcised. 34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ²⁷⁶  and went to the unsuspecting city ²⁷⁷  and slaughtered every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them ²⁷⁸  and looted the city because their sister had been violated. ²⁷⁹  34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. ²⁸⁰  34:29 They captured as plunder ²⁸¹  all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ²⁸²  on me by making me a foul odor ²⁸³  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ²⁸⁴  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!” 34:31 But Simeon and Levi replied, ²⁸⁵  “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once ²⁸⁶  to Bethel ²⁸⁷  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ²⁸⁸  35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. ²⁸⁹  Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ²⁹⁰  35:3 Let us go up at once ²⁹¹  to Bethel. Then I will make ²⁹²  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ²⁹³  and has been with me wherever I went.” ²⁹⁴ 

35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession ²⁹⁵  and the rings that were in their ears. ²⁹⁶  Jacob buried them ²⁹⁷  under the oak ²⁹⁸  near Shechem 35:5 and they started on their journey. ²⁹⁹  The surrounding cities were afraid of God, ³⁰⁰  and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

35:6 Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) ³⁰¹  in the land of Canaan. ³⁰²  35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel ³⁰³  because there God had revealed himself ³⁰⁴  to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, ³⁰⁵  Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named ³⁰⁶  Oak of Weeping.) ³⁰⁷ 

35:9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him. 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name.” So God named him Israel. ³⁰⁸  35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. ³⁰⁹  Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! ³¹⁰  35:12 The land I gave ³¹¹  to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants ³¹²  I will also give this land.” 35:13 Then God went up from the place ³¹³  where he spoke with him. 35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. ³¹⁴  He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. ³¹⁵  35:15 Jacob named the place ³¹⁶  where God spoke with him Bethel. ³¹⁷ 

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ³¹⁸  Rachel went into labor ³¹⁹  – and her labor was hard. 35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, ³²⁰  the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” ³²¹  35:18 With her dying breath, ³²²  she named him Ben-Oni. ³²³  But his father called him Benjamin instead. ³²⁴  35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ³²⁵  35:20 Jacob set up a marker ³²⁶  over her grave; it is ³²⁷  the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.

35:21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ³²⁸  35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ³²⁹  Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

35:25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

35:26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

35:27 So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, ³³⁰  to Kiriath Arba ³³¹  (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. ³³²  35:28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old. ³³³  35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. ³³⁴  He died an old man who had lived a full life. ³³⁵  His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Kejadian 1:1-31

The Creation of the World

1:1 In the beginning ³³⁶  God ³³⁷  created ³³⁸  the heavens and the earth. ³³⁹ 

1:2 Now ³⁴⁰  the earth ³⁴¹  was without shape and empty, ³⁴²  and darkness ³⁴³  was over the surface of the watery deep, ³⁴⁴  but the Spirit of God ³⁴⁵  was moving ³⁴⁶  over the surface ³⁴⁷  of the water. ³⁴⁸  1:3 God said, ³⁴⁹  “Let there be ³⁵⁰  light.” ³⁵¹  And there was light! 1:4 God saw ³⁵²  that the light was good, ³⁵³  so God separated ³⁵⁴  the light from the darkness. 1:5 God called ³⁵⁵  the light “day” and the darkness ³⁵⁶  “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. ³⁵⁷ 

1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse ³⁵⁸  in the midst of the waters and let it separate water ³⁵⁹  from water. 1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. ³⁶⁰  It was so. ³⁶¹  1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” ³⁶²  There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place ³⁶³  and let dry ground appear.” ³⁶⁴  It was so. 1:10 God called the dry ground “land” ³⁶⁵  and the gathered waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.

1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: ³⁶⁶  plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, ³⁶⁷  and ³⁶⁸  trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so. 1:12 The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good. 1:13 There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.

1:14 God said, “Let there be lights ³⁶⁹  in the expanse ³⁷⁰  of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs ³⁷¹  to indicate seasons and days and years, 1:15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so. 1:16 God made two great lights ³⁷²  – the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. ³⁷³  1:17 God placed the lights ³⁷⁴  in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 1:18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. ³⁷⁵  God saw that it was good. 1:19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms ³⁷⁶  of living creatures and let birds fly ³⁷⁷  above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 1:21 God created the great sea creatures ³⁷⁸  and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good. 1:22 God blessed them ³⁷⁹  and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ³⁸⁰  1:23 There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

1:24 God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” ³⁸¹  It was so. 1:25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.

1:26 Then God said, “Let us make ³⁸² 

humankind ³⁸³  in our image, after our likeness, ³⁸⁴  so they may rule ³⁸⁵  over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, ³⁸⁶  and over all the creatures that move ³⁸⁷  on the earth.”

1:27 God created humankind ³⁸⁸  in his own image,

in the image of God he created them, ³⁸⁹ 

male and female he created them. ³⁹⁰ 

1:28 God blessed ³⁹¹  them and said ³⁹²  to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! ³⁹³  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” ³⁹⁴  1:29 Then God said, “I now ³⁹⁵  give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁹⁶  1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give ³⁹⁷  every green plant for food.” It was so.

1:31 God saw all that he had made – and it was very good! ³⁹⁸  There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Kejadian 22:1

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things God tested ³⁹⁹  Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham ⁴⁰⁰  replied.

Kejadian 24:32

24:32 So Abraham’s servant ⁴⁰¹  went to the house and unloaded ⁴⁰²  the camels. Straw and feed were given ⁴⁰³  to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. ⁴⁰⁴ 

Yudas 1:8-20

1:8 Yet these men, ⁴⁰⁵  as a result of their dreams, ⁴⁰⁶  defile the flesh, reject authority, ⁴⁰⁷  and insult ⁴⁰⁸  the glorious ones. ⁴⁰⁹  1:9 But even ⁴¹⁰  when Michael the archangel ⁴¹¹  was arguing with the devil and debating with him ⁴¹²  concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 1:10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. ⁴¹³  1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ⁴¹⁴  and because of greed ⁴¹⁵  have abandoned themselves ⁴¹⁶  to ⁴¹⁷  Balaam’s error; hence, ⁴¹⁸  they will certainly perish ⁴¹⁹  in Korah’s rebellion. 1:12 These men are ⁴²⁰  dangerous reefs ⁴²¹  at your love feasts, ⁴²²  feasting without reverence, ⁴²³  feeding only themselves. ⁴²⁴  They are ⁴²⁵  waterless ⁴²⁶  clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit ⁴²⁷  – twice dead, ⁴²⁸  uprooted; 1:13 wild sea waves, ⁴²⁹  spewing out the foam of ⁴³⁰  their shame; ⁴³¹  wayward stars ⁴³²  for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness ⁴³³  have been reserved.

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, ⁴³⁴  even prophesied of them, ⁴³⁵  saying, “Look! The Lord is coming ⁴³⁶  with thousands and thousands ⁴³⁷  of his holy ones, 1:15 to execute judgment on ⁴³⁸  all, and to convict every person ⁴³⁹  of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds ⁴⁴⁰  that they have committed, ⁴⁴¹  and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ⁴⁴²  1:16 These people are grumblers and ⁴⁴³  fault-finders who go ⁴⁴⁴  wherever their desires lead them, ⁴⁴⁵  and they give bombastic speeches, ⁴⁴⁶  enchanting folks ⁴⁴⁷  for their own gain. ⁴⁴⁸ 

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ⁴⁴⁹  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴⁵⁰  1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ⁴⁵¹  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ⁴⁵²  1:19 These people are divisive, ⁴⁵³  worldly, ⁴⁵⁴  devoid of the Spirit. ⁴⁵⁵  1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ⁴⁵⁶ 

Yudas 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁴⁵⁷ 

1 Samuel 12:1-7

12:1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done ⁴⁵⁸  everything you requested. ⁴⁵⁹  I have given you a king. ⁴⁶⁰  12:2 Now look! This king walks before you. As for me, I am old and gray, though my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from the time of my youth till the present day. 12:3 Here I am. Bring a charge against me before the Lord and before his chosen king. ⁴⁶¹  Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe so that I would overlook something? Tell me, ⁴⁶²  and I will return it to you!”

12:4 They replied, “You have not wronged us or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from the hand of anyone.” 12:5 He said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his chosen king ⁴⁶³  is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me.” ⁴⁶⁴  They said, “He is witness!”

12:6 Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors ⁴⁶⁵  up from the land of Egypt. 12:7 Now take your positions, so I may confront you ⁴⁶⁶  before the Lord regarding all the Lord’s just actions toward you and your ancestors. ⁴⁶⁷ 

Mazmur 49:4

49:4 I will learn a song that imparts wisdom;

I will then sing my insightful song to the accompaniment of a harp. ⁴⁶⁸ 

Mazmur 78:2

78:2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;

I will make insightful observations about the past. ⁴⁶⁹ 

Yesaya 5:1-7

A Love Song Gone Sour

5:1 I ⁴⁷⁰  will sing to my love –

a song to my lover about his vineyard. ⁴⁷¹ 

My love had a vineyard

on a fertile hill. ⁴⁷² 

5:2 He built a hedge around it, ⁴⁷³  removed its stones,

and planted a vine.

He built a tower in the middle of it,

and constructed a winepress.

He waited for it to produce edible grapes,

but it produced sour ones instead. ⁴⁷⁴ 

5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, ⁴⁷⁵ 

people ⁴⁷⁶  of Judah,

you decide between me and my vineyard!

5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard

beyond what I have already done?

When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,

why did it produce sour ones instead?

5:5 Now I will inform you

what I am about to do to my vineyard:

I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, ⁴⁷⁷ 

I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. ⁴⁷⁸ 

5:6 I will make it a wasteland;

no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ⁴⁷⁹ 

and thorns and briers will grow there.

I will order the clouds

not to drop any rain on it.

5:7 Indeed ⁴⁸⁰  Israel ⁴⁸¹  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ⁴⁸²  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁴⁸³ 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁴⁸⁴ 

Yehezkiel 17:2

17:2 “Son of man, offer a riddle, ⁴⁸⁵  and tell a parable to the house of Israel.

Yehezkiel 20:49

20:49 Then I said, “O sovereign Lord! They are saying of me, ‘Does he not simply speak in eloquent figures of speech?’”

Yehezkiel 24:3-14

24:3 Recite a proverb to this rebellious house ⁴⁸⁶  and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Set on the pot, ⁴⁸⁷  set it on,

pour water in it too;

24:4 add the pieces of meat to it,

every good piece,

the thigh and the shoulder;

fill it with choice bones.

24:5 Take the choice bone of the flock,

heap up bones under it;

boil rapidly,

and boil its bones in it.

24:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed,

the pot whose rot ⁴⁸⁸  is in it,

whose rot has not been removed ⁴⁸⁹  from it!

Empty it piece by piece.

No lot has fallen on it. ⁴⁹⁰ 

24:7 For her blood was in it;

she poured it on an exposed rock;

she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.

24:8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance,

I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.

24:9 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed!

I will also make the pile high.

24:10 Pile up the bones, kindle the fire;

cook the meat well, mix in the spices,

let the bones be charred.

24:11 Set the empty pot on the coals, ⁴⁹¹ 

until it becomes hot and its copper glows,

until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot ⁴⁹²  is consumed.

24:12 It has tried my patience; ⁴⁹³ 

yet its thick rot is not removed ⁴⁹⁴  from it.

Subject its rot to the fire! ⁴⁹⁵ 

24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. ⁴⁹⁶ 

I tried to cleanse you, ⁴⁹⁷  but you are not clean.

You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness ⁴⁹⁸ 

until I have exhausted my anger on you.

24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment ⁴⁹⁹  is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! ⁵⁰⁰  I will judge you ⁵⁰¹  according to your conduct ⁵⁰²  and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Mikha 2:4

2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –

they will mock you with this lament: ⁵⁰³ 

‘We are completely destroyed;

they sell off ⁵⁰⁴  the property of my people.

How they remove it from me! ⁵⁰⁵ 

They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ⁵⁰⁶ 

Habakuk 2:6

The Proud Babylonians are as Good as Dead

2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him ⁵⁰⁷ 

and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ⁵⁰⁸ 

‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead ⁵⁰⁹ 

(How long will this go on?) ⁵¹⁰  –

he who gets rich by extortion!’ ⁵¹¹ 

Markus 3:23

3:23 So ⁵¹²  he called them and spoke to them in parables: ⁵¹³  “How can Satan cast out Satan?

Markus 4:2

4:2 He taught them many things in parables, ⁵¹⁴  and in his teaching said to them:

Markus 4:13

4:13 He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then ⁵¹⁵  how will you understand any parable?

Markus 4:33

The Use of Parables

4:33 So ⁵¹⁶  with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear.

Markus 12:1

The Parable of the Tenants

12:1 Then ⁵¹⁷  he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. ⁵¹⁸  He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then ⁵¹⁹  he leased it to tenant farmers ⁵²⁰  and went on a journey.

Markus 12:12

12:12 Now ⁵²¹  they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So ⁵²²  they left him and went away. ⁵²³ 

Lukas 8:10

8:10 He ⁵²⁴  said, “You have been given ⁵²⁵  the opportunity to know ⁵²⁶  the secrets ⁵²⁷  of the kingdom of God, ⁵²⁸  but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. ⁵²⁹ 

Lukas 12:41

12:41 Then ⁵³⁰  Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” ⁵³¹ 

Lukas 15:3-7

15:3 So ⁵³²  Jesus ⁵³³  told them ⁵³⁴  this parable: ⁵³⁵  15:4 “Which one ⁵³⁶  of you, if he has a hundred ⁵³⁷  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ⁵³⁸  and go look for ⁵³⁹  the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵⁴⁰  15:5 Then ⁵⁴¹  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ⁵⁴²  home, he calls together ⁵⁴³  his ⁵⁴⁴  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ⁵⁴⁵  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ⁵⁴⁶  who have no need to repent. ⁵⁴⁷ 

Yohanes 16:25

16:25 “I have told you these things in obscure figures of speech; ⁵⁴⁸  a time ⁵⁴⁹  is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figures, but will tell you ⁵⁵⁰  plainly ⁵⁵¹  about the Father.

[10:1]  ¹ tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.

[10:1]  ² sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.

[10:1]  ³ tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.

[10:2]  ⁴ sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.

[10:2]  ⁵ sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.

[10:2]  ⁶ sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.

[10:2]  ⁷ sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.

[10:2]  ⁸ sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.

[10:2]  ⁹ sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.

[10:2]  ¹⁰ sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.

[10:2]  ¹¹ sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.

[10:3]  ¹² sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.

[10:3]  ¹³ sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.

[10:3]  ¹⁴ sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.

[10:3]  ¹⁵ sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.

[10:4]  ¹⁶ sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.

[10:4]  ¹⁷ sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.

[10:4]  ¹⁸ sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.

[10:4]  ¹⁹ tc Most of the MT mss read “Dodanim” here, but 1 Chr 1:7 has “Rodanim,” perhaps referring to the island of Rhodes. But the Qere reading in 1 Chr 1:7 suggests “Dodanim.” Dodona is one of the most ancient and revered spots in ancient Greece.

[10:6]  ²⁰ sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).

[10:6]  ²¹ sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.

[10:6]  ²² sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.

[10:6]  ²³ sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).

[10:7]  ²⁴ sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.

[10:7]  ²⁵ sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.

[10:7]  ²⁶ sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.

[10:7]  ²⁷ sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ²⁸ sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.

[10:7]  ²⁹ sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ³⁰ sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.

[10:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.

[10:9]  ³² tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).

[10:9]  ³³ tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the Lord [YHWH]”), as a means of expressing the superlative degree. In this case one may translate “Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the world.”

[10:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.

[10:10]  ³⁵ tn Or “Babylon.”

[10:10]  ³⁶ sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.

[10:10]  ³⁷ sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.

[10:10]  ³⁸ tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).

[10:10]  ³⁹ sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.

[10:11]  ⁴⁰ tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.

[10:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Asshur.”

[10:11]  ⁴² sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.

[10:11]  ⁴³ sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.

[10:11]  ⁴⁴ sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.

[10:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”

[10:13]  ⁴⁶ sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).

[10:13]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:13]  ⁴⁸ sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.

[10:13]  ⁴⁹ sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.

[10:13]  ⁵⁰ sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.

[10:13]  ⁵¹ sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).

[10:14]  ⁵² sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.

[10:14]  ⁵³ sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.

[10:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.

[10:14]  ⁵⁵ sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.

[10:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:15]  ⁵⁷ sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.

[10:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.

[10:16]  ⁵⁹ sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.

[10:16]  ⁶⁰ sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.

[10:16]  ⁶¹ sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).

[10:17]  ⁶² sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.

[10:17]  ⁶³ sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.

[10:17]  ⁶⁴ sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.

[10:18]  ⁶⁵ sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.

[10:18]  ⁶⁶ sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.

[10:18]  ⁶⁷ sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.

[10:19]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “were.”

[10:19]  ⁶⁹ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:19]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:19]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:21]  ⁷² tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

[10:21]  ⁷³ tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.

[10:22]  ⁷⁴ sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.

[10:22]  ⁷⁵ sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.

[10:22]  ⁷⁶ sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.

[10:22]  ⁷⁷ sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.

[10:22]  ⁷⁸ sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.

[10:23]  ⁷⁹ tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”

[10:23]  sn Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Little is known about these descendants of Aram.

[10:24]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:24]  ⁸¹ tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.

[10:24]  ⁸² sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).

[10:25]  ⁸³ tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

[10:26]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:26]  ⁸⁵ sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.

[10:26]  ⁸⁶ sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.

[10:26]  ⁸⁷ sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.

[10:26]  ⁸⁸ sn The name Jerah means “moon.”

[10:27]  ⁸⁹ sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.

[10:27]  ⁹⁰ sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”

[10:28]  ⁹¹ sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.

[10:28]  ⁹² sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”

[10:28]  ⁹³ sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.

[10:29]  ⁹⁴ sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).

[10:29]  ⁹⁵ sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.

[10:30]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:32]  ⁹⁷ tn Or “separated.”

[11:1]  ⁹⁸ sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.

[11:1]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.

[11:2]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:2]  ¹⁰¹ tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”

[11:2]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”

[11:2]  sn Shinar is the region of Babylonia.

[11:3]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”

[11:3]  ¹⁰⁴ tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).

[11:3]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[11:3]  ¹⁰⁶ tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.

[11:4]  ¹⁰⁷ tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.

[11:4]  ¹⁰⁸ tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.

[11:4]  ¹⁰⁹ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

[11:4]  ¹¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.

[11:5]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.

[11:5]  ¹¹² tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.

[11:6]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”

[11:6]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”

[11:6]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”

[11:7]  ¹¹⁶ tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the Lord our God said to us…. And the Lord went down and we went down with him. And we saw the city and the tower which the sons of men built.” On the chiastic structure of the story, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:235.

[11:7]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”

[11:8]  ¹¹⁸ tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.

[11:9]  ¹¹⁹ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

[11:9]  ¹²⁰ sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

[11:11]  ¹²¹ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[11:13]  ¹²² tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[11:13]  ¹²³ tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.

[11:15]  ¹²⁴ tn Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[11:28]  ¹²⁵ sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium b.c.

[11:28]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”

[11:29]  ¹²⁷ sn The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.

[11:29]  ¹²⁸ sn The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.

[11:32]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”

[11:32]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:1]  ¹³¹ sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2); but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.

[12:1]  ¹³² tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.

[12:1]  sn It would be hard to overestimate the value of this call and this divine plan for the theology of the Bible. Here begins God’s plan to bring redemption to the world. The promises to Abram will be turned into a covenant in Gen 15 and 22 (here it is a call with conditional promises) and will then lead through the Bible to the work of the Messiah.

[12:1]  ¹³³ tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”

[12:1]  ¹³⁴ sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.

[12:2]  ¹³⁵ tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.

[12:2]  ¹³⁶ sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he gave them (1) a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.

[12:2]  ¹³⁷ tn Or “I will make you famous.”

[12:2]  ¹³⁸ tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (hÿyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? A similar statement occurs in Zech 8:13, where God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae.

[12:3]  ¹³⁹ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

[12:3]  ¹⁴⁰ tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

[12:3]  ¹⁴¹ tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings on”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[12:4]  ¹⁴² sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).

[12:4]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “just as the Lord said to him.”

[12:4]  ¹⁴⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + implied “to be” verb) is parenthetical, telling the age of Abram when he left Haran.

[12:4]  ¹⁴⁵ tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”

[12:4]  sn Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran (Gen 11:26). Terah was 205 when he died in Haran (11:32). Abram left Haran at the age of 75 after his father died. Abram was born when Terah was 130. Abram was not the firstborn – he is placed first in the list of three because of his importance. The same is true of the list in Gen 10:1 (Shem, Ham and Japheth). Ham was the youngest son (9:24). Japheth was the older brother of Shem (10:21), so the birth order of Noah’s sons was Japheth, Shem, and Ham.

[12:5]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Heb “the son of his brother.”

[12:5]  ¹⁴⁷ tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.

[12:5]  ¹⁴⁸ tn Heb “went out to go.”

[12:6]  ¹⁴⁹ tn Or “terebinth.”

[12:6]  ¹⁵⁰ sn The Hebrew word Moreh (מוֹרֶה, moreh) means “teacher.” It may well be that the place of this great oak tree was a Canaanite shrine where instruction took place.

[12:6]  ¹⁵¹ tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”

[12:6]  ¹⁵² tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature – the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.

[12:7]  ¹⁵³ tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[12:7]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:8]  ¹⁵⁵ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[12:8]  ¹⁵⁶ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[12:9]  ¹⁵⁷ tn The Hebrew verb נָסַע (nasa’) means “to journey”; more specifically it means to pull up the tent and move to another place. The construction here uses the preterite of this verb with its infinitive absolute to stress the activity of traveling. But it also adds the infinitive absolute of הָלַךְ (halakh) to stress that the traveling was continually going on. Thus “Abram journeyed, going and journeying” becomes “Abram continually journeyed by stages.”

[12:9]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Or “the South [country].”

[12:9]  sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.

[12:10]  ¹⁵⁹ sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.

[12:10]  ¹⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.

[12:10]  ¹⁶¹ tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:11]  ¹⁶² tn Heb “drew near to enter.”

[12:11]  ¹⁶³ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.

[12:11]  ¹⁶⁴ tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”

[12:12]  ¹⁶⁵ tn The Piel of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) means “to keep alive, to preserve alive,” and in some places “to make alive.” See D. Marcus, “The Verb ‘to Live’ in Ugaritic,” JSS 17 (1972): 76-82.

[12:13]  ¹⁶⁶ tn Heb “say.”

[12:13]  ¹⁶⁷ sn Tell them you are my sister. Abram’s motives may not be as selfish as they appear. He is aware of the danger to the family. His method of dealing with it is deception with a half truth, for Sarai really was his sister – but the Egyptians would not know that. Abram presumably thought that there would be negotiations for a marriage by anyone interested (as Laban does later for his sister Rebekah), giving him time to react. But the plan backfires because Pharaoh does not take the time to negotiate. There is a good deal of literature on the wife-sister issue. See (among others) E. A. Speiser, “The Wife-Sister Motif in the Patriarchal Narratives,” Oriental and Biblical Studies, 62-81; C. J. Mullo-Weir, “The Alleged Hurrian Wife-Sister Motif in Genesis,” GOT 22 (1967-1970): 14-25.

[12:13]  ¹⁶⁸ tn The Hebrew verb translated “go well” can encompass a whole range of favorable treatment, but the following clause indicates it means here that Abram’s life will be spared.

[12:13]  ¹⁶⁹ tn Heb “and my life will live.”

[12:15]  ¹⁷⁰ tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.

[12:15]  ¹⁷¹ tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.

[12:15]  ¹⁷² tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.

[12:16]  ¹⁷³ sn He did treat Abram well. The construction of the parenthetical disjunctive clause, beginning with the conjunction on the prepositional phrase, draws attention to the irony of the story. Abram wanted Sarai to lie “so that it would go well” with him. Though he lost Sarai to Pharaoh, it did go well for him – he received a lavish bride price. See also G. W. Coats, “Despoiling the Egyptians,” VT 18 (1968): 450-57.

[12:16]  ¹⁷⁴ tn Heb “and there was to him.”

[12:17]  ¹⁷⁵ tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the Lord inflicted numerous plagues, probably diseases (see Exod 15:26). The adjective “great” emphasizes that the plagues were severe and overwhelming.

[12:18]  ¹⁷⁶ tn The demonstrative pronoun translated “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to me?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[12:19]  ¹⁷⁷ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.

[12:19]  ¹⁷⁸ tn Heb “to me for a wife.”

[12:19]  ¹⁷⁹ tn Heb “Look, your wife!”

[12:19]  ¹⁸⁰ tn Heb “take and go.”

[12:20]  ¹⁸¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:1]  ¹⁸² tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).

[13:1]  sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.

[13:1]  ¹⁸³ tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”

[13:2]  ¹⁸⁴ tn Heb “heavy.”

[13:2]  ¹⁸⁵ tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.

[13:3]  ¹⁸⁶ tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.

[13:3]  ¹⁸⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[13:3]  ¹⁸⁸ tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:3]  ¹⁸⁹ tn Heb “where his tent had been.”

[13:4]  ¹⁹⁰ tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).

[13:4]  ¹⁹¹ tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[13:5]  ¹⁹² tn Heb “was going.”

[13:5]  ¹⁹³ tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.

[13:6]  ¹⁹⁴ tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”

[13:6]  ¹⁹⁵ tn The infinitive construct לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, from יָשַׁב, yashav) explains what it was that the land could not support: “the land could not support them to live side by side.” See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning Yahad and Yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.

[13:6]  ¹⁹⁶ tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.

[13:7]  ¹⁹⁷ tn The Hebrew term רִיב (riv) means “strife, conflict, quarreling.” In later texts it has the meaning of “legal controversy, dispute.” See B. Gemser, “The rîb – or Controversy – Pattern in Hebrew Mentality,” Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 120-37.

[13:7]  ¹⁹⁸ sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.

[13:7]  ¹⁹⁹ tn This parenthetical clause, introduced with the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), again provides critical information. It tells in part why the land cannot sustain these two bedouins, and it also hints of the danger of weakening the family by inner strife.

[13:8]  ²⁰⁰ tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.

[13:9]  ²⁰¹ tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.

[13:10]  ²⁰² tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.

[13:10]  ²⁰³ tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

[13:10]  ²⁰⁴ tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ²⁰⁵ sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).

[13:10]  ²⁰⁶ tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ²⁰⁷ sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

[13:11]  ²⁰⁸ tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

[13:11]  ²⁰⁹ tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”

[13:11]  sn Separated from each other. For a discussion of the significance of this event, see L. R. Helyer, “The Separation of Abram and Lot: Its Significance in the Patriarchal Narratives,” JSOT 26 (1983): 77-88.

[13:12]  ²¹⁰ tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[13:13]  ²¹¹ tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.

[13:13]  ²¹² tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

[13:13]  ²¹³ tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” The description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form a hendiadys: “wicked and sinners” means “wicked sinners,” the first word becoming adjectival. The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause pain for others. Then to this phrase is added “against the Lord,” stressing their violation of the laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “exceedingly,” translated here as “extremely”).

[13:14]  ²¹⁴ tn Heb “and the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated himself from with him.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse signals a new scene.

[13:14]  ²¹⁵ tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”

[13:14]  sn Look. Earlier Lot “looked up” (v. 10), but here Abram is told by God to do so. The repetition of the expression (Heb “lift up the eyes”) here underscores how the Lord will have the last word and actually do for Abram what Abram did for Lot – give him the land. It seems to be one of the ways that God rewards faith.

[13:15]  ²¹⁶ tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”

[13:16]  ²¹⁷ tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

[13:17]  ²¹⁸ tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.

[13:17]  ²¹⁹ tn The Hitpael form הִתְהַלֵּךְ (hithallekh) means “to walk about”; it also can carry the ideas of moving about, traversing, going back and forth, or living in an area. It here has the connotation of traversing the land to survey it, to look it over.

[13:17]  ²²⁰ tn Heb “the land to its length and to its breadth.” This phrase has not been included in the translation because it is somewhat redundant (see the note on the word “throughout” in this verse).

[13:18]  ²²¹ tn Heb “he came and lived.”

[13:18]  ²²² tn Or “terebinths.”

[34:1]  ²²³ tn Heb “went out to see.” The verb “to see,” followed by the preposition בְּ (bÿ), here has the idea of “look over.” The young girl wanted to meet these women and see what they were like.

[34:1]  ²²⁴ tn Heb “daughters.”

[34:2]  ²²⁵ tn Heb “and he took her and lay with her.” The suffixed form following the verb appears to be the sign of the accusative instead of the preposition, but see BDB 1012 s.v. שָׁכַב.

[34:2]  ²²⁶ tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) in the Piel stem can have various shades of meaning, depending on the context: “to defile; to mistreat; to violate; to rape; to shame; to afflict.” Here it means that Shechem violated or humiliated Dinah by raping her.

[34:3]  ²²⁷ tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.

[34:3]  ²²⁸ 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”).

[34:4]  ²²⁹ tn Heb “Take for me this young woman for a wife.”

[34:5]  ²³⁰ tn The two disjunctive clauses in this verse (“Now Jacob heard…and his sons were”) are juxtaposed to indicate synchronic action.

[34:5]  ²³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:5]  ²³² sn The expected response would be anger or rage; but Jacob remained silent. He appears too indifferent or confused to act decisively. When the leader does not act decisively, the younger zealots will, and often with disastrous results.

[34:6]  ²³³ tn Heb “went out to Jacob to speak with him.” The words “about Dinah” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ²³⁴ tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:7]  ²³⁵ tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.

[34:7]  ²³⁶ tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.

[34:7]  ²³⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ²³⁸ tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”

[34:7]  ²³⁹ tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.

[34:7]  ²⁴⁰ tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.

[34:8]  ²⁴¹ 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).

[34:9]  ²⁴² tn Heb “form marriage alliances with us.”

[34:9]  sn Intermarry with us. This includes the idea of becoming allied by marriage. The incident foreshadows the temptations Israel would eventually face when they entered the promised land (see Deut 7:3; Josh 23:12).

[34:9]  ²⁴³ tn Heb “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” In the translation the words “let…marry” and “as wives” are supplied for clarity.

[34:10]  ²⁴⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

[34:10]  ²⁴⁵ tn Heb “before you.”

[34:10]  ²⁴⁶ tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”

[34:11]  ²⁴⁷ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Dinah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ²⁴⁸ tn Heb “whatever you say.”

[34:11]  ²⁴⁹ tn Or “pay.”

[34:12]  ²⁵⁰ tn Heb “Make very great upon me the bride price and gift.” The imperatives are used in a rhetorical manner. Shechem’s point is that he will pay the price, no matter how expensive it might be.

[34:12]  ²⁵¹ tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.

[34:12]  ²⁵² tn Heb “say.”

[34:13]  ²⁵³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:14]  ²⁵⁴ tn Heb “we are not able to do this thing, to give.” The second infinitive is in apposition to the first, explaining what they are not able to do.

[34:14]  ²⁵⁵ tn The Hebrew word translated “disgrace” usually means “ridicule; taunt; reproach.” It can also refer to the reason the condition of shame or disgrace causes ridicule or a reproach.

[34:15]  ²⁵⁶ tn Heb “if you are like us.”

[34:15]  ²⁵⁷ tn The infinitive here explains how they would become like them.

[34:16]  ²⁵⁸ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.

[34:16]  ²⁵⁹ tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:17]  ²⁶⁰ tn Heb “listen to us.”

[34:17]  ²⁶¹ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.

[34:17]  ²⁶² tn Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as “sister” for clarity.

[34:18]  ²⁶³ tn Heb “and their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem son of Hamor.”

[34:19]  ²⁶⁴ tn Heb “doing the thing.”

[34:19]  ²⁶⁵ tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:19]  ²⁶⁶ tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).

[34:19]  ²⁶⁷ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).

[34:20]  ²⁶⁸ sn The gate. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the location for conducting important public business.

[34:21]  ²⁶⁹ tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.

[34:21]  ²⁷⁰ tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:22]  ²⁷¹ tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”

[34:23]  ²⁷² tn The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[34:24]  ²⁷³ tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”

[34:24]  ²⁷⁴ tn Heb “listened to.”

[34:24]  ²⁷⁵ tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”

[34:25]  ²⁷⁶ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

[34:25]  ²⁷⁷ tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.

[34:27]  ²⁷⁸ tn Heb “came upon the slain.” Because of this statement the preceding phrase “Jacob’s sons” is frequently taken to mean the other sons of Jacob besides Simeon and Levi, but the text does not clearly affirm this.

[34:27]  ²⁷⁹ tn Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.

[34:28]  ²⁸⁰ tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”

[34:29]  ²⁸¹ tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”

[34:30]  ²⁸² tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.

[34:30]  ²⁸³ tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.

[34:30]  ²⁸⁴ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

[34:31]  ²⁸⁵ tn Heb “but they said.” The referent of “they” (Simeon and Levi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:1]  ²⁸⁶ tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

[35:1]  ²⁸⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[35:1]  ²⁸⁸ sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).

[35:2]  ²⁸⁹ tn Heb “which are in your midst.”

[35:2]  ²⁹⁰ sn The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the Lord in worship.

[35:3]  ²⁹¹ tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

[35:3]  ²⁹² tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

[35:3]  ²⁹³ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

[35:3]  ²⁹⁴ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

[35:4]  ²⁹⁵ tn Heb “in their hand.”

[35:4]  ²⁹⁶ sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).

[35:4]  ²⁹⁷ sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.

[35:4]  ²⁹⁸ tn Or “terebinth.”

[35:5]  ²⁹⁹ tn Heb “and they journeyed.”

[35:5]  ³⁰⁰ tn Heb “and the fear of God was upon the cities which were round about them.” The expression “fear of God” apparently refers (1) to a fear of God (objective genitive; God is the object of their fear). (2) But it could mean “fear from God,” that is, fear which God placed in them (cf. NRSV “a terror from God”). Another option (3) is that the divine name is used as a superlative here, referring to “tremendous fear” (cf. NEB “were panic-stricken”; NASB “a great terror”).

[35:6]  ³⁰¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[35:6]  ³⁰² tn Heb “and Jacob came to Luz which is in the land of Canaan – it is Bethel – he and all the people who were with him.”

[35:7]  ³⁰³ sn The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”

[35:7]  ³⁰⁴ tn Heb “revealed themselves.” The verb נִגְלוּ (niglu), translated “revealed himself,” is plural, even though one expects the singular form with the plural of majesty. Perhaps אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a numerical plural, referring both to God and the angelic beings that appeared to Jacob. See the note on the word “know” in Gen 3:5.

[35:8]  ³⁰⁵ sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.

[35:8]  ³⁰⁶ tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.

[35:8]  ³⁰⁷ tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.

[35:10]  ³⁰⁸ tn Heb “and he called his name Israel.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:10]  sn The name Israel means “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). See Gen 32:28.

[35:11]  ³⁰⁹ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. For a fuller discussion see the note on “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[35:11]  ³¹⁰ tn Heb “A nation and a company of nations will be from you and kings from your loins will come out.”

[35:11]  sn A nation…will descend from you. The promise is rooted in the Abrahamic promise (see Gen 17). God confirms what Isaac told Jacob (see Gen 28:3-4). Here, though, for the first time Jacob is promised kings as descendants.

[35:12]  ³¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “gave” refers to the Abrahamic promise of the land. However, the actual possession of that land lay in the future. The decree of the Lord made it certain; but it has the sense “promised to give.”

[35:12]  ³¹² tn Heb “and to your offspring after you.”

[35:13]  ³¹³ tn Heb “went up from upon him in the place.”

[35:14]  ³¹⁴ tn Heb “and Jacob set up a sacred pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a sacred pillar of stone” (see the notes on the term “sacred stone” in Gen 28:18). This passage stands parallel to Gen 28:18-19, where Jacob set up a sacred stone, poured oil on it, and called the place Bethel. Some commentators see these as two traditions referring to the same event, but it is more likely that Jacob reconsecrated the place in fulfillment of the vow he had made here earlier. In support of this is the fact that the present narrative alludes to and is built on the previous one.

[35:14]  ³¹⁵ tn The verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “to pour out, to make libations,” and the noun נֶסֶךְ (nesekh) is a “drink-offering,” usually of wine or of blood. The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out,” often of anointing oil, but of other elements as well.

[35:15]  ³¹⁶ sn Called the name of the place. In view of the previous naming of Bethel in Gen 28:19, here Jacob was confirming or affirming the name through an official ritual marking the fulfillment of the vow. This place now did become Bethel, the house of God.

[35:15]  ³¹⁷ tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew.

[35:15]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[35:16]  ³¹⁸ tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”

[35:16]  ³¹⁹ tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”

[35:17]  ³²⁰ tn The construction uses a Hiphil infinitive, which E. A. Speiser classifies as an elative Hiphil. The contrast is with the previous Piel: there “she had hard labor,” and here, “her labor was at its hardest.” Failure to see this, Speiser notes, has led to redundant translations and misunderstandings (Genesis [AB], 273).

[35:17]  ³²¹ sn Another son. The episode recalls and fulfills the prayer of Rachel at the birth of Joseph (Gen 30:24): “may he add” another son.

[35:18]  ³²² tn Heb “in the going out of her life, for she was dying.” Rachel named the child with her dying breath.

[35:18]  ³²³ sn The name Ben-Oni means “son of my suffering.” It is ironic that Rachel’s words to Jacob in Gen 30:1, “Give me children or I’ll die,” take a different turn here, for it was having the child that brought about her death.

[35:18]  ³²⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive.

[35:18]  sn His father called him Benjamin. There was a preference for giving children good or positive names in the ancient world, and “son of my suffering” would not do (see the incident in 1 Chr 4:9-10), because it would be a reminder of the death of Rachel (in this connection, see also D. Daube, “The Night of Death,” HTR 61 [1968]: 629-32). So Jacob named him Benjamin, which means “son of the [or “my”] right hand.” The name Benjamin appears in the Mari texts. There have been attempts to connect this name to the resident tribe listed at Mari, “sons of the south” (since the term “right hand” can also mean “south” in Hebrew), but this assumes a different reading of the story. See J. Muilenburg, “The Birth of Benjamin,” JBL 75 (1956): 194-201.

[35:19]  ³²⁵ sn This explanatory note links the earlier name Ephrath with the later name Bethlehem.

[35:19]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[35:20]  ³²⁶ tn Heb “standing stone.”

[35:20]  ³²⁷ tn Or perhaps “it is known as” (cf. NEB).

[35:21]  ³²⁸ sn The location of Migdal Eder is not given. It appears to be somewhere between Bethlehem and Hebron. Various traditions have identified it as at the shepherds’ fields near Bethlehem (the Hebrew name Migdal Eder means “tower of the flock”; see Mic 4:8) or located it near Solomon’s pools.

[35:22]  ³²⁹ tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.

[35:22]  sn Reuben’s act of having sexual relations with Bilhah probably had other purposes than merely satisfying his sexual desire. By having sex with Bilhah, Reuben (Leah’s oldest son) would have prevented Bilhah from succeeding Rachel as the favorite wife, and by sleeping with his father’s concubine he would also be attempting to take over leadership of the clan – something Absalom foolishly attempted later on in Israel’s history (2 Sam 16:21-22).

[35:27]  ³³⁰ tn This is an adverbial accusative of location.

[35:27]  ³³¹ tn The name “Kiriath Arba” is in apposition to the preceding name, “Mamre.”

[35:27]  ³³² tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” refers to temporary settlement without ownership rights.

[35:28]  ³³³ tn Heb “And the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.”

[35:29]  ³³⁴ tn Heb “and Isaac expired and died and he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.

[35:29]  ³³⁵ tn Heb “old and full of years.”

[1:1]  ³³⁶ tn The translation assumes that the form translated “beginning” is in the absolute state rather than the construct (“in the beginning of,” or “when God created”). In other words, the clause in v. 1 is a main clause, v. 2 has three clauses that are descriptive and supply background information, and v. 3 begins the narrative sequence proper. The referent of the word “beginning” has to be defined from the context since there is no beginning or ending with God.

[1:1]  sn In the beginning. The verse refers to the beginning of the world as we know it; it affirms that it is entirely the product of the creation of God. But there are two ways that this verse can be interpreted: (1) It may be taken to refer to the original act of creation with the rest of the events on the days of creation completing it. This would mean that the disjunctive clauses of v. 2 break the sequence of the creative work of the first day. (2) It may be taken as a summary statement of what the chapter will record, that is, vv. 3-31 are about God’s creating the world as we know it. If the first view is adopted, then we have a reference here to original creation; if the second view is taken, then Genesis itself does not account for the original creation of matter. To follow this view does not deny that the Bible teaches that God created everything out of nothing (cf. John 1:3) – it simply says that Genesis is not making that affirmation. This second view presupposes the existence of pre-existent matter, when God said, “Let there be light.” The first view includes the description of the primordial state as part of the events of day one. The following narrative strongly favors the second view, for the “heavens/sky” did not exist prior to the second day of creation (see v. 8) and “earth/dry land” did not exist, at least as we know it, prior to the third day of creation (see v. 10).

[1:1]  ³³⁷ sn God. This frequently used Hebrew name for God (אֱלֹהִים,’elohim ) is a plural form. When it refers to the one true God, the singular verb is normally used, as here. The plural form indicates majesty; the name stresses God’s sovereignty and incomparability – he is the “God of gods.”

[1:1]  ³³⁸ tn The English verb “create” captures well the meaning of the Hebrew term in this context. The verb בָּרָא (bara’) always describes the divine activity of fashioning something new, fresh, and perfect. The verb does not necessarily describe creation out of nothing (see, for example, v. 27, where it refers to the creation of man); it often stresses forming anew, reforming, renewing (see Ps 51:10; Isa 43:15, 65:17).

[1:1]  ³³⁹ tn Or “the entire universe”; or “the sky and the dry land.” This phrase is often interpreted as a merism, referring to the entire ordered universe, including the heavens and the earth and everything in them. The “heavens and the earth” were completed in seven days (see Gen 2:1) and are characterized by fixed laws (see Jer 33:25). “Heavens” refers specifically to the sky, created on the second day (see v. 8), while “earth” refers specifically to the dry land, created on the third day (see v. 10). Both are distinct from the sea/seas (see v. 10 and Exod 20:11).

[1:2]  ³⁴⁰ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) at the beginning of v. 2 gives background information for the following narrative, explaining the state of things when “God said…” (v. 3). Verse one is a title to the chapter, v. 2 provides information about the state of things when God spoke, and v. 3 begins the narrative per se with the typical narrative construction (vav [ו] consecutive followed by the prefixed verbal form). (This literary structure is paralleled in the second portion of the book: Gen 2:4 provides the title or summary of what follows, 2:5-6 use disjunctive clause structures to give background information for the following narrative, and 2:7 begins the narrative with the vav consecutive attached to a prefixed verbal form.) Some translate 1:2a “and the earth became,” arguing that v. 1 describes the original creation of the earth, while v. 2 refers to a judgment that reduced it to a chaotic condition. Verses 3ff. then describe the re-creation of the earth. However, the disjunctive clause at the beginning of v. 2 cannot be translated as if it were relating the next event in a sequence. If v. 2 were sequential to v. 1, the author would have used the vav consecutive followed by a prefixed verbal form and the subject.

[1:2]  ³⁴¹ tn That is, what we now call “the earth.” The creation of the earth as we know it is described in vv. 9-10. Prior to this the substance which became the earth (= dry land) lay dormant under the water.

[1:2]  ³⁴² tn Traditional translations have followed a more literal rendering of “waste and void.” The words describe a condition that is without form and empty. What we now know as “the earth” was actually an unfilled mass covered by water and darkness. Later תֹהוּ (tohu) and בֹּהוּ (bohu), when used in proximity, describe a situation resulting from judgment (Isa 34:11; Jer 4:23). Both prophets may be picturing judgment as the reversal of creation in which God’s judgment causes the world to revert to its primordial condition. This later use of the terms has led some to conclude that Gen 1:2 presupposes the judgment of a prior world, but it is unsound method to read the later application of the imagery (in a context of judgment) back into Gen 1:2.

[1:2]  ³⁴³ sn Darkness. The Hebrew word simply means “darkness,” but in the Bible it has come to symbolize what opposes God, such as judgment (Exod 10:21), death (Ps 88:13), oppression (Isa 9:1), the wicked (1 Sam 2:9) and in general, sin. In Isa 45:7 it parallels “evil.” It is a fitting cover for the primeval waste, but it prepares the reader for the fact that God is about to reveal himself through his works.

[1:2]  ³⁴⁴ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 7:11).

[1:2]  sn The watery deep. In the Babylonian account of creation Marduk killed the goddess Tiamat (the salty sea) and used her carcass to create heaven and earth. The form of the Hebrew word for “deep” is distinct enough from the name “Tiamat” to deny direct borrowing; however, it is possible that there is a polemical stress here. Ancient Israel does not see the ocean as a powerful deity to be destroyed in creation, only a force of nature that can be controlled by God.

[1:2]  ³⁴⁵ tn The traditional rendering “Spirit of God” is preserved here, as opposed to a translation like “wind from/breath of God” (cf. NRSV) or “mighty wind” (cf. NEB), taking the word “God” to represent the superlative. Elsewhere in the OT the phrase refers consistently to the divine spirit that empowers and energizes individuals (see Gen 41:38; Exod 31:3; 35:31; Num 24:2; 1 Sam 10:10; 11:6; 19:20, 23; Ezek 11:24; 2 Chr 15:1; 24:20).

[1:2]  ³⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew verb has been translated “hovering” or “moving” (as a bird over her young, see Deut 32:11). The Syriac cognate term means “to brood over; to incubate.” How much of that sense might be attached here is hard to say, but the verb does depict the presence of the Spirit of God moving about mysteriously over the waters, presumably preparing for the acts of creation to follow. If one reads “mighty wind” (cf. NEB) then the verse describes how the powerful wind begins to blow in preparation for the creative act described in vv. 9-10. (God also used a wind to drive back the flood waters in Noah’s day. See Gen 8:1.)

[1:2]  ³⁴⁷ tn Heb “face.”

[1:2]  ³⁴⁸ sn The water. The text deliberately changes now from the term for the watery deep to the general word for water. The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic abyss-like deep. The change may be merely stylistic, but it may also carry some significance. The deep carries with it the sense of the abyss, chaos, darkness – in short, that which is not good for life.

[1:3]  ³⁴⁹ tn The prefixed verb form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the narrative sequence. Ten times in the chapter the decree of God in creation will be so expressed. For the power of the divine word in creation, see Ps 33:9, John 1:1-3, 1 Cor 8:6, and Col 1:16.

[1:3]  sn God said. By speaking, God brings the world into existence. The efficacious nature of the word of the Lord is a prominent theme in this chapter. It introduces the Law, the words and commandments from the Lord that must be obeyed. The ten decrees of God in this chapter anticipate the ten words in the Decalogue (Exod 20:2-17).

[1:3]  ³⁵⁰ tn “Let there be” is the short jussive form of the verb “to be”; the following expression “and there was” is the short preterite form of the same verb. As such, יְהִי (yÿhi) and וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) form a profound wordplay to express both the calling into existence and the complete fulfillment of the divine word.

[1:3]  ³⁵¹ sn Light. The Hebrew word simply means “light,” but it is used often in scripture to convey the ideas of salvation, joy, knowledge, righteousness, and life. In this context one cannot ignore those connotations, for it is the antithesis of the darkness. The first thing God does is correct the darkness; without the light there is only chaos.

[1:4]  ³⁵² tn Heb “And God saw the light, that it was good.” The verb “saw” in this passage carries the meaning “reflected on,” “surveyed,” “concluded,” “noted.” It is a description of reflection of the mind – it is God’s opinion.

[1:4]  ³⁵³ tn The Hebrew word טוֹב (tov) in this context signifies whatever enhances, promotes, produces, or is conducive for life. It is the light that God considers “good,” not the darkness. Whatever is conducive to life in God’s creation is good, for God himself is good, and that goodness is reflected in all of his works.

[1:4]  ³⁵⁴ tn The verb “separate, divide” here explains how God used the light to dispel the darkness. It did not do away with the darkness completely, but made a separation. The light came alongside the darkness, but they are mutually exclusive – a theme that will be developed in the Gospel of John (cf. John 1:5).

[1:4]  sn The idea of separation is critical to this chapter. God separated light from darkness, upper water from lower water, day from night, etc. The verb is important to the Law in general. In Leviticus God separates between clean and unclean, holy and profane (Lev 10:10, 11:47 and 20:24); in Exodus God separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Exod 26:33). There is a preference for the light over the darkness, just as there will be a preference for the upper waters, the rain water which is conducive to life, over the sea water.

[1:5]  ³⁵⁵ tn Heb “he called to,” meaning “he named.”

[1:5]  sn God called. Seven times in this chapter naming or blessing follows some act of creation. There is clearly a point being made beyond the obvious idea of naming. In the Babylonian creation story Enuma Elish, naming is equal to creating. In the Bible the act of naming, like creating, can be an indication of sovereignty (see 2 Kgs 23:34). In this verse God is sovereign even over the darkness.

[1:5]  ³⁵⁶ tn Heb “and the darkness he called night.” The words “he called” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:5]  ³⁵⁷ tn Another option is to translate, “Evening came, and then morning came.” This formula closes the six days of creation. It seems to follow the Jewish order of reckoning time: from evening to morning. Day one started with the dark, continued through the creation of light, and ended with nightfall. Another alternative would be to translate, “There was night and then there was day, one day.”

[1:5]  sn The first day. The exegetical evidence suggests the word “day” in this chapter refers to a literal twenty-four hour day. It is true that the word can refer to a longer period of time (see Isa 61:2, or the idiom in 2:4, “in the day,” that is, “when”). But this chapter uses “day,” “night,” “morning,” “evening,” “years,” and “seasons.” Consistency would require sorting out how all these terms could be used to express ages. Also, when the Hebrew word יוֹם (yom) is used with a numerical adjective, it refers to a literal day. Furthermore, the commandment to keep the sabbath clearly favors this interpretation. One is to work for six days and then rest on the seventh, just as God did when he worked at creation.

[1:6]  ³⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew word refers to an expanse of air pressure between the surface of the sea and the clouds, separating water below from water above. In v. 8 it is called “sky.”

[1:6]  sn An expanse. In the poetic texts the writers envision, among other things, something rather strong and shiny, no doubt influencing the traditional translation “firmament” (cf. NRSV “dome”). Job 37:18 refers to the skies poured out like a molten mirror. Dan 12:3 and Ezek 1:22 portray it as shiny. The sky or atmosphere may have seemed like a glass dome. For a detailed study of the Hebrew conception of the heavens and sky, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 37-60.

[1:6]  ³⁵⁹ tn Heb “the waters from the waters.”

[1:7]  ³⁶⁰ tn Heb “the expanse.”

[1:7]  ³⁶¹ tn This statement indicates that it happened the way God designed it, underscoring the connection between word and event.

[1:8]  ³⁶² tn Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”

[1:9]  ³⁶³ sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.

[1:9]  ³⁶⁴ tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.

[1:10]  ³⁶⁵ tn Heb “earth,” but here the term refers to the dry ground as opposed to the sea.

[1:11]  ³⁶⁶ tn The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created.

[1:11]  sn Vegetation. The Hebrew word translated “vegetation” (דֶּשֶׁא, deshe’) normally means “grass,” but here it probably refers more generally to vegetation that includes many of the plants and trees. In the verse the plants and the trees are qualified as self-perpetuating with seeds, but not the word “vegetation,” indicating it is the general term and the other two terms are sub-categories of it. Moreover, in vv. 29 and 30 the word vegetation/grass does not appear. The Samaritan Pentateuch adds an “and” before the fruit trees, indicating it saw the arrangement as bipartite (The Samaritan Pentateuch tends to eliminate asyndetic constructions).

[1:11]  ³⁶⁷ sn After their kinds. The Hebrew word translated “kind” (מִין, min) indicates again that God was concerned with defining and dividing time, space, and species. The point is that creation was with order, as opposed to chaos. And what God created and distinguished with boundaries was not to be confused (see Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9-11).

[1:11]  ³⁶⁸ tn The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.

[1:14]  ³⁶⁹ sn Let there be lights. Light itself was created before the light-bearers. The order would not seem strange to the ancient Hebrew mind that did not automatically link daylight with the sun (note that dawn and dusk appear to have light without the sun).

[1:14]  ³⁷⁰ tn The language describing the cosmos, which reflects a prescientific view of the world, must be interpreted as phenomenal, describing what appears to be the case. The sun and the moon are not in the sky (below the clouds), but from the viewpoint of a person standing on the earth, they appear that way. Even today we use similar phenomenological expressions, such as “the sun is rising” or “the stars in the sky.”

[1:14]  ³⁷¹ tn The text has “for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” It seems likely from the meanings of the words involved that “signs” is the main idea, followed by two categories, “seasons” and “days and years.” This is the simplest explanation, and one that matches vv. 11-13. It could even be rendered “signs for the fixed seasons, that is [explicative vav (ו)] days and years.”

[1:14]  sn Let them be for signs. The point is that the sun and the moon were important to fix the days for the seasonal celebrations for the worshiping community.

[1:16]  ³⁷² sn Two great lights. The text goes to great length to discuss the creation of these lights, suggesting that the subject was very important to the ancients. Since these “lights” were considered deities in the ancient world, the section serves as a strong polemic (see G. Hasel, “The Polemical Nature of the Genesis Cosmology,” EvQ 46 [1974]: 81-102). The Book of Genesis is affirming they are created entities, not deities. To underscore this the text does not even give them names. If used here, the usual names for the sun and moon [Shemesh and Yarih, respectively] might have carried pagan connotations, so they are simply described as greater and lesser lights. Moreover, they serve in the capacity that God gives them, which would not be the normal function the pagans ascribed to them. They merely divide, govern, and give light in God’s creation.

[1:16]  ³⁷³ tn Heb “and the stars.” Now the term “stars” is added as a third object of the verb “made.” Perhaps the language is phenomenological, meaning that the stars appeared in the sky from this time forward.

[1:17]  ³⁷⁴ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the lights mentioned in the preceding verses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:18]  ³⁷⁵ sn In days one to three there is a naming by God; in days five and six there is a blessing by God. But on day four there is neither. It could be a mere stylistic variation. But it could also be a deliberate design to avoid naming “sun” and “moon” or promoting them beyond what they are, things that God made to serve in his creation.

[1:20]  ³⁷⁶ tn The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.

[1:20]  ³⁷⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.

[1:21]  ³⁷⁸ tn For the first time in the narrative proper the verb “create” (בָּרָא, bara’) appears. (It is used in the summary statement of v. 1.) The author wishes to underscore that these creatures – even the great ones – are part of God’s perfect creation. The Hebrew term תַנִּינִם (tanninim) is used for snakes (Exod 7:9), crocodiles (Ezek 29:3), or other powerful animals (Jer 51:34). In Isa 27:1 the word is used to describe a mythological sea creature that symbolizes God’s enemies.

[1:22]  ³⁷⁹ tn While the translation “blessed” has been retained here for the sake of simplicity, it would be most helpful to paraphrase it as “God endowed them with fruitfulness” or something similar, for here it refers to God’s giving the animals the capacity to reproduce. The expression “blessed” needs clarification in its different contexts, for it is one of the unifying themes of the Book of Genesis. The divine blessing occurs after works of creation and is intended to continue that work – the word of blessing guarantees success. The word means “to enrich; to endow,” and the most visible evidence of that enrichment is productivity or fruitfulness. See C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[1:22]  ³⁸⁰ sn The instruction God gives to creation is properly a fuller expression of the statement just made (“God blessed them”), that he enriched them with the ability to reproduce. It is not saying that these were rational creatures who heard and obeyed the word; rather, it stresses that fruitfulness in the animal world is a result of the divine decree and not of some pagan cultic ritual for fruitfulness. The repeated emphasis of “be fruitful – multiply – fill” adds to this abundance God has given to life. The meaning is underscored by the similar sounds: בָּרָךְ (barakh) with בָּרָא (bara’), and פָּרָה (parah) with רָבָה (ravah).

[1:24]  ³⁸¹ tn There are three groups of land animals here: the cattle or livestock (mostly domesticated), things that creep or move close to the ground (such as reptiles or rodents), and the wild animals (all animals of the field). The three terms are general classifications without specific details.

[1:26]  ³⁸² sn The plural form of the verb has been the subject of much discussion through the years, and not surprisingly several suggestions have been put forward. Many Christian theologians interpret it as an early hint of plurality within the Godhead, but this view imposes later trinitarian concepts on the ancient text. Some have suggested the plural verb indicates majesty, but the plural of majesty is not used with verbs. C. Westermann (Genesis, 1:145) argues for a plural of “deliberation” here, but his proposed examples of this use (2 Sam 24:14; Isa 6:8) do not actually support his theory. In 2 Sam 24:14 David uses the plural as representative of all Israel, and in Isa 6:8 the Lord speaks on behalf of his heavenly court. In its ancient Israelite context the plural is most naturally understood as referring to God and his heavenly court (see 1 Kgs 22:19-22; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6; Isa 6:1-8). (The most well-known members of this court are God’s messengers, or angels. In Gen 3:5 the serpent may refer to this group as “gods/divine beings.” See the note on the word “evil” in 3:5.) If this is the case, God invites the heavenly court to participate in the creation of humankind (perhaps in the role of offering praise, see Job 38:7), but he himself is the one who does the actual creative work (v. 27). Of course, this view does assume that the members of the heavenly court possess the divine “image” in some way. Since the image is closely associated with rulership, perhaps they share the divine image in that they, together with God and under his royal authority, are the executive authority over the world.

[1:26]  ³⁸³ tn The Hebrew word is אָדָם (’adam), which can sometimes refer to man, as opposed to woman. The term refers here to humankind, comprised of male and female. The singular is clearly collective (see the plural verb, “[that] they may rule” in v. 26b) and the referent is defined specifically as “male and female” in v. 27. Usage elsewhere in Gen 1-11 supports this as well. In 5:2 we read: “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and called their name ‘humankind’ (אָדָם).” The noun also refers to humankind in 6:1, 5-7 and in 9:5-6.

[1:26]  ³⁸⁴ tn The two prepositions translated “in” and “according to” have overlapping fields of meaning and in this context seem to be virtually equivalent. In 5:3 they are reversed with the two words. The word צֶלֶם (tselem, “image”) is used frequently of statues, models, and images – replicas (see D. J. A. Clines, “The Etymology of Hebrew selem,” JNSL 3 [1974]: 19-25). The word דְּמוּת (dÿmut, “likeness”) is an abstract noun; its verbal root means “to be like; to resemble.” In the Book of Genesis the two terms describe human beings who in some way reflect the form and the function of the creator. The form is more likely stressing the spiritual rather than the physical. The “image of God” would be the God-given mental and spiritual capacities that enable people to relate to God and to serve him by ruling over the created order as his earthly vice-regents.

[1:26]  sn In our image, after our likeness. Similar language is used in the instructions for building the tabernacle. Moses was told to make it “according to the pattern” he was shown on the mount (Exod 25:9, 10). Was he shown a form, a replica, of the spiritual sanctuary in the heavenly places? In any case, what was produced on earth functioned as the heavenly sanctuary does, but with limitations.

[1:26]  ³⁸⁵ tn Following the cohortative (“let us make”), the prefixed verb form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result (see Gen 19:20; 34:23; 2 Sam 3:21). God’s purpose in giving humankind his image is that they might rule the created order on behalf of the heavenly king and his royal court. So the divine image, however it is defined, gives humankind the capacity and/or authority to rule over creation.

[1:26]  ³⁸⁶ tc The MT reads “earth”; the Syriac reads “wild animals” (cf. NRSV).

[1:26]  ³⁸⁷ tn Heb “creep” (also in v. 28).

[1:27]  ³⁸⁸ tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun (הָאָדָם, ha’adam). The article does not distinguish man from woman here (“the man” as opposed to “the woman”), but rather indicates previous reference (see v. 26, where the noun appears without the article). It has the same function as English “the aforementioned.”

[1:27]  ³⁸⁹ tn The third person suffix on the particle אֵת (’et) is singular here, but collective.

[1:27]  ³⁹⁰ sn The distinction of “humankind” as “male” and “female” is another point of separation in God’s creation. There is no possibility that the verse is teaching that humans were first androgynous (having both male and female physical characteristics) and afterward were separated. The mention of male and female prepares for the blessing to follow.

[1:28]  ³⁹¹ tn As in v. 22 the verb “bless” here means “to endow with the capacity to reproduce and be fruitful,” as the following context indicates. As in v. 22, the statement directly precedes the command “be fruitful and multiply.” The verb carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); Gen 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).

[1:28]  ³⁹² tn Heb “and God said.” For stylistic reasons “God” has not been repeated here in the translation.

[1:28]  ³⁹³ tn Elsewhere the Hebrew verb translated “subdue” means “to enslave” (2 Chr 28:10; Neh 5:5; Jer 34:11, 16), “to conquer,” (Num 32:22, 29; Josh 18:1; 2 Sam 8:11; 1 Chr 22:18; Zech 9:13; and probably Mic 7:19), and “to assault sexually” (Esth 7:8). None of these nuances adequately meets the demands of this context, for humankind is not viewed as having an adversarial relationship with the world. The general meaning of the verb appears to be “to bring under one’s control for one’s advantage.” In Gen 1:28 one might paraphrase it as follows: “harness its potential and use its resources for your benefit.” In an ancient Israelite context this would suggest cultivating its fields, mining its mineral riches, using its trees for construction, and domesticating its animals.

[1:28]  ³⁹⁴ sn The several imperatives addressed to both males and females together (plural imperative forms) actually form two commands: reproduce and rule. God’s word is not merely a form of blessing, but is now addressed to them personally; this is a distinct emphasis with the creation of human beings. But with the blessing comes the ability to be fruitful and to rule. In procreation they will share in the divine work of creating human life and passing on the divine image (see 5:1-3); in ruling they will serve as God’s vice-regents on earth. They together, the human race collectively, have the responsibility of seeing to the welfare of that which is put under them and the privilege of using it for their benefit.

[1:29]  ³⁹⁵ tn The text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh), often archaically translated “behold.” It is often used to express the dramatic present, the immediacy of an event – “Look, this is what I am doing!”

[1:29]  ³⁹⁶ sn G. J. Wenham (Genesis [WBC], 1:34) points out that there is nothing in the passage that prohibits the man and the woman from eating meat. He suggests that eating meat came after the fall. Gen 9:3 may then ratify the postfall practice of eating meat rather than inaugurate the practice, as is often understood.

[1:30]  ³⁹⁷ tn The phrase “I give” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:31]  ³⁹⁸ tn The Hebrew text again uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) for the sake of vividness. It is a particle that goes with the gesture of pointing, calling attention to something.

[22:1]  ³⁹⁹ sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.

[22:1]  ⁴⁰⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:32]  ⁴⁰¹ tn Heb “the man”; the referent (Abraham’s servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:32]  ⁴⁰² tn Some translations (e.g., NEB, NASB, NRSV) understand Laban to be the subject of this and the following verbs or take the subject of this and the following verbs as indefinite (referring to an unnamed servant; e.g., NAB, NIV).

[24:32]  ⁴⁰³ tn Heb “and [one] gave.” The verb without an expressed subject may be translated as passive.

[24:32]  ⁴⁰⁴ tn Heb “and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”

[1:8]  ⁴⁰⁵ tn The reference is now to the false teachers.

[1:8]  ⁴⁰⁶ tn Grk “dreaming.” The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι (enupniazomenoi, “dreaming”) is adverbial to the pronoun οὗτοι (|outoi, “these”), though the particular relationship is not clear. It could mean, “while dreaming,” “by dreaming,” or “because of dreaming.” This translation has adopted the last option as Jude’s meaning, partially for syntactical reasons (the causal participle usually precedes the main verb) and partially for contextual reasons (these false teachers must derive their authority from some source, and the dreams provide the most obvious base). The participle ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι was sometimes used of apocalyptic visions, both of true and false prophets. This seems to be the meaning here.

[1:8]  ⁴⁰⁷ tn Most likely, the authority of the Lord is in view. This verse, then, echoes the indictment of v. 4: “they deny our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

[1:8]  ⁴⁰⁸ tn The construction with the three verbs (“defile, “reject,” and “insult”) involves the particles μέν, δέ, δέ (men, de, de). A more literal (and pedantic) translation would be: “on the one hand, they defile the flesh, on the other hand, they reject authority, and on another hand, they insult the glorious ones.”

[1:8]  ⁴⁰⁹ sn The glorious ones refers to angelic beings rather than mere human beings, just as in 2 Pet 2:10 (on which this passage apparently depends). Whether the angelic beings are good or evil, however, is difficult to tell (hence, the translation is left ambiguous). However, both in 2 Pet 2:11 and here, in Jude 9, the wicked angels seem to be in view (for not even Michael insults them).

[1:9]  ⁴¹⁰ tn The word “even” is not in Greek; it is implied by the height of the contrast.

[1:9]  ⁴¹¹ sn According to Jewish intertestamental literature (such as 1 En. 20), Michael was one of seven archangels.

[1:9]  ⁴¹² tn The sentence structure is a bit different in Greek. Literally it reads: “But Michael the archangel, when arguing with the devil and disputing.”

[1:10]  ⁴¹³ tn Or “they should naturally comprehend.” The present tense in this context may have a conative force.

[1:10]  sn They instinctively comprehend. Like irrational animals, these false teachers do grasp one thing – the instinctive behavior of animals in heat. R. Bauckham (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 63) notes that “Though they claim to be guided by special spiritual insight gained in heavenly revelations, they are in fact following the sexual instincts which they share with the animals.” Jude’s focus is somewhat different from Peter’s: Peter argued that, like irrational animals who are born to be caught and killed, these men will be destroyed when destroying others (2 Pet 2:12). Jude, however, does not mention the destruction of animals, just that these false teachers will be destroyed for mimicking them.

[1:11]  ⁴¹⁴ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ⁴¹⁵ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ⁴¹⁶ tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).

[1:11]  ⁴¹⁷ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ⁴¹⁸ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ⁴¹⁹ tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).

[1:12]  ⁴²⁰ tn Grk “these are the men who are.”

[1:12]  ⁴²¹ tn Though σπιλάδες (spilades) is frequently translated “blemishes” or “stains,” such is actually a translation of the Greek word σπίλοι (spiloi). The two words are quite similar, especially in their root or lexical forms (σπιλάς [spila"] and σπίλος [spilos] respectively). Some scholars have suggested that σπιλάδες in this context means the same thing as σπίλοι. But such could be the case only by a stretch of the imagination (see BDAG 938 s.v. σπιλάς for discussion). Others suggest that Jude’s spelling was in error (which also is doubtful). One reason for the tension is that in the parallel passage, 2 Pet 2:13, the term used is indeed σπίλος. And if either Jude used 2 Peter or 2 Peter used Jude, one would expect to see the same word. Jude, however, may have changed the wording for the sake of a subtle wordplay. The word σπιλάς was often used of a mere rock, though it normally was associated with a rock along the shore or one jutting out in the water. Thus, the false teachers would appear as “rocks” – as pillars in the community (cf. Matt 16:18; Gal 2:9), when in reality if a believer got too close to them his faith would get shipwrecked. Some suggest that σπιλάδες here means “hidden rocks.” Though this meaning is attested for the word, it is inappropriate in this context, since these false teachers are anything but hidden. They are dangerous because undiscerning folks get close to them, thinking they are rocks and pillars, when they are really dangerous reefs.

[1:12]  ⁴²² tc Several witnesses (A C^vid 1243 1846 al), influenced by the parallel in 2 Pet 2:13, read ἀπάταις (apatai", “deceptions”) for ἀγάπαις (agapai", “love-feasts”) in v. 12. However, ἀγάπαις has much stronger and earlier support and should therefore be considered original.

[1:12]  sn The danger of the false teachers at the love feasts would be especially pernicious, for the love feasts of the early church involved the Lord’s Supper, worship, and instruction.

[1:12]  ⁴²³ tn Or “fearlessly.” The term in this context, however, is decidedly negative. The implication is that these false teachers ate the Lord’s Supper without regarding the sanctity of the meal. Cf. 1 Cor 11:17-22.

[1:12]  ⁴²⁴ tn Grk “shepherding themselves.” The verb ποιμαίνω (poimainw) means “shepherd, nurture [the flock].” But these men, rather than tending to the flock of God, nurture only themselves. They thus fall under the condemnation Paul uttered when writing to the Corinthians: “For when it comes time to eat [the Lord’s Supper,] each one goes ahead with his own meal” (1 Cor 11:21). Above all, the love-feast was intended to be a shared meal in which all ate and all felt welcome.

[1:12]  ⁴²⁵ tn “They are” is not in Greek, but resumes the thought begun at the front of v. 12. There is no period before “They are.” English usage requires breaking this into more than one sentence.

[1:12]  ⁴²⁶ tn Cf. 2 Pet 2:17. Jude’s emphasis is slightly different (instead of waterless springs, they are waterless clouds).

[1:12]  ⁴²⁷ sn The imagery portraying the false teachers as autumn trees without fruit has to do with their lack of productivity. Recall the statement to the same effect by Jesus in Matt 7:16-20, in which false prophets will be known by their fruits. Like waterless clouds full of false hope, these trees do not yield any harvest even though it is expected.

[1:12]  ⁴²⁸ tn Grk “having died twice.”

[1:12]  sn Twice dead probably has no relevance to the tree metaphor, but has great applicability to these false teachers. As in Rev 20:6, those who die twice are those who die physically and spiritually. The aphorism is true: “born once, die twice; born twice, die once” (cf. Rev 20:5; John 3, 11).

[1:13]  ⁴²⁹ tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”

[1:13]  ⁴³⁰ tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”

[1:13]  ⁴³¹ tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.

[1:13]  ⁴³² sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.

[1:13]  ⁴³³ tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.

[1:14]  ⁴³⁴ tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”

[1:14]  sn The genealogical count is inclusive, counting Adam as the first, for Enoch is really the sixth in descent from Adam (Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch). In this way, the picture of perfection/completion was retained (for the number seven is often used for perfection or completion in the Bible) starting with Adam and concluding with Enoch.

[1:14]  ⁴³⁵ tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).

[1:14]  ⁴³⁶ tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.

[1:14]  ⁴³⁷ tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.

[1:15]  ⁴³⁸ tn Grk “against” (κατά [kata] + genitive). English usage is satisfied with “on” at this point, but the parallel is lost in the translation to some degree, for the end of v. 15 says that this judgment is meted out on these sinners because they spoke against him (κατά + genitive).

[1:15]  ⁴³⁹ tn Or “soul.”

[1:15]  ⁴⁴⁰ tn Grk “of all their works of ungodliness.” The adverb “thoroughly” is part of the following verb “have committed.” See note on verb “committed” later in this verse.

[1:15]  ⁴⁴¹ tn The verb in Greek does not simply mean “have committed,” but “have committed in an ungodly way.” The verb ἀσεβέω (asebew) is cognate to the noun ἀσέβεια (asebeia, “ungodliness”). There is no easy way to express this in English, since English does not have a single word that means the same thing. Nevertheless, the tenor of v. 15 is plainly seen, regardless of the translation.

[1:15]  ⁴⁴² sn An apparent quotation from 1 En. 1:9. There is some doubt as to whether Jude is actually quoting from the text of 1 Enoch; the text here in Jude differs in some respects from the extant text of this pseudepigraphic book. It is sometimes suggested that Jude may instead have been quoting from oral tradition which had roots older than the written text.

[1:16]  ⁴⁴³ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ⁴⁴⁴ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ⁴⁴⁵ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ⁴⁴⁶ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  sn They give bombastic speeches. The idiom of opening one’s mouth in the NT often implied a public oration from a teacher or one in authority. Cf. Matt 5:2; Luke 4:22; Acts 1:16; 3:18; 10:34; Eph 6:19; Rev 13:5-6.

[1:16]  ⁴⁴⁷ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ⁴⁴⁸ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

[1:17]  ⁴⁴⁹ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ⁴⁵⁰ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[1:18]  ⁴⁵¹ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ⁴⁵² tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:18]  sn Jude cites 2 Pet 3:3, changing a few of the words among other things, cleaning up the syntax, conforming it to Hellenistic style.

[1:19]  ⁴⁵³ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ⁴⁵⁴ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ⁴⁵⁵ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:19]  sn The phrase devoid of the Spirit may well indicate Jude’s and Peter’s assessment of the spiritual status of the false teachers. Those who do not have the Spirit are clearly not saved.

[1:20]  ⁴⁵⁶ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[1:2]  ⁴⁵⁷ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[12:1]  ⁴⁵⁸ tn Heb “Look, I have listened to your voice.”

[12:1]  ⁴⁵⁹ tn Heb “to all which you said to me.”

[12:1]  ⁴⁶⁰ tn Heb “and I have installed a king over you.”

[12:3]  ⁴⁶¹ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

[12:3]  ⁴⁶² tn The words “tell me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[12:5]  ⁴⁶³ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

[12:5]  ⁴⁶⁴ tn Heb “that you have not found anything in my hand.”

[12:6]  ⁴⁶⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 8).

[12:7]  ⁴⁶⁶ tn Heb “and I will enter into judgment with you” (NRSV similar); NAB “and I shall arraign you.”

[12:7]  ⁴⁶⁷ tn Heb “all the just actions which he has done with you and with your fathers.”

[49:4]  ⁴⁶⁸ tn Heb “I will turn my ear to a wise saying, I will open [i.e., “reveal; explain”] my insightful saying with a harp.” In the first line the psalmist speaks as a pupil who learns a song of wisdom from a sage. This suggests that the resulting insightful song derives from another source, perhaps God himself. Elsewhere the Hebrew word pair חִידָה/מָשָׁל (mashal/khidah) refers to a taunt song (Hab 2:6), a parable (Ezek 17:2), lessons from history (Ps 78:2), and proverbial sayings (Prov 1:6). Here it appears to refer to the insightful song that follows, which reflects on the mortality of humankind and the ultimate inability of riches to prevent the inevitable – death. Another option is that the word pair refers more specifically to the closely related proverbial sayings of vv. 12, 20 (note the use of the verb מָשָׁל, mashal, “to be like” in both verses). In this case the psalmist first hears the sayings and then explains (Heb “opens”) their significance (see vv. 5-11, 13-19).

[78:2]  ⁴⁶⁹ tn Heb “I will open with a wise saying my mouth, I will utter insightful sayings from long ago.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word pair חִידָה+מָשָׁל (mashal + khidah) refers to a taunt song (Hab 2:6), a parable (Ezek 17:2), proverbial sayings (Prov 1:6), and an insightful song that reflects on the mortality of humankind and the ultimate inability of riches to prevent death (Ps 49:4).

[5:1]  ⁴⁷⁰ tn It is uncertain who is speaking here. Possibly the prophet, taking the role of best man, composes a love song for his friend on the occasion of his wedding. If so, יָדִיד (yadid) should be translated “my friend.” The present translation assumes that Israel is singing to the Lord. The word דוֹד (dod, “lover”) used in the second line is frequently used by the woman in the Song of Solomon to describe her lover.

[5:1]  ⁴⁷¹ sn Israel, viewing herself as the Lord’s lover, refers to herself as his vineyard. The metaphor has sexual connotations, for it pictures her capacity to satisfy his appetite and to produce children. See Song 8:12.

[5:1]  ⁴⁷² tn Heb “on a horn, a son of oil.” Apparently קֶרֶן (qeren, “horn”) here refers to the horn-shaped peak of a hill (BDB 902 s.v.) or to a mountain spur, i.e., a ridge that extends laterally from a mountain (HALOT 1145 s.v. קֶרֶן; H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:180). The expression “son of oil” pictures this hill as one capable of producing olive trees. Isaiah’s choice of קֶרֶן, a rare word for hill, may have been driven by paronomastic concerns, i.e., because קֶרֶן sounds like כֶּרֶם (kerem, “vineyard”).

[5:2]  ⁴⁷³ tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.

[5:2]  ⁴⁷⁴ tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).

[5:2]  sn At this point the love song turns sour as the Lord himself breaks in and completes the story (see vv. 3-6). In the final line of v. 2 the love song presented to the Lord becomes a judgment speech by the Lord.

[5:3]  ⁴⁷⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:3]  ⁴⁷⁶ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:5]  ⁴⁷⁷ tn Heb “and it will become [a place for] grazing.” בָּעַר (ba’ar, “grazing”) is a homonym of the more often used verb “to burn.”

[5:5]  ⁴⁷⁸ tn Heb “and it will become a trampled place” (NASB “trampled ground”).

[5:6]  ⁴⁷⁹ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[5:7]  ⁴⁸⁰ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁴⁸¹ tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁴⁸² tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ⁴⁸³ tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:7]  ⁴⁸⁴ tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[17:2]  ⁴⁸⁵ sn The verb occurs elsewhere in the OT only in Judg 14:12-19, where Samson supplies a riddle.

[24:3]  ⁴⁸⁶ sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

[24:3]  ⁴⁸⁷ sn See Ezek 11:3-12.

[24:6]  ⁴⁸⁸ tn Or “rust.”

[24:6]  ⁴⁸⁹ tn Heb “has not gone out.”

[24:6]  ⁴⁹⁰ tn Here “lot” may refer to the decision made by casting lots; it is not chosen at all.

[24:11]  ⁴⁹¹ tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”

[24:11]  ⁴⁹² tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).

[24:12]  ⁴⁹³ tn Heb “(with) toil she has wearied.” The meaning of the statement is unclear in the Hebrew text; some follow the LXX and delete it. The first word in the statement (rendered “toil” in the literal translation above) occurs only here in the OT, and the verb “she has wearied” lacks a stated object. Elsewhere the Hiphil of the verb refers to wearying someone or trying someone’s patience. The feminine subject is apparently the symbolic pot.

[24:12]  ⁴⁹⁴ tn Heb “does not go out.”

[24:12]  ⁴⁹⁵ tn Heb “in fire its rust.” The meaning of the expression is unclear. The translation understands the statement as a command to burn the rust away. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:768.

[24:13]  ⁴⁹⁶ tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”

[24:13]  ⁴⁹⁷ tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.

[24:13]  ⁴⁹⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”

[24:14]  ⁴⁹⁹ tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:14]  ⁵⁰⁰ tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”

[24:14]  ⁵⁰¹ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”

[24:14]  ⁵⁰² tn Heb “ways.”

[2:4]  ⁵⁰³ tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).

[2:4]  tn Heb “one will lament [with] a lamentation [and] say.”

[2:4]  ⁵⁰⁴ tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”

[2:4]  ⁵⁰⁵ tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[2:4]  ⁵⁰⁶ tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).

[2:4]  tn Heb “to the one turning back he assigns our fields.”

[2:6]  ⁵⁰⁷ tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.

[2:6]  ⁵⁰⁸ tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”

[2:6]  ⁵⁰⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who increases [what is] not his.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe,” “ah”) was used in funeral laments and carries the connotation of death.

[2:6]  ⁵¹⁰ tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.

[2:6]  ⁵¹¹ tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.

[3:23]  ⁵¹² tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[3:23]  ⁵¹³ sn Jesus spoke two parables to demonstrate the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. The first parable (vv. 23-26) teaches that if Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. The second parable (v. 28) about tying up a strong man proves that Jesus does not need to align himself with the devil because Jesus is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (1:12-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 3:29-30). For an explanation of what a parable is, see the note on parables in 4:2.

[4:2]  ⁵¹⁴ sn Though parables can contain a variety of figures of speech (cf. 2:19-22; 3:23-25; 4:3-9, 26-32; 7:15-17; 13:28), many times they are simply stories that attempt to teach spiritual truth (which is unknown to the hearers) by using a comparison with something known to the hearers. In general, parables usually advance a single idea, though there may be many parts and characters in a single parable and subordinate ideas may expand the main idea further. The beauty of using the parable as a teaching device is that it draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.

[4:13]  ⁵¹⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:33]  ⁵¹⁶ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁵¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁵¹⁸ sn The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT (Isa 5:1-7). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24.

[12:1]  ⁵¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:1]  ⁵²⁰ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[12:12]  ⁵²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to introduce a somewhat parenthetical remark by the author.

[12:12]  ⁵²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[12:12]  ⁵²³ sn The point of the parable in Mark 12:1-12 is that the leaders of the nation have been rejected by God and the vineyard (v. 9, referring to the nation and its privileged status) will be taken from them and given to others (an allusion to the Gentiles).

[8:10]  ⁵²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:10]  ⁵²⁵ tn This is an example of a so-called “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[8:10]  ⁵²⁶ tn Grk “it has been given to you to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[8:10]  ⁵²⁷ tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[8:10]  sn The key term secrets (μυστήριον, musthrion) can mean either (1) a new revelation or (2) a revealing interpretation of existing revelation as in Dan 2:17-23, 27-30. Jesus seems to be explaining how current events develop old promises, since the NT consistently links the events of Jesus’ ministry and message with old promises (Rom 1:1-4; Heb 1:1-2). The traditional translation of this word, “mystery,” is misleading to the modern English reader because this English word suggests a secret which people have tried to uncover but which they have failed to understand (L&N 28.77).

[8:10]  ⁵²⁸ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[8:10]  ⁵²⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[12:41]  ⁵³⁰ tn Grk “And Peter.” Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the connection to the preceding statement.

[12:41]  ⁵³¹ sn Is the parable only for disciples (us) or for all humanity (everyone)? Or does Peter mean for disciples (us) or for the crowd (everyone)? The fact that unfaithful slaves are mentioned in v. 46 looks to a warning that includes a broad audience, though it is quality of service that is addressed. This means the parable focuses on those who are associated with Jesus.

[15:3]  ⁵³² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ telling of the parable is in response to the complaints of the Pharisees and experts in the law.

[15:3]  ⁵³³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:3]  ⁵³⁴ sn Them means at the minimum the parable is for the leadership, but probably also for those people Jesus accepted, but the leaders regarded as outcasts.

[15:3]  ⁵³⁵ tn Grk “parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:4]  ⁵³⁶ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[15:4]  ⁵³⁷ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

[15:4]  ⁵³⁸ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

[15:4]  ⁵³⁹ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

[15:4]  ⁵⁴⁰ sn Until he finds it. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

[15:5]  ⁵⁴¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:6]  ⁵⁴² tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:6]  ⁵⁴³ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

[15:6]  ⁵⁴⁴ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.

[15:7]  ⁵⁴⁵ sn There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The pursuit of the sinner is a priority in spite of the presence of others who are doing well (see also Luke 5:32; 19:10). The theme of repentance, a major Lukan theme, is again emphasized.

[15:7]  ⁵⁴⁶ tn Here δικαίοις (dikaioi") is an adjective functioning substantivally and has been translated “righteous people.”

[15:7]  ⁵⁴⁷ tn Or “who do not need to repent”; Grk “who do not have need of repentance.”

[16:25]  ⁵⁴⁸ tn Or “in parables”; or “in metaphors.” There is some difficulty in defining παροιμίαις (paroimiai") precisely: A translation like “parables” does not convey accurately the meaning. BDAG 779-80 s.v. παροιμία suggests in general “proverb, saw, maxim,” but for Johannine usage “veiled saying, figure of speech, in which esp. lofty ideas are concealed.” In the preceding context of the Farewell Discourse, Jesus has certainly used obscure language and imagery at times: John 13:8-11; 13:16; 15:1-17; and 16:21 could all be given as examples. In the LXX this word is used to translate the Hebrew mashal which covers a wide range of figurative speech, often containing obscure or enigmatic elements.

[16:25]  ⁵⁴⁹ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:25]  ⁵⁵⁰ tn Or “inform you.”

[16:25]  ⁵⁵¹ tn Or “openly.”