Kejadian 17:1-27

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, ¹  the Lord appeared to him and said, ²  “I am the sovereign God. ³  Walk ⁴  before me ⁵  and be blameless. ⁶  17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant ⁷  between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” ⁸ 

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, ⁹  and God said to him, ¹⁰  17:4 “As for me, ¹¹  this ¹²  is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be ¹³  Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham ¹⁴  because I will make you ¹⁵  the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you ¹⁶  extremely ¹⁷  fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ¹⁸  17:7 I will confirm ¹⁹  my covenant as a perpetual ²⁰  covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ²¹  17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing ²²  – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent ²³  possession. I will be their God.”

17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep ²⁴  the covenantal requirement ²⁵  I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: ²⁶  Every male among you must be circumcised. ²⁷  17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder ²⁸  of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old ²⁹  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, ³⁰  whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant ³¹  will be visible in your flesh as a permanent ³²  reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male ³³  who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off ³⁴  from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” ³⁵ 

17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; ³⁶  Sarah ³⁷  will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ³⁸  Kings of countries ³⁹  will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ⁴⁰  as he said to himself, ⁴¹  “Can ⁴²  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁴³  Can Sarah ⁴⁴  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁴⁵  17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that ⁴⁶  Ishmael might live before you!” ⁴⁷ 

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ⁴⁸  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ⁴⁹  covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ⁵⁰  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ⁵¹  He will become the father of twelve princes; ⁵²  I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. ⁵³ 

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ⁵⁴  and circumcised them ⁵⁵  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁵⁶  when he was circumcised; ⁵⁷  17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old ⁵⁸  when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Kejadian 13:5

13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling ⁵⁹  with Abram, also had ⁶⁰  flocks, herds, and tents.

Kejadian 33:2-3

33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ⁶¹  33:3 But Jacob ⁶²  himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached ⁶³  his brother.

Kejadian 13:14-15

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ⁶⁴  “Look ⁶⁵  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 ⁶⁶  forever.

Kejadian 15:18

15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant ⁶⁷  with Abram: “To your descendants I give ⁶⁸  this land, from the river of Egypt ⁶⁹  to the great river, the Euphrates River –

Bilangan 13:19

13:19 and whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or fortified cities,

Bilangan 13:27

13:27 They told Moses, ⁷⁰  “We went to the land where you sent us. ⁷¹  It is indeed flowing with milk and honey, ⁷²  and this is its fruit.

Bilangan 14:7-8

14:7 They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly ⁷³  good land. 14:8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey. ⁷⁴ 

Ulangan 1:7

1:7 Get up now, ⁷⁵  resume your journey, heading for ⁷⁶  the Amorite hill country, to all its areas ⁷⁷  including the arid country, ⁷⁸  the highlands, the Shephelah, ⁷⁹  the Negev, ⁸⁰  and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates.

Ulangan 1:25

1:25 Then they took ⁸¹  some of the produce of the land and carried it back down to us. They also brought a report to us, saying, “The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.”

Ulangan 8:7-9

8:7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, ⁸²  springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8:8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 8:9 a land where you may eat food ⁸³  in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron ⁸⁴  and from whose hills you can mine copper.

Ulangan 11:9-24

11:9 and that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors ⁸⁵  and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 11:10 For the land where you are headed ⁸⁶  is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand ⁸⁷  like a vegetable garden. 11:11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy ⁸⁸  is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, ⁸⁹  11:12 a land the Lord your God looks after. ⁹⁰  He is constantly attentive to it ⁹¹  from the beginning to the end of the year. ⁹²  11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ⁹³  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ⁹⁴  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ⁹⁵  11:14 then he promises, ⁹⁶  “I will send rain for your land ⁹⁷  in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, ⁹⁸  so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 11:15 I will provide pasture ⁹⁹  for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”

Exhortation to Instruction and Obedience

11:16 Make sure you do not turn away to serve and worship other gods! ¹⁰⁰  11:17 Then the anger of the Lord will erupt ¹⁰¹  against you and he will close up the sky ¹⁰²  so that it does not rain. The land will not yield its produce, and you will soon be removed ¹⁰³  from the good land that the Lord ¹⁰⁴  is about to give you. 11:18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, ¹⁰⁵  and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols ¹⁰⁶  on your forehead. 11:19 Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, ¹⁰⁷  as you lie down, and as you get up. 11:20 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates 11:21 so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land which the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself. ¹⁰⁸  11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments ¹⁰⁹  I am giving you ¹¹⁰  and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, ¹¹¹  and remain loyal to him, 11:23 then he ¹¹²  will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. 11:24 Every place you set your foot ¹¹³  will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹⁴ 

Ulangan 26:9-15

26:9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 26:10 So now, look! I have brought the first of the ground’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it down before the Lord your God and worship before him. ¹¹⁵  26:11 You will celebrate all the good things that the Lord your God has given you and your family, ¹¹⁶  along with the Levites and the resident foreigners among you.

Presentation of the Third-year Tithe

26:12 When you finish tithing all ¹¹⁷  your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows ¹¹⁸  so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. ¹¹⁹  26:13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering ¹²⁰  from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. ¹²¹  I have not violated or forgotten your commandments. 26:14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; ¹²²  I have obeyed you ¹²³  and have done everything you have commanded me. 26:15 Look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors – a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Ulangan 27:3

27:3 Then you must inscribe on them all the words of this law when you cross over, so that you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ¹²⁴  said to you.

Ulangan 28:11

28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, ¹²⁵  the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he ¹²⁶  promised your ancestors ¹²⁷  he would give you.

Nehemia 9:22-25

9:22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. ¹²⁸  They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon ¹²⁹  and the land of King Og of Bashan. 9:23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess. 9:24 Their descendants ¹³⁰  entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were the inhabitants of the land. You delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with as they pleased. 9:25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things – wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full ¹³¹  and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.

Yeremia 2:7

2:7 I brought you ¹³²  into a fertile land

so you could enjoy ¹³³  its fruits and its rich bounty.

But when you entered my land, you defiled it; ¹³⁴ 

you made the land I call my own ¹³⁵  loathsome to me.

Yeremia 11:5

11:5 Then I will keep the promise I swore on oath to your ancestors to give them a land flowing with milk and honey.” ¹³⁶  That is the very land that you still live in today.’” ¹³⁷  And I responded, “Amen! Let it be so, ¹³⁸  Lord!”

Yeremia 32:22

32:22 You kept the promise that you swore on oath to their ancestors. ¹³⁹  You gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁴⁰ 

Yehezkiel 20:6

20:6 On that day I swore ¹⁴¹  to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out ¹⁴²  for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, ¹⁴³  the most beautiful of all lands.

[17:1]  ¹ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:1]  ² tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[17:1]  ³ 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 (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the LXX, and Syriac) as the one who provides abundant blessings, including “blessings of the breast and womb” (49:25). (The direct association of the name with “breasts” suggests the name might mean “the one of the breast” [i.e., the one who gives fertility], but the juxtaposition is probably better explained as wordplay. Note the wordplay involving the name and the root שָׁדַד, shadad, “destroy”] in Isa 13:6 and in Joel 1:15.) Outside Genesis the name Shaddai (minus the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14; Isa 13:6; and Joel 1:15 Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. (In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.) Finally, the name occurs 31 times in the Book of Job. Job and his “friends” assume that Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world (11:7; 37:23a) who is the source of life (33:4b) and is responsible for maintaining justice (8:3; 34:10-12; 37:23b). He provides abundant blessings, including children (22:17-18; 29:4-6), but he can also discipline, punish, and destroy (5:17; 6:4; 21:20; 23:16). It is not surprising to see the name so often in this book, where the theme of God’s justice is primary and even called into question (24:1; 27:2). The most likely proposal is that the name means “God, the one of the mountain” (an Akkadian cognate means “mountain,” to which the Hebrew שַׁד, shad, “breast”] is probably related). For a discussion of proposed derivations see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 70-71. The name may originally have depicted God as the sovereign judge who, in Canaanite style, ruled from a sacred mountain. Isa 14:13 and Ezek 28:14, 16 associate such a mountain with God, while Ps 48:2 refers to Zion as “Zaphon,” the Canaanite Olympus from which the high god El ruled. (In Isa 14 the Canaanite god El may be in view. Note that Isaiah pictures pagan kings as taunting the king of Babylon, suggesting that pagan mythology may provide the background for the language and imagery.)

[17:1]  ⁴ tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”

[17:1]  ⁵ tn Or “in my presence.”

[17:1]  ⁶ tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the Lord, then the second imperative is likely sequential. (2) But if it has a positive moral connotation (“serve me faithfully”), then the second imperative probably indicates purpose (or result). For other uses of the idiom see 1 Sam 2:30, 35 and 12:2 (where it occurs twice).

[17:2]  ⁷ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the Lord will ratify the covenant. Earlier the Lord ratified part of his promise to Abram (see Gen 15:18-21), guaranteeing him that his descendants would live in the land. But the expanded form of the promise, which includes numerous descendants and eternal possession of the land, remains to be ratified. This expanded form of the promise is in view here (see vv. 2b, 4-8). See the note at Gen 15:18 and R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[17:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.

[17:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I.”

[17:4]  ¹² tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).

[17:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “will your name be called.”

[17:5]  ¹⁴ sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.

[17:5]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.

[17:6]  ¹⁶ tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.

[17:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”

[17:7]  ¹⁹ tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).

[17:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”

[17:8]  ²² tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.

[17:8]  ²³ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:9]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.

[17:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.

[17:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”

[17:10]  ²⁷ sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.

[17:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “sign.”

[17:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the son of eight days.”

[17:13]  ³⁰ tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.

[17:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:13]  ³² tn Or “an eternal.”

[17:14]  ³³ tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.

[17:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:14]  sn The meaning of “cut off” has been discussed at great length. An entire tractate in the Mishnah is devoted to this subject (tractate Keritot). Being ostracized from the community is involved at the least, but it is not certain whether this refers to the death penalty.

[17:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.

[17:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”

[17:15]  ³⁷ sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.

[17:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “peoples.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁰ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

[17:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ⁴² tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁴ sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

[17:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁶ tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “live with your blessing.”

[17:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[17:20]  ⁵⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ⁵² tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[17:22]  ⁵³ tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:22]  sn God went up from him. The text draws attention to God’s dramatic exit and in so doing brings full closure to the scene.

[17:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

[17:23]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[17:25]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”

[13:5]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “was going.”

[13:5]  ⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.

[33:2]  ⁶¹ sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.

[33:3]  ⁶² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:3]  ⁶³ tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause.

[13:14]  ⁶⁴ 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]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”

[15:18]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[15:18]  ⁶⁸ tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).

[15:18]  sn To your descendants I give this land. The Lord here unconditionally promises that Abram’s descendants will possess the land, but he does not yet ratify his earlier promises to give Abram a multitude of descendants and eternal possession of the land. The fulfillment of those aspects of the promise remain conditional (see Gen 17:1-8) and are ratified after Abraham offers up his son Isaac (see Gen 22:1-19). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 35-54.

[15:18]  ⁶⁹ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.

[13:27]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “told him and said.” The referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:27]  ⁷¹ tn The relative clause modifies “the land.” It is constructed with the relative and the verb: “where you sent us.”

[13:27]  ⁷² sn This is the common expression for the material abundance of the land (see further, F. C. Fensham, “An Ancient Tradition of the Fertility of Palestine,” PEQ 98 [1966]: 166-67).

[14:7]  ⁷³ tn The repetition of the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od) is used to express this: “very, very [good].”

[14:8]  ⁷⁴ tn The subjective genitives “milk and honey” are symbols of the wealth of the land, second only to bread. Milk was a sign of such abundance (Gen 49:12; Isa 7:21,22). Because of the climate the milk would thicken quickly and become curds, eaten with bread or turned into butter. The honey mentioned here is the wild honey (see Deut 32:13; Judg 14:8-9). It signified sweetness, or the finer things of life (Ezek 3:3).

[1:7]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “turn”; NAB “Leave here”; NIV, TEV “Break camp.”

[1:7]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “go (to).”

[1:7]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “its dwelling places.”

[1:7]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “the Arabah” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:7]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “lowlands” (so TEV) or “steppes”; NIV, CEV, NLT “the western foothills.”

[1:7]  sn The Shephelah is the geographical region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the Judean hill country.

[1:7]  ⁸⁰ sn The Hebrew term Negev means literally “desert” or “south” (so KJV, ASV). It refers to the area south of Beer Sheba and generally west of the Arabah Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.

[1:25]  ⁸¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “in their hand,” which is unnecessary and somewhat redundant in English style.

[8:7]  ⁸² tn Or “wadis.”

[8:9]  ⁸³ tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[8:9]  ⁸⁴ sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area.

[11:9]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 21).

[11:10]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “you are going there to possess it”; NASB “into which you are about to cross to possess it”; NRSV “that you are crossing over to occupy.”

[11:10]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “with your foot” (so NASB, NLT). There is a two-fold significance to this phrase. First, Egypt had no rain so water supply depended on human efforts at irrigation. Second, the Nile was the source of irrigation waters but those waters sometimes had to be pumped into fields and gardens by foot-power, perhaps the kind of machinery (Arabic shaduf) still used by Egyptian farmers (see C. Aldred, The Egyptians, 181). Nevertheless, the translation uses “by hand,” since that expression is the more common English idiom for an activity performed by manual labor.

[11:11]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “which you are crossing over there to possess it.”

[11:11]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “rain of heaven.”

[11:12]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “seeks.” The statement reflects the ancient belief that God (Baal in Canaanite thinking) directly controlled storms and rainfall.

[11:12]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “always on it.”

[11:12]  sn Constantly attentive to it. This attention to the land by the Lord is understandable in light of the centrality of the land in the Abrahamic covenant (cf. Gen 12:1, 7; 13:15; 15:7, 16, 18; 17:8; 26:3).

[11:12]  ⁹² sn From the beginning to the end of the year. This refers to the agricultural year that was marked by the onset of the heavy rains, thus the autumn. See note on the phrase “the former and the latter rains” in v. 14.

[11:13]  ⁹³ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ⁹⁴ tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[11:14]  ⁹⁶ tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.

[11:14]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.

[11:14]  ⁹⁸ sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.

[11:15]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “grass in your field.”

[11:16]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “Watch yourselves lest your heart turns and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.”

[11:17]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “will become hot”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “will be kindled”; NAB “will flare up”; NIV, NLT “will burn.”

[11:17]  ¹⁰² tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[11:17]  ¹⁰³ tn Or “be destroyed”; NAB, NIV “will soon perish.”

[11:17]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 11:4.

[11:18]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[11:18]  ¹⁰⁶ tn On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.

[11:19]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”

[11:21]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.

[11:22]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.

[11:22]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “commanding you to do it.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation and “to do it” has been left untranslated.

[11:22]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”

[11:23]  ¹¹² tn Heb “the Lord.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[11:24]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “the sole of your foot walks.” The placing of the foot symbolizes conquest and dominion, especially on land or on the necks of enemies (cf. Deut 1:36; Ps 7:13; Isa 63:3 Hab 3:19; Zech 9:13). See E. H. Merrill, NIDOTTE 1:992.

[11:24]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation. Cf. ASV “the hinder sea.”

[26:10]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.

[26:11]  ¹¹⁶ tn Or “household” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); Heb “house” (so KJV, NRSV).

[26:12]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb includes “the tithes of.” This has not been included in the translation to avoid redundancy.

[26:12]  ¹¹⁸ tn The terms “Levite, resident foreigner, orphan, and widow” are collective singulars in the Hebrew text (also in v. 13).

[26:12]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “gates.”

[26:13]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “the sacred thing.” The term הַקֹּדֶשׁ (haqqodesh) likely refers to an offering normally set apart for the Lord but, as a third-year tithe, given on this occasion to people in need. Sometimes this is translated as “the sacred portion” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV), but that could sound to a modern reader as if a part of the house were being removed and given away.

[26:13]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “according to all your commandment that you commanded me.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:14]  ¹²² sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.

[26:14]  ¹²³ tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.

[27:3]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[28:11]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”

[28:11]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:11]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).

[9:22]  ¹²⁸ tn The words “of the land” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:22]  ¹²⁹ tc Most Hebrew MSS read “the land of Sihon and the land of the king of Heshbon.” The present translation (along with NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT) follows the reading of one Hebrew MS, the LXX, and the Vulgate.

[9:24]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “the sons.”

[9:25]  ¹³¹ tn Heb “they ate and were sated.” This expression is a hendiadys. The first verb retains its full verbal sense, while the second functions adverbially: “they ate and were filled” = “they ate until they were full.”

[2:7]  ¹³² sn Note how contemporary Israel is again identified with her early ancestors. See the study note on 2:2.

[2:7]  ¹³³ tn Heb “eat.”

[2:7]  ¹³⁴ sn I.e., made it ceremonially unclean. See Lev 18:19-30; Num 35:34; Deut 21:23.

[2:7]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “my inheritance.” Or “the land [i.e., inheritance] I gave you,” reading the pronoun as indicating source rather than possession. The parallelism and the common use in Jeremiah of the term to refer to the land or people as the Lord’s (e.g., 12:7, 8, 9; 16:18; 50:11) make the possessive use more likely here.

[2:7]  sn The land belonged to the Lord; it was given to the Israelites in trust (or usufruct) as their heritage. See Lev 25:23.

[11:5]  ¹³⁶ tn The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” is very familiar to readers in the Jewish and Christian traditions as a proverbial description of the agricultural and pastoral abundance of the land of Israel. However, it may not mean too much to readers outside those traditions; an equivalent expression would be “a land of fertile fields and fine pastures.” E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, 626) identifies this as a figure of speech called synecdoche where the species is put for the genus, “a region…abounding with pasture and fruits of all kinds.”

[11:5]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as at this day.” However, the literal reading is too elliptical and would lead to confusion.

[11:5]  ¹³⁸ tn The words “Let it be so” are not in the text; they are an explanation of the significance of the term “Amen” for those who may not be part of the Christian or Jewish tradition.

[11:5]  sn The word amen is found at the end of each of the curses in Deut 27 where the people express their agreement with the appropriateness of the curse for the offense mentioned.

[32:22]  ¹³⁹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[32:22]  ¹⁴⁰ tn For an alternative translation of the expression “a land flowing with milk and honey” see the translator’s note on 11:5.

[20:6]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand to them.”

[20:6]  ¹⁴² tn Or “searched out.” The Hebrew word is used to describe the activity of the spies in “spying out” the land of Canaan (Num 13-14); cf. KJV “I had espied for them.”

[20:6]  ¹⁴³ sn The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey,” a figure of speech describing the land’s abundant fertility, occurs in v. 15 as well as Exod 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27; Deut 6:3; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Josh 5:6; Jer 11:5; 32:23 (see also Deut 1:25; 8:7-9).