Kejadian 16:2

16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ¹  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ²  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ³  Abram did what ⁴  Sarai told him.

Kejadian 32:5

32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent ⁵  this message ⁶  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Kejadian 39:4

39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ⁷  Potiphar appointed Joseph ⁸  overseer of his household and put him in charge ⁹  of everything he owned.

[16:2]  ¹ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ² tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

[16:2]  sn The Hebrew expression translated have sexual relations with does not convey the intimacy of other expressions, such as “so and so knew his wife.” Sarai simply sees this as the social custom of having a child through a surrogate. For further discussion see C. F. Fensham, “The Son of a Handmaid in Northwest Semitic,” VT 19 (1969): 312-21.

[16:2]  ³ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[16:2]  sn Abram did what Sarai told him. This expression was first used in Gen 3:17 of Adam’s obeying his wife. In both cases the text highlights weak faith and how it jeopardized the plan of God.

[32:5]  ⁵ tn Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.

[32:5]  ⁶ tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:4]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.

[39:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “put into his hand.”