Kejadian 17:17

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ¹  as he said to himself, ²  “Can ³  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁴  Can Sarah ⁵  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ⁶ 

Kejadian 18:2

18:2 Abraham ⁷  looked up ⁸  and saw ⁹  three men standing across ¹⁰  from him. When he saw them ¹¹  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹²  to the ground. ¹³ 

Kejadian 19:1

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ¹⁴  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ¹⁵  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

Kejadian 33:3

33:3 But Jacob ¹⁶  himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached ¹⁷  his brother.

Keluaran 18:7

18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; ¹⁸  they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent.

Bilangan 14:5

14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground ¹⁹  before the whole assembled community ²⁰  of the Israelites.

Yosua 5:14

5:14 He answered, ²¹  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ²²  Now I have arrived!” ²³  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ²⁴  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”

Yosua 7:6

7:6 Joshua tore his clothes; ²⁵  he and the leaders ²⁶  of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening ²⁷  and threw dirt on their heads. ²⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 13:20

13:20 As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Lord’s messenger went up in it ²⁹  while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown ³⁰  to the ground.

Yehezkiel 1:28

1:28 like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds after the rain. ³¹  This was the appearance of the surrounding brilliant light; it looked like the glory of the Lord. When I saw ³²  it, I threw myself face down, and I heard a voice speaking.

Yehezkiel 3:23

3:23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, ³³  and I threw myself face down.

[17:17]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[18:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ¹¹ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ¹² tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ¹³ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[19:1]  ¹⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[19:1]  sn The expression sitting in the city’s gateway may mean that Lot was exercising some type of judicial function (see the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 19:8; Jer 26:10; 38:7; 39:3).

[33:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause.

[18:7]  ¹⁸ sn This is more than polite oriental custom. Jethro was Moses’ benefactor, father-in-law, and a priest. He paid much respect to him. Now he could invite Jethro into his home (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 496).

[14:5]  ¹⁹ sn This action of Moses and Aaron is typical of them in the wilderness with the Israelites. The act shows self-abasement and deference before the sovereign Lord. They are not bowing before the people here, but in front of the people they bow before God. According to Num 17:6-15 this prostration is for the purpose of intercessory prayer. Here it prevents immediate wrath from God.

[14:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “before all the assembly of the congregation.”

[5:14]  ²¹ tc Heb “He said, “Neither.” An alternative reading is לוֹ (lo, “[He said] to him”; cf. NEB). This reading is supported by many Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX and Syriac versions. The traditional reading of the MT (לֹא, lo’, “no, neither”) is probably the product of aural confusion (the two variant readings sound the same in Hebrew). Although followed by a number of modern translations (cf. NIV, NRSV), this reading is problematic, for the commander of the Lord’s army would hardly have declared himself neutral.

[5:14]  ²² sn The Lord’s heavenly army, like an earthly army, has a commander who leads the troops. For the phrase שַׂר־צְבָא (sar-tsÿva’, “army commander”) in the human sphere, see among many other references Gen 21:22, 32; 26:26; Judg 4:2, 7; 1 Sam 12:9.

[5:14]  ²³ sn The commander’s appearance seems to be for Joshua’s encouragement. Joshua could now lead Israel into battle knowing that the Lord’s invisible army would ensure victory.

[5:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down.”

[7:6]  ²⁵ sn Tearing one’s clothes was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Gen 37:34; 44:13).

[7:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “elders.”

[7:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and fell on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel.”

[7:6]  ²⁸ sn Throwing dirt on one’s head was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Lam 2:10; Ezek 27:30).

[13:20]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in the flame from the altar.”

[13:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “on their faces.”

[1:28]  ³¹ sn Reference to the glowing substance and the brilliant light and storm phenomena in vv. 27-28a echoes in reverse order the occurrence of these phenomena in v. 4.

[1:28]  ³² tn The vision closes with the repetition of the verb “I saw” from the beginning of the vision in 1:4.

[3:23]  ³³ tn Or “canal.”