Kejadian 11:4

11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ¹  so that ²  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ³  we will be scattered ⁴  across the face of the entire earth.”

Kejadian 14:10

14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. ⁵  When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, ⁶  but some survivors ⁷  fled to the hills. ⁸ 

Kejadian 14:24

14:24 I will take nothing ⁹  except compensation for what the young men have eaten. ¹⁰  As for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”

Kejadian 19:4

19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, ¹¹  all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. ¹² 

Kejadian 25:6

25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines ¹³  and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. ¹⁴ 

Kejadian 31:53-54

31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ¹⁵  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ¹⁶  31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice ¹⁷  on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. ¹⁸  They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

Kejadian 42:6

42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. ¹⁹  Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down ²⁰  before him with ²¹  their faces to the ground.

Kejadian 47:14

47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ²²  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ²³ 

Kejadian 47:20

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ²⁴  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ²⁵  So the land became Pharaoh’s.

Kejadian 47:30

47:30 but when I rest ²⁶  with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph ²⁷  said, “I will do as you say.”

[11:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

[11:4]  ⁴ 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.

[14:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Now the Valley of Siddim [was] pits, pits of tar.” This parenthetical disjunctive clause emphasizes the abundance of tar pits in the area through repetition of the noun “pits.”

[14:10]  sn The word for “tar” (or “bitumen”) occurs earlier in the story of the building of the tower in Babylon (see Gen 11:3).

[14:10]  ⁶ tn Or “they were defeated there.” After a verb of motion the Hebrew particle שָׁם (sham) with the directional heh (שָׁמָּה, shammah) can mean “into it, therein” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָׁם).

[14:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “the rest.”

[14:10]  ⁸ sn The reference to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah must mean the kings along with their armies. Most of them were defeated in the valley, but some of them escaped to the hills.

[14:24]  ⁹ tn The words “I will take nothing” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “except only what the young men have eaten.”

[19:4]  ¹¹ tn The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) means “to lie down, to recline,” that is, “to go to bed.” Here what appears to be an imperfect is a preterite after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem). The nuance of potential (perfect) fits well.

[19:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young to the old, all the people from the end [of the city].” The repetition of the phrase “men of” stresses all kinds of men.

[25:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”

[25:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”

[31:53]  ¹⁵ tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.

[31:53]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.

[31:54]  ¹⁷ tn The construction is a cognate accusative with the verb, expressing a specific sacrifice.

[31:54]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “bread, food.” Presumably this was a type of peace offering, where the person bringing the offering ate the animal being sacrificed.

[42:6]  ¹⁹ tn The disjunctive clause either introduces a new episode in the unfolding drama or provides the reader with supplemental information necessary to understanding the story.

[42:6]  ²⁰ sn Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Here is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (see Gen 37). But it is not the complete fulfillment, since all his brothers and his parents must come. The point of the dream, of course, was not simply to get the family to bow to Joseph, but that Joseph would be placed in a position of rule and authority to save the family and the world (41:57).

[42:6]  ²¹ tn The word “faces” is an adverbial accusative, so the preposition has been supplied in the translation.

[47:14]  ²² tn Or “in exchange.” On the use of the preposition here see BDB 90 s.v. בְּ.

[47:14]  ²³ tn Heb “house.”

[47:20]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text connects this clause with the preceding one with a causal particle (כִּי, ki). The translation divides the clauses into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[47:20]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “upon them.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[47:30]  ²⁶ tn Heb “lie down.” Here the expression “lie down” refers to death.

[47:30]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.