Kejadian 12:18-19

12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this ¹  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 ²  to be my wife? ³  Here is your wife! ⁴  Take her and go!” ⁵ 

Kejadian 18:13

18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why ⁶  did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really ⁷  have a child when I am old?’

Kejadian 25:22

25:22 But the children struggled ⁸  inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” ⁹  So she asked the Lord, ¹⁰ 

Kejadian 31:27

31:27 Why did you run away secretly ¹¹  and deceive me? ¹²  Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? ¹³ 

Kejadian 32:29

32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” ¹⁴  “Why ¹⁵  do you ask my name?” the man replied. ¹⁶  Then he blessed ¹⁷  Jacob ¹⁸  there.

Kejadian 33:15

33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” ¹⁹  “Why do that?” Jacob replied. ²⁰  “My lord has already been kind enough to me.” ²¹ 

[12:18]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.

[12:19]  ³ tn Heb “to me for a wife.”

[12:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look, your wife!”

[12:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “take and go.”

[18:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the Lord’s amazement: “Why on earth did Sarah laugh?”

[18:13]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”

[25:22]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.

[25:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.

[25:22]  ¹⁰ sn Asked the Lord. In other passages (e.g., 1 Sam 9:9) this expression refers to inquiring of a prophet, but no details are provided here.

[31:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Why did you hide in order to flee?” The verb “hide” and the infinitive “to flee” form a hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the other the adverb: “flee secretly.”

[31:27]  ¹² tn Heb “and steal me.”

[31:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “And [why did] you not tell me so I could send you off with joy and with songs, with a tambourine and with a harp?”

[32:29]  ¹⁴ sn Tell me your name. In primitive thought to know the name of a deity or supernatural being would enable one to use it for magical manipulation or power (A. S. Herbert, Genesis 12-50 [TBC], 108). For a thorough structural analysis of the passage discussing the plays on the names and the request of Jacob, see R. Barthes, “The Struggle with the Angel: Textual Analysis of Genesis 32:23-33,” Structural Analysis and Biblical Exegesis (PTMS), 21-33.

[32:29]  ¹⁵ tn The question uses the enclitic pronoun “this” to emphasize the import of the question.

[32:29]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:29]  ¹⁷ tn The verb here means that the Lord endowed Jacob with success; he would be successful in everything he did, including meeting Esau.

[32:29]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:15]  ¹⁹ tn The cohortative verbal form here indicates a polite offer of help.

[33:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why this?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[33:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “I am finding favor in the eyes of my lord.”