Kejadian 37:7

37:7 There we were, ¹  binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down ²  to it!”

Kejadian 9:25

9:25 So he said,

“Cursed ³  be Canaan! ⁴ 

The lowest of slaves ⁵ 

he will be to his brothers.”

Kejadian 33:3

33:3 But Jacob ⁶  himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached ⁷  his brother.

[37:7]  ¹ tn All three clauses in this dream report begin with וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and look”), which lends vividness to the report. This is represented in the translation by the expression “there we were.”

[37:7]  ² tn The verb means “to bow down to the ground.” It is used to describe worship and obeisance to masters.

[9:25]  ³ sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.

[9:25]  ⁴ sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).

[9:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.

[33:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause.