Kejadian 50:18

50:18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.”

Kejadian 44:9

44:9 If one of us has it, ¹  he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves!”

Kejadian 15:14

15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. ²  Afterward they will come out with many possessions.

Kejadian 44:33

44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers.

Kejadian 44:10

44:10 He replied, “You have suggested your own punishment! ³  The one who has it will become my slave, ⁴  but the rest of ⁵  you will go free.” ⁶ 

Kejadian 30:43

30:43 In this way Jacob ⁷  became extremely prosperous. He owned ⁸  large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

Kejadian 39:17

39:17 This is what she said to him: ⁹  “That Hebrew slave ¹⁰  you brought to us tried to humiliate me, ¹¹ 

Kejadian 49:15

49:15 When he sees ¹²  a good resting place,

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer. ¹³ 

Kejadian 32:16

32:16 He entrusted them to ¹⁴  his servants, who divided them into herds. ¹⁵  He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.”

Kejadian 12:16

12:16 and he did treat Abram well ¹⁶  on account of her. Abram received ¹⁷  sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

Kejadian 15:13

15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain ¹⁸  that your descendants will be strangers ¹⁹  in a foreign country. ²⁰  They will be enslaved and oppressed ²¹  for four hundred years.

Kejadian 32:5

32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent ²²  this message ²³  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Kejadian 44:17

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of ²⁴  you may go back ²⁵  to your father in peace.”

Kejadian 44:16

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ²⁶  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ²⁷  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ²⁸  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

Kejadian 41:12

41:12 Now a young man, a Hebrew, a servant ²⁹  of the captain of the guards, ³⁰  was with us there. We told him our dreams, ³¹  and he interpreted the meaning of each of our respective dreams for us. ³² 

Kejadian 43:18

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ³³  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ³⁴  He wants to capture us, ³⁵  make us slaves, and take ³⁶  our donkeys!”

Kejadian 39:19

39:19 When his master heard his wife say, ³⁷  “This is the way ³⁸  your slave treated me,” ³⁹  he became furious. ⁴⁰ 

Kejadian 9:26

9:26 He also said,

“Worthy of praise is ⁴¹  the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem! ⁴² 

Kejadian 47:19

47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ⁴³  Pharaoh’s slaves. ⁴⁴  Give us seed that we may live ⁴⁵  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ⁴⁶ 

Kejadian 29:24

29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ⁴⁷ 

Kejadian 29:29

29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ⁴⁸ 

Kejadian 30:4

30:4 So Rachel ⁴⁹  gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with ⁵⁰  her.

Kejadian 21:12

21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ⁵¹  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ⁵²  all that Sarah is telling ⁵³  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ⁵⁴ 

Kejadian 21:17

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ⁵⁵  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ⁵⁶  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ⁵⁷  the boy’s voice right where he is crying.

Kejadian 21:15

21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ⁵⁸  the child under one of the shrubs.

Kejadian 21:18

21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Kejadian 21:20

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

Kejadian 37:30

37:30 returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy isn’t there! And I, where can I go?”

Kejadian 9:25

9:25 So he said,

“Cursed ⁵⁹  be Canaan! ⁶⁰ 

The lowest of slaves ⁶¹ 

he will be to his brothers.”

Kejadian 30:10

30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. ⁶² 

Kejadian 30:12

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. ⁶³ 

Kejadian 33:6

33:6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down. ⁶⁴ 

Kejadian 35:25

35:25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

Kejadian 46:23

46:23 The son of Dan: Hushim. ⁶⁵ 

Kejadian 21:16

21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ⁶⁶  away; for she thought, ⁶⁷  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ⁶⁸  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ⁶⁹ 

Kejadian 21:19

21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. ⁷⁰  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

Kejadian 22:5

22:5 So he ⁷¹  said to his servants, “You two stay ⁷²  here with the donkey while ⁷³  the boy and I go up there. We will worship ⁷⁴  and then return to you.” ⁷⁵ 

Kejadian 25:27

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled ⁷⁶  hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. ⁷⁷ 

Kejadian 42:22

42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ⁷⁸ 

Kejadian 42:37

42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may ⁷⁹  put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care ⁸⁰  and I will bring him back to you.”

Kejadian 43:9

43:9 I myself pledge security ⁸¹  for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. ⁸² 

Kejadian 44:30

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ⁸³ 

Kejadian 9:27

9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! ⁸⁴ 

May he live ⁸⁵  in the tents of Shem

and may Canaan be his slave!”

Kejadian 13:5

13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling ⁸⁶  with Abram, also had ⁸⁷  flocks, herds, and tents.

Kejadian 21:13

21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

Kejadian 30:7

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. ⁸⁸ 

Kejadian 24:35

24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. ⁸⁹  The Lord ⁹⁰  has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Kejadian 16:1

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, ⁹¹  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ⁹²  but she had an Egyptian servant ⁹³  named Hagar. ⁹⁴ 

Kejadian 17:24

17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old ⁹⁵  when he was circumcised; ⁹⁶ 

Kejadian 25:12

The Sons of Ishmael

25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, ⁹⁷  whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.

Kejadian 30:3

30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ⁹⁸  her so that she can bear ⁹⁹  children ¹⁰⁰  for me ¹⁰¹  and I can have a family through her.” ¹⁰² 

Kejadian 30:9

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave ¹⁰³  her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.

Kejadian 30:18

30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ¹⁰⁴  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ¹⁰⁵  So she named him Issachar. ¹⁰⁶ 

Kejadian 35:26

35:26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

Kejadian 46:18

46:18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sixteen in all.

Kejadian 21:14

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ¹⁰⁷  some food ¹⁰⁸  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ¹⁰⁹  and sent her away. So she went wandering ¹¹⁰  aimlessly through the wilderness ¹¹¹  of Beer Sheba.

Kejadian 22:12

22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ¹¹²  the angel said. ¹¹³  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ¹¹⁴  that you fear ¹¹⁵  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

Kejadian 39:14

39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought ¹¹⁶  in a Hebrew man ¹¹⁷  to us to humiliate us. ¹¹⁸  He tried to have sex with me, ¹¹⁹  but I screamed loudly. ¹²⁰ 

Kejadian 12:5

12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew ¹²¹  Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired ¹²²  in Haran, and they left for ¹²³  the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

Kejadian 17:12

17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old ¹²⁴  must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants.

Kejadian 20:17

20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children.

Kejadian 21:10

21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ¹²⁵  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

Kejadian 32:22

32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took ¹²⁶  his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons ¹²⁷  and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ¹²⁸ 

Kejadian 33:1-2

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ¹²⁹  and saw that Esau was coming ¹³⁰  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ¹³¹ 

Kejadian 33:14

33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, ¹³²  until I come to my lord at Seir.”

Kejadian 39:1

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. ¹³³  An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, ¹³⁴  purchased him from ¹³⁵  the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

Kejadian 43:8

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. ¹³⁶  Then we will live ¹³⁷  and not die – we and you and our little ones.

Kejadian 44:29

44:29 If you take ¹³⁸  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹³⁹  in tragedy ¹⁴⁰  to the grave.’ ¹⁴¹ 

Kejadian 44:31-32

44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹⁴²  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. 44:32 Indeed, ¹⁴³  your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

Kejadian 44:34

44:34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see ¹⁴⁴  my father’s pain.” ¹⁴⁵ 

Kejadian 16:2

16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ¹⁴⁶  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ¹⁴⁷  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ¹⁴⁸  Abram did what ¹⁴⁹  Sarai told him.

Kejadian 16:5

16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! ¹⁵⁰  I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, ¹⁵¹  but when she realized ¹⁵²  that she was pregnant, she despised me. ¹⁵³  May the Lord judge between you and me!” ¹⁵⁴ 

Kejadian 31:33

31:33 So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. ¹⁵⁵  Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. ¹⁵⁶ 

Kejadian 37:2

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ¹⁵⁷  was taking care of ¹⁵⁸  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ¹⁵⁹  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ¹⁶⁰  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ¹⁶¹  to their father.

Kejadian 48:16

48:16 the Angel ¹⁶²  who has protected me ¹⁶³ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ¹⁶⁴ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

[44:9]  ¹ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found from your servants.” Here “your servants” (a deferential way of referring to the brothers themselves) has been translated by the pronoun “us” to avoid confusion with Joseph’s servants.

[15:14]  ² tn The participle דָּן (dan, from דִּין, din) is used here for the future: “I am judging” = “I will surely judge.” The judgment in this case will be condemnation and punishment. The translation “execute judgment on” implies that the judgment will certainly be carried out.

[44:10]  ³ tn Heb “Also now, according to your words, so it is.” As the next statement indicates, this does mean that he will do exactly as they say. He does agree with them the culprit should be punished, but not as harshly as they suggest. Furthermore, the innocent parties will not be punished.

[44:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found will become my slave.”

[44:10]  ⁵ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:10]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word נָקִי (naqi) means “acquitted,” that is, free of guilt and the responsibility for it.

[44:10]  sn The rest of you will be free. Joseph’s purpose was to single out Benjamin to see if the brothers would abandon him as they had abandoned Joseph. He wanted to see if they had changed.

[30:43]  ⁷ tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[30:43]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there were to him.”

[39:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and she spoke to him according to these words, saying.”

[39:17]  ¹⁰ sn That Hebrew slave. Now, when speaking to her husband, Potiphar’s wife refers to Joseph as a Hebrew slave, a very demeaning description.

[39:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “came to me to make fun of me.” The statement needs no explanation because of the connotations of “came to me” and “to make fun of me.” See the note on the expression “humiliate us” in v. 14.

[49:15]  ¹² tn The verb forms in this verse (“sees,” “will bend,” and “[will] become”) are preterite; they is used in a rhetorical manner, describing the future as if it had already transpired.

[49:15]  ¹³ sn The oracle shows that the tribe of Issachar will be willing to trade liberty for the material things of life. Issachar would work (become a slave laborer) for the Canaanites, a reversal of the oracle on Canaan. See C. M. Carmichael, “Some Sayings in Genesis 49,” JBL 88 (1969): 435-44; and S. Gevirtz, “The Issachar Oracle in the Testament of Jacob,” ErIsr 12 (1975): 104-12.

[32:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he put them in the hand of.”

[32:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a herd, a herd, by itself,” or “each herd by itself.” The distributive sense is expressed by repetition.

[12:16]  ¹⁶ sn He did treat Abram well. The construction of the parenthetical disjunctive clause, beginning with the conjunction on the prepositional phrase, draws attention to the irony of the story. Abram wanted Sarai to lie “so that it would go well” with him. Though he lost Sarai to Pharaoh, it did go well for him – he received a lavish bride price. See also G. W. Coats, “Despoiling the Egyptians,” VT 18 (1968): 450-57.

[12:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and there was to him.”

[15:13]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, with the Qal infinitive absolute followed by the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “know”). The imperfect here has an obligatory or imperatival force.

[15:13]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger, “sojourner, stranger”) is related to the verb גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to stay for awhile”). Abram’s descendants will stay in a land as resident aliens without rights of citizenship.

[15:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”

[15:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “and they will serve them and they will oppress them.” The verb עִנּוּ, (’innu, a Piel form from עָנָה, ’anah, “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly”), is used in Exod 1:11 to describe the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt.

[32:5]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ²⁴ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “up” (reflecting directions from their point of view – “up” to Canaan; “down” to Egypt).

[44:16]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ²⁷ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ²⁸ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[41:12]  ²⁹ tn Or “slave.”

[41:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a servant to the captain of the guards.” On this construction see GKC 419-20 §129.c.

[41:12]  ³¹ tn The words “our dreams” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:12]  ³² tn Heb “and he interpreted for us our dreams, each according to his dream he interpreted.”

[43:18]  ³³ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[43:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

[43:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to roll himself upon us and to cause himself to fall upon us.” The infinitives here indicate the purpose (as viewed by the brothers) for their being brought to Joseph’s house.

[43:18]  ³⁶ tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:19]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying.”

[39:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “according to these words.”

[39:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “did to me.”

[39:19]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “his anger burned.”

[9:26]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “blessed be.”

[9:26]  ⁴² tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:19]  ⁴³ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ⁴⁴ sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ⁴⁵ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ⁴⁶ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.

[29:24]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and Laban gave to her Zilpah his female servant, to Leah his daughter [for] a servant.” This clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.

[29:29]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”

[30:4]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:4]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[21:12]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ⁵² tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ⁵³ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[21:17]  ⁵⁵ sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.

[21:17]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “What to you?”

[21:17]  ⁵⁷ sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.

[21:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.

[9:25]  ⁵⁹ 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]  ⁶⁰ 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]  ⁶¹ 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.

[30:10]  ⁶² tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:12]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[33:6]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “and the female servants drew near, they and their children and they bowed down.”

[46:23]  ⁶⁵ tn This name appears as “Shuham” in Num 26:42. The LXX reads “Hashum” here.

[21:16]  ⁶⁶ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

[21:19]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:5]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[22:5]  ⁷² tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.

[22:5]  ⁷³ tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.

[22:5]  ⁷⁴ tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”

[22:5]  ⁷⁵ sn It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will…return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17-19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.

[25:27]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “knowing.”

[25:27]  ⁷⁷ tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”

[42:22]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “and also his blood, look, it is required.” God requires compensation, as it were, from those who shed innocent blood (see Gen 9:6). In other words, God exacts punishment for the crime of murder.

[42:37]  ⁷⁹ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.

[42:37]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “my hand.”

[43:9]  ⁸¹ tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.

[43:9]  ⁸² sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.

[44:30]  ⁸³ tn Heb “his life is bound up in his life.”

[9:27]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:27]  sn There is a wordplay (paronomasia) on the name Japheth. The verb יַפְתְּ (yaft, “may he enlarge”) sounds like the name יֶפֶת (yefet, “Japheth”). The name itself suggested the idea. The blessing for Japheth extends beyond the son to the descendants. Their numbers and their territories will be enlarged, so much so that they will share in Shem’s territories. Again, in this oracle, Noah is looking beyond his immediate family to future generations. For a helpful study of this passage and the next chapter, see T. O. Figart, A Biblical Perspective on the Race Problem, 55-58.

[9:27]  ⁸⁵ tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).

[13:5]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “was going.”

[13:5]  ⁸⁷ tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.

[30:7]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[24:35]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.

[24:35]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:1]  ⁹¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

[16:1]  ⁹² sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

[16:1]  ⁹³ tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

[16:1]  ⁹⁴ sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)

[17:24]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”

[17:24]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).

[25:12]  ⁹⁷ sn This is the account of Ishmael. The Book of Genesis tends to tidy up the family records at every turning point. Here, before proceeding with the story of Isaac’s family, the narrative traces Ishmael’s family line. Later, before discussing Jacob’s family, the narrative traces Esau’s family line (see Gen 36).

[30:3]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  ⁹⁹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  ¹⁰⁰ tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[30:9]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”

[30:18]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  ¹⁰⁵ tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  sn Leah seems to regard the act of giving her servant Zilpah to her husband as a sacrifice, for which (she believes) God is now rewarding her with the birth of a son.

[30:18]  ¹⁰⁶ sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.

[21:14]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ¹¹¹ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[22:12]  ¹¹² tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:12]  ¹¹⁴ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ¹¹⁵ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[39:14]  ¹¹⁶ tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[39:14]  ¹¹⁷ sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.

[39:14]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.

[39:14]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:14]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”

[12:5]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “the son of his brother.”

[12:5]  ¹²² tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.

[12:5]  ¹²³ tn Heb “went out to go.”

[17:12]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “the son of eight days.”

[21:10]  ¹²⁵ tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.

[32:22]  ¹²⁶ tn Heb “and he arose in that night and he took.” The first verb is adverbial, indicating that he carried out the crossing right away.

[32:22]  ¹²⁷ tn The Hebrew term used here is יֶלֶד (yeled) which typically describes male offspring. Some translations render the term “children” but this is a problem because by this time Jacob had twelve children in all, including one daughter, Dinah, born to Leah (Gen 30:21). Benjamin, his twelfth son and thirteenth child, was not born until later (Gen 35:16-19).

[32:22]  ¹²⁸ sn Hebrew narrative style often includes a summary statement of the whole passage followed by a more detailed report of the event. Here v. 22 is the summary statement, while v. 23 begins the detailed account.

[33:1]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ¹³⁰ tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[33:2]  ¹³¹ sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.

[33:14]  ¹³² tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”

[39:1]  ¹³³ tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.

[39:1]  ¹³⁴ sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.

[39:1]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “from the hand of.”

[43:8]  ¹³⁶ tn Heb “and we will rise up and we will go.” The first verb is adverbial and gives the expression the sense of “we will go immediately.”

[43:8]  ¹³⁷ tn After the preceding cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form (either imperfect or cohortative) with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or result.

[44:29]  ¹³⁸ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

[44:29]  ¹³⁹ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.

[44:29]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

[44:29]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[44:31]  ¹⁴² tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

[44:32]  ¹⁴³ tn Or “for.”

[44:34]  ¹⁴⁴ tn The Hebrew text has “lest I see,” which expresses a negative purpose – “I cannot go up lest I see.”

[44:34]  ¹⁴⁵ tn Heb “the calamity which would find my father.”

[16:2]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ¹⁴⁷ 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]  ¹⁴⁸ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ¹⁴⁹ 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.

[16:5]  ¹⁵⁰ tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”

[16:5]  ¹⁵¹ tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”

[16:5]  ¹⁵² tn Heb “saw.”

[16:5]  ¹⁵³ tn Heb “I was despised in her eyes.” The passive verb has been translated as active for stylistic reasons. Sarai was made to feel supplanted and worthless by Hagar the servant girl.

[16:5]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Heb “me and you.”

[16:5]  sn May the Lord judge between you and me. Sarai blamed Abram for Hagar’s attitude, not the pregnancy. Here she expects to be vindicated by the Lord who will prove Abram responsible. A colloquial rendering might be, “God will get you for this.” It may mean that she thought Abram had encouraged the servant girl in her elevated status.

[31:33]  ¹⁵⁵ tn No direct object is specified for the verb “find” in the Hebrew text. The words “the idols” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[31:33]  ¹⁵⁶ tn Heb “and he went out from the tent of Leah and went into the tent of Rachel.”

[37:2]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

[37:2]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

[37:2]  ¹⁵⁹ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

[37:2]  ¹⁶⁰ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

[37:2]  ¹⁶¹ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.

[37:2]  sn Some interpreters portray Joseph as a tattletale for bringing back a bad report about them [i.e., his brothers], but the entire Joseph story has some of the characteristics of wisdom literature. Joseph is presented in a good light – not because he was perfect, but because the narrative is showing how wisdom rules. In light of that, this section portrays Joseph as faithful to his father in little things, even though unpopular – and so he will eventually be given authority over greater things.

[48:16]  ¹⁶² sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

[48:16]  ¹⁶³ tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

[48:16]  ¹⁶⁴ tn Or “be recalled through them.”