Kejadian 6:5
Konteks6:5 But the Lord saw 1 that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination 2 of the thoughts 3 of their minds 4 was only evil 5 all the time. 6
Kejadian 6:1
Konteks6:1 When humankind 7 began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born 8 to them, 9
Kejadian 6:1--23:20
Konteks6:1 When humankind 10 began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born 11 to them, 12 6:2 the sons of God 13 saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 6:3 So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in 14 humankind indefinitely, 15 since 16 they 17 are mortal. 18 They 19 will remain for 120 more years.” 20
6:4 The Nephilim 21 were on the earth in those days (and also after this) 22 when the sons of God were having sexual relations with 23 the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. 24 They were the mighty heroes 25 of old, the famous men. 26
6:5 But the Lord saw 27 that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination 28 of the thoughts 29 of their minds 30 was only evil 31 all the time. 32 6:6 The Lord regretted 33 that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. 34 6:7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, 35 including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”
6:8 But 36 Noah found favor 37 in the sight of 38 the Lord.
6:9 This is the account of Noah. 39
Noah was a godly man; he was blameless 40
among his contemporaries. 41 He 42 walked with 43 God. 6:10 Noah had 44 three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11 The earth was ruined 45 in the sight of 46 God; the earth was filled with violence. 47 6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed 48 it was ruined, 49 for all living creatures 50 on the earth were sinful. 51 6:13 So God said 52 to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, 53 for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy 54 them and the earth. 6:14 Make 55 for yourself an ark of cypress 56 wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover 57 it with pitch inside and out. 6:15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 58 6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches 59 from the top. 60 Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks. 6:17 I am about to bring 61 floodwaters 62 on the earth to destroy 63 from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. 64 Everything that is on the earth will die, 6:18 but I will confirm 65 my covenant with you. You will enter 66 the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 6:19 You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, 67 male and female, to keep them alive 68 with you. 6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. 69 6:21 And you must take 70 for yourself every kind of food 71 that is eaten, 72 and gather it together. 73 It will be food for you and for them.
6:22 And Noah did all 74 that God commanded him – he did indeed. 75
7:1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. 76 7:2 You must take with you seven 77 of every kind of clean animal, 78 the male and its mate, 79 two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also seven 80 of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, 81 to preserve their offspring 82 on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in seven days 83 I will cause it to rain 84 on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”
7:5 And Noah did all 85 that the Lord commanded him.
7:6 Noah 86 was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed 87 the earth. 7:7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because 88 of the floodwaters. 7:8 Pairs 89 of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, 7:9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, 90 just as God had commanded him. 91 7:10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 92
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep 93 burst open and the floodgates of the heavens 94 were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell 95 on the earth forty days and forty nights.
7:13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives. 96 7:14 They entered, 97 along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. 98 7:15 Pairs 99 of all creatures 100 that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 7:16 Those that entered were male and female, 101 just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
7:17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed 102 the earth, and the ark floated 103 on the surface of the waters. 7:19 The waters completely inundated 104 the earth so that even 105 all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 7:20 The waters rose more than twenty feet 106 above the mountains. 107 7:21 And all living things 108 that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 7:22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life 109 in its nostrils died. 7:23 So the Lord 110 destroyed 111 every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. 112 They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 113 7:24 The waters prevailed over 114 the earth for 150 days.
8:1 But God remembered 115 Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over 116 the earth and the waters receded. 8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, 117 and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 8:3 The waters kept receding steadily 118 from the earth, so that they 119 had gone down 120 by the end of the 150 days. 8:4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. 121 8:5 The waters kept on receding 122 until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. 123
8:6 At the end of forty days, 124 Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 125 8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying 126 back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.
8:8 Then Noah 127 sent out a dove 128 to see if the waters had receded 129 from the surface of the ground. 8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered 130 the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah 131 in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, 132 and brought it back into the ark. 133 8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 8:11 When 134 the dove returned to him in the evening, there was 135 a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, 136 but it did not return to him this time. 137
8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, 138 in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that 139 the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth 140 was dry.
8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out 141 every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase 142 and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” 143
8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.
8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 144 8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma 145 and said 146 to himself, 147 “I will never again curse 148 the ground because of humankind, even though 149 the inclination of their minds 150 is evil from childhood on. 151 I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, 152
planting time 153 and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night will not cease.”
9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. 154 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 155 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 156 As I gave you 157 the green plants, I now give 158 you everything.
9:4 But 159 you must not eat meat 160 with its life (that is, 161 its blood) in it. 162 9:5 For your lifeblood 163 I will surely exact punishment, 164 from 165 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 166 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 167 since the man was his relative. 168
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 169
by other humans 170
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 171
God 172 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 173 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 174 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 175 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 176 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. 177 9:11 I confirm 178 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 179 be wiped out 180 by the waters of a flood; 181 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 182 of the covenant I am making 183 with you 184 and every living creature with you, a covenant 185 for all subsequent 186 generations: 9:13 I will place 187 my rainbow 188 in the clouds, and it will become 189 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 190 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 191 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 192 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 193 all living things. 194 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 195 the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”
9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things 196 that are on the earth.”
9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 197 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 198
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, 199 began to plant a vineyard. 200 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself 201 inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 202 saw his father’s nakedness 203 and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 204 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 205 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 206 he learned 207 what his youngest son had done 208 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 211
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 212 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 213
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 214
May he live 215 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 9:29 The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.
10:1 This is the account 216 of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons 217 were born 218 to them after the flood.
10:2 The sons of Japheth 219 were Gomer, 220 Magog, 221 Madai, 222 Javan, 223 Tubal, 224 Meshech, 225 and Tiras. 226 10:3 The sons of Gomer were 227 Askenaz, 228 Riphath, 229 and Togarmah. 230 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, 231 Tarshish, 232 the Kittim, 233 and the Dodanim. 234 10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.
10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, 235 Mizraim, 236 Put, 237 and Canaan. 238 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, 239 Havilah, 240 Sabtah, 241 Raamah, 242 and Sabteca. 243 The sons of Raamah were Sheba 244 and Dedan. 245
10:8 Cush was the father of 246 Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter 247 before the Lord. 248 (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10:10 The primary regions 249 of his kingdom were Babel, 250 Erech, 251 Akkad, 252 and Calneh 253 in the land of Shinar. 254 10:11 From that land he went 255 to Assyria, 256 where he built Nineveh, 257 Rehoboth-Ir, 258 Calah, 259 10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 260
10:13 Mizraim 261 was the father of 262 the Ludites, 263 Anamites, 264 Lehabites, 265 Naphtuhites, 266 10:14 Pathrusites, 267 Casluhites 268 (from whom the Philistines came), 269 and Caphtorites. 270
10:15 Canaan was the father of 271 Sidon his firstborn, 272 Heth, 273 10:16 the Jebusites, 274 Amorites, 275 Girgashites, 276 10:17 Hivites, 277 Arkites, 278 Sinites, 279 10:18 Arvadites, 280 Zemarites, 281 and Hamathites. 282 Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended 283 from Sidon 284 all the way to 285 Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to 286 Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.
10:21 And sons were also born 287 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 288 the father of all the sons of Eber.
10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, 289 Asshur, 290 Arphaxad, 291 Lud, 292 and Aram. 293 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 294 10:24 Arphaxad was the father of 295 Shelah, 296 and Shelah was the father of Eber. 297 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, 298 and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of 299 Almodad, 300 Sheleph, 301 Hazarmaveth, 302 Jerah, 303 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, 304 Diklah, 305 10:28 Obal, 306 Abimael, 307 Sheba, 308 10:29 Ophir, 309 Havilah, 310 and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to 311 Sephar in the eastern hills. 10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.
10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread 312 over the earth after the flood.
11:1 The whole earth 313 had a common language and a common vocabulary. 314 11:2 When the people 315 moved eastward, 316 they found a plain in Shinar 317 and settled there. 11:3 Then they said to one another, 318 “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” 319 (They had brick instead of stone and tar 320 instead of mortar.) 321 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens 322 so that 323 we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise 324 we will be scattered 325 across the face of the entire earth.”
11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people 326 had started 327 building. 11:6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language 328 they have begun to do this, then 329 nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 330 11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse 331 their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” 332
11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building 333 the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called 334 Babel 335 – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
11:10 This is the account of Shem.
Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11:11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other 336 sons and daughters.
11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other 337 sons and daughters. 338
11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other 339 sons and daughters.
11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
11:27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, 340 while his father Terah was still alive. 341 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, 342 and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; 343 she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 The lifetime 344 of Terah was 205 years, and he 345 died in Haran.
12:1 Now the Lord said 346 to Abram, 347
“Go out 348 from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you. 349
12:2 Then I will make you 350 into a great nation, and I will bless you, 351
and I will make your name great, 352
so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 353
12:3 I will bless those who bless you, 354
but the one who treats you lightly 355 I must curse,
and all the families of the earth will bless one another 356 by your name.”
12:4 So Abram left, 357 just as the Lord had told him to do, 358 and Lot went with him. (Now 359 Abram was 75 years old 360 when he departed from Haran.) 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew 361 Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired 362 in Haran, and they left for 363 the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.
12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree 364 of Moreh 365 at Shechem. 366 (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 367 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants 368 I will give this land.” So Abram 369 built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel 370 and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. 371 12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages 372 down to the Negev. 373
12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt 374 to stay for a while 375 because the famine was severe. 376 12:11 As he approached 377 Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, 378 I know that you are a beautiful woman. 379 12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. 380 12:13 So tell them 381 you are my sister 382 so that it may go well 383 for me because of you and my life will be spared 384 on account of you.”
12:14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife 385 was taken 386 into the household of Pharaoh, 387 12:16 and he did treat Abram well 388 on account of her. Abram received 389 sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases 390 because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this 391 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 392 to be my wife? 393 Here is your wife! 394 Take her and go!” 395 12:20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, 396 and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.
13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 397 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 398 13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy 399 in livestock, silver, and gold.) 400
13:3 And he journeyed from place to place 401 from the Negev as far as Bethel. 402 He returned 403 to the place where he had pitched his tent 404 at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, 405 and there Abram worshiped the Lord. 406
13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling 407 with Abram, also had 408 flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could 409 not support them while they were living side by side. 410 Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live 411 alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels 412 between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. 413 (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) 414
13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. 415 13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go 416 to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
13:10 Lot looked up and saw 417 the whole region 418 of the Jordan. He noticed 419 that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated 420 Sodom and Gomorrah) 421 like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, 422 all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled 423 toward the east.
So the relatives separated from each other. 424 13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain 425 and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now 426 the people 427 of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) 428
13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, 429 “Look 430 from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 13:15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants 431 forever. 13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. 432 13:17 Get up and 433 walk throughout 434 the land, 435 for I will give it to you.”
13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live 436 by the oaks 437 of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.
14:1 At that time 438 Amraphel king of Shinar, 439 Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations 440 14:2 went to war 441 against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 442 14:3 These last five kings 443 joined forces 444 in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 445 14:4 For twelve years 446 they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year 447 they rebelled. 448 14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated 449 the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert. 450 14:7 Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again, 451 and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.
14:8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met 452 14:9 Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, 453 Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against 454 five. 14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. 455 When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, 456 but some survivors 457 fled to the hills. 458 14:11 The four victorious kings 459 took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. 14:12 They also took Abram’s nephew 460 Lot and his possessions when 461 they left, for Lot 462 was living in Sodom. 463
14:13 A fugitive 464 came and told Abram the Hebrew. 465 Now Abram was living by the oaks 466 of Mamre the Amorite, the brother 467 of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty 468 with Abram.) 469 14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew 470 had been taken captive, he mobilized 471 his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders 472 as far as Dan. 473 14:15 Then, during the night, 474 Abram 475 divided his forces 476 against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north 477 of Damascus. 14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. 478 He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of 479 the people.
14:17 After Abram 480 returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram 481 in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). 482 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem 483 brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) 484 14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by 485 the Most High God,
Creator 486 of heaven and earth. 487
14:20 Worthy of praise is 488 the Most High God,
who delivered 489 your enemies into your hand.”
Abram gave Melchizedek 490 a tenth of everything.
14:21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.” 14:22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand 491 to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow 492 14:23 that I will take nothing 493 belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I 494 who made Abram rich.’ 14:24 I will take nothing 495 except compensation for what the young men have eaten. 496 As for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”
15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield 497 and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 498
15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, 499 what will you give me since 500 I continue to be 501 childless, and my heir 502 is 503 Eliezer of Damascus?” 504 15:3 Abram added, 505 “Since 506 you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” 507
15:4 But look, 508 the word of the Lord came to him: “This man 509 will not be your heir, 510 but instead 511 a son 512 who comes from your own body will be 513 your heir.” 514 15:5 The Lord 515 took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”
15:6 Abram believed 516 the Lord, and the Lord 517 considered his response of faith 518 as proof of genuine loyalty. 519
15:7 The Lord said 520 to him, “I am the Lord 521 who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans 522 to give you this land to possess.” 15:8 But 523 Abram 524 said, “O sovereign Lord, 525 by what 526 can I know that I am to possess it?”
15:9 The Lord 527 said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram 528 took all these for him and then cut them in two 529 and placed each half opposite the other, 530 but he did not cut the birds in half. 15:11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, 531 and great terror overwhelmed him. 532 15:13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain 533 that your descendants will be strangers 534 in a foreign country. 535 They will be enslaved and oppressed 536 for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. 537 Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, 538 you will go to your ancestors 539 in peace and be buried at a good old age. 540 15:16 In the fourth generation 541 your descendants 542 will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.” 543
15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch 544 passed between the animal parts. 545 15:18 That day the Lord made a covenant 546 with Abram: “To your descendants I give 547 this land, from the river of Egypt 548 to the great river, the Euphrates River – 15:19 the land 549 of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” 550
16:1 Now Sarai, 551 Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, 552 but she had an Egyptian servant 553 named Hagar. 554 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 555 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 556 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 557 Abram did what 558 Sarai told him.
16:3 So after Abram had lived 559 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 560 to her husband to be his wife. 561 16:4 He had sexual relations with 562 Hagar, and she became pregnant. 563 Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 564 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! 565 I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, 566 but when she realized 567 that she was pregnant, she despised me. 568 May the Lord judge between you and me!” 569
16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 570 servant is under your authority, 571 do to her whatever you think best.” 572 Then Sarai treated Hagar 573 harshly, 574 so she ran away from Sarai. 575
16:7 The Lord’s angel 576 found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. 577 16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from 578 my mistress, Sarai.”
16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit 579 to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, 580 “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 581 16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,
“You are now 582 pregnant
and are about to give birth 583 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 584
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 585
16:12 He will be a wild donkey 586 of a man.
He will be hostile to everyone, 587
and everyone will be hostile to him. 588
He will live away from 589 his brothers.”
16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 590 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 591 16:14 That is why the well was called 592 Beer Lahai Roi. 593 (It is located 594 between Kadesh and Bered.)
16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 595 16:16 (Now 596 Abram was 86 years old 597 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) 598
17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, 599 the Lord appeared to him and said, 600 “I am the sovereign God. 601 Walk 602 before me 603 and be blameless. 604 17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant 605 between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” 606
17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, 607 and God said to him, 608 17:4 “As for me, 609 this 610 is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be 611 Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham 612 because I will make you 613 the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you 614 extremely 615 fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 616 17:7 I will confirm 617 my covenant as a perpetual 618 covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 619 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing 620 – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent 621 possession. I will be their God.”
17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 622 the covenantal requirement 623 I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: 624 Every male among you must be circumcised. 625 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder 626 of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old 627 must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, 628 whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant 629 will be visible in your flesh as a permanent 630 reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male 631 who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 632 from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 633
17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 634 Sarah 635 will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. 636 Kings of countries 637 will come from her!”
17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 638 as he said to himself, 639 “Can 640 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 641 Can Sarah 642 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 643 17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that 644 Ishmael might live before you!” 645
17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. 646 I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual 647 covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 648 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 649 He will become the father of twelve princes; 650 I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 651
17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 652 and circumcised them 653 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old 654 when he was circumcised; 655 17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old 656 when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham 657 by the oaks 658 of Mamre while 659 he was sitting at the entrance 660 to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham 661 looked up 662 and saw 663 three men standing across 664 from him. When he saw them 665 he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low 666 to the ground. 667
18:3 He said, “My lord, 668 if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. 669 18:4 Let a little water be brought so that 670 you may all 671 wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get 672 a bit of food 673 so that you may refresh yourselves 674 since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” 675 “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”
18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take 676 three measures 677 of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” 678 18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, 679 who quickly prepared it. 680 18:8 Abraham 681 then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food 682 before them. They ate while 683 he was standing near them under a tree.
18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, 684 in the tent.” 18:10 One of them 685 said, “I will surely return 686 to you when the season comes round again, 687 and your wife Sarah will have a son!” 688 (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. 689 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; 690 Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 691 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, 692 “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, 693 especially when my husband is old too?” 694
18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why 695 did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really 696 have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible 697 for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” 698 18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” 699
18:16 When the men got up to leave, 700 they looked out over 701 Sodom. (Now 702 Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) 703 18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 704 18:18 After all, Abraham 705 will surely become 706 a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 707 using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him 708 so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep 709 the way of the Lord by doing 710 what is right and just. Then the Lord will give 711 to Abraham what he promised 712 him.”
18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against 713 Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 714 18:21 that I must go down 715 and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. 716 If not, 717 I want to know.”
18:22 The two men turned 718 and headed 719 toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 720 18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare 721 the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge 722 of the whole earth do what is right?” 723
18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord 724 (although I am but dust and ashes), 725 18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy 726 the whole city because five are lacking?” 727 He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
18:29 Abraham 728 spoke to him again, 729 “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
18:30 Then Abraham 730 said, “May the Lord not be angry 731 so that I may speak! 732 What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
18:31 Abraham 733 said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
18:32 Finally Abraham 734 said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
18:33 The Lord went on his way 735 when he had finished speaking 736 to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. 737
19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while 738 Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. 739 When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.
19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night 740 and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” 741 “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” 742
19:3 But he urged 743 them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, 744 all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. 745 19:5 They shouted to Lot, 746 “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex 747 with them!”
19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! 748 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with 749 a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. 750 Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection 751 of my roof.” 752
19:9 “Out of our way!” 753 they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, 754 and now he dares to judge us! 755 We’ll do more harm 756 to you than to them!” They kept 757 pressing in on Lot until they were close enough 758 to break down the door.
19:10 So the men inside 759 reached out 760 and pulled Lot back into the house 761 as they shut the door. 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, 762 with blindness. The men outside 763 wore themselves out trying to find the door. 19:12 Then the two visitors 764 said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? 765 Do you have 766 any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? 767 Get them out of this 768 place 19:13 because we are about to destroy 769 it. The outcry against this place 770 is so great before the Lord that he 771 has sent us to destroy it.”
19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. 772 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy 773 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. 774
19:15 At dawn 775 the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, 776 or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” 777 19:16 When Lot 778 hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. 779 They led them away and placed them 780 outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they 781 said, “Run 782 for your lives! Don’t look 783 behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! 784 Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord! 785 19:19 Your 786 servant has found favor with you, 787 and you have shown me great 788 kindness 789 by sparing 790 my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because 791 this disaster will overtake 792 me and I’ll die. 793 19:20 Look, this town 794 over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. 795 Let me go there. 796 It’s just a little place, isn’t it? 797 Then I’ll survive.” 798
19:21 “Very well,” he replied, 799 “I will grant this request too 800 and will not overthrow 801 the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly, 802 for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) 803
19:23 The sun had just risen 804 over the land as Lot reached Zoar. 805 19:24 Then the Lord rained down 806 sulfur and fire 807 on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. 808 19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, 809 including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew 810 from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s 811 wife looked back longingly 812 and was turned into a pillar of salt.
19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went 813 to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward 814 Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. 815 As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. 816
19:29 So when God destroyed 817 the cities of the region, 818 God honored 819 Abraham’s request. He removed Lot 820 from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed 821 the cities Lot had lived in.
19:30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31 Later the older daughter said 822 to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby 823 to have sexual relations with us, 824 according to the way of all the world. 19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine 825 so we can have sexual relations 826 with him and preserve 827 our family line through our father.” 828
19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, 829 and the older daughter 830 came and had sexual relations with her father. 831 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 832 19:34 So in the morning the older daughter 833 said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. 834 Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 835 19:35 So they made their father drunk 836 that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. 837 But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 838
19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 19:37 The older daughter 839 gave birth to a son and named him Moab. 840 He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. 841 He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.
20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev 842 region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident 843 in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God appeared 844 to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead 845 because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” 846
20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, 847 would you really slaughter an innocent nation? 848 20:5 Did Abraham 849 not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, 850 ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience 851 and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. 852 That is why I have kept you 853 from sinning against me and why 854 I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed 855 he is a prophet 856 and he will pray for you; thus you will live. 857 But if you don’t give her back, 858 know that you will surely die 859 along with all who belong to you.”
20:8 Early in the morning 860 Abimelech summoned 861 all his servants. When he told them about all these things, 862 they 863 were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? 864 You have done things to me that should not be done!” 865 20:10 Then Abimelech asked 866 Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” 867
20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, 868 ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of 869 my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, 870 she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander 871 from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: 872 Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
20:14 So Abimelech gave 873 sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” 874
20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver 875 to your ‘brother.’ 876 This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” 877
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. 20:18 For the Lord 878 had caused infertility to strike every woman 879 in the household of Abimelech because he took 880 Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
21:1 The Lord visited 881 Sarah just as he had said he would and did 882 for Sarah what he had promised. 883 21:2 So Sarah became pregnant 884 and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 885 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, 886 Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. 887 21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) 888
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 889 Everyone who hears about this 890 will laugh 891 with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, 892 “Who would 893 have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared 894 a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 895 21:9 But Sarah noticed 896 the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 897 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish 898 that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 899 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset 900 about the boy or your slave wife. Do 901 all that Sarah is telling 902 you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 903 21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 904 some food 905 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 906 and sent her away. So she went wandering 907 aimlessly through the wilderness 908 of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved 909 the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot 910 away; for she thought, 911 “I refuse to watch the child die.” 912 So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. 913
21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 914 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 915 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 916 the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. 917 She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. 918 His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 919
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you 920 in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 921 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 922 Show me, and the land 923 where you are staying, 924 the same loyalty 925 that I have shown you.” 926
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 927 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint 928 against Abimelech concerning a well 929 that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 930 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 931 you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 932 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these 933 seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof 934 that I dug this well.” 935 21:31 That is why he named that place 936 Beer Sheba, 937 because the two of them swore 938 an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty 939 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 940 to the land of the Philistines. 941 21:33 Abraham 942 planted a tamarisk tree 943 in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, 944 the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. 945
22:1 Some time after these things God tested 946 Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham 947 replied. 22:2 God 948 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 949 – and go to the land of Moriah! 950 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 951 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 952 you.”
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. 953 He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out 954 for the place God had spoken to him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of 955 the place in the distance. 22:5 So he 956 said to his servants, “You two stay 957 here with the donkey while 958 the boy and I go up there. We will worship 959 and then return to you.” 960
22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, 961 and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 962 “My father?” “What is it, 963 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 964 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide 965 for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 966 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 967 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter 968 his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel 969 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 970 the angel said. 971 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 972 that you fear 973 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 974 and saw 975 behind him 976 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 977 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” 978 It is said to this day, 979 “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” 980
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 981 decrees the Lord, 982 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, 983 and I will greatly multiply 984 your descendants 985 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 986 of the strongholds 987 of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 988 all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 989 using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 990 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 991
22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah 992 also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 993 22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now 994 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. 995 23:2 Then she 996 died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 997
23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife 998 and said to the sons of Heth, 999 23:4 “I am a temporary settler 1000 among you. Grant 1001 me ownership 1002 of a burial site among you so that I may 1003 bury my dead.” 1004
23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, 1005 23:6 “Listen, sir, 1006 you are a mighty prince 1007 among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you 1008 from burying your dead.”
23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, 1009 the sons of Heth. 23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree 1010 that I may bury my dead, 1011 then hear me out. 1012 Ask 1013 Ephron the son of Zohar 23:9 if he will sell 1014 me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly 1015 for the full price, 1016 so that I may own it as a burial site.”
23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite 1017 replied to Abraham in the hearing 1018 of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate 1019 of his city – 23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell 1020 you both the field and the cave that is in it. 1021 In the presence of my people 1022 I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”
23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people 23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay 1023 to you the price 1024 of the field. Take it from me so that I may 1025 bury my dead there.”
23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth 1026 400 pieces of silver, 1027 but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”
23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price 1028 and weighed 1029 out for him 1030 the price 1031 that Ephron had quoted 1032 in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. 1033
23:17 So Abraham secured 1034 Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border, 23:18 as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city. 1035
23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 23:20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site 1036 from the sons of Heth.
[6:5] 1 sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.
[6:5] 2 tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).
[6:5] 3 tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.
[6:5] 4 tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”
[6:5] 5 sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.
[6:5] sn The author of Genesis goes out of his way to emphasize the depth of human evil at this time. Note the expressions “every inclination,” “only evil,” and “all the time.”
[6:1] 7 tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”
[6:1] 8 tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.
[6:1] 9 tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.
[6:1] 10 tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”
[6:1] 11 tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.
[6:1] 12 tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.
[6:2] 13 sn The Hebrew phrase translated “sons of God” (בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים, bÿne-ha’elohim) occurs only here (Gen 6:2, 4) and in Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. There are three major interpretations of the phrase here. (1) In the Book of Job the phrase clearly refers to angelic beings. In Gen 6 the “sons of God” are distinct from “humankind,” suggesting they were not human. This is consistent with the use of the phrase in Job. Since the passage speaks of these beings cohabiting with women, they must have taken physical form or possessed the bodies of men. An early Jewish tradition preserved in 1 En. 6-7 elaborates on this angelic revolt and even names the ringleaders. (2) Not all scholars accept the angelic interpretation of the “sons of God,” however. Some argue that the “sons of God” were members of Seth’s line, traced back to God through Adam in Gen 5, while the “daughters of humankind” were descendants of Cain. But, as noted above, the text distinguishes the “sons of God” from humankind (which would include the Sethites as well as the Cainites) and suggests that the “daughters of humankind” are human women in general, not just Cainites. (3) Others identify the “sons of God” as powerful tyrants, perhaps demon-possessed, who viewed themselves as divine and, following the example of Lamech (see Gen 4:19), practiced polygamy. But usage of the phrase “sons of God” in Job militates against this view. For literature on the subject see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:135.
[6:3] 14 tn The verb form יָדוֹן (yadon) only occurs here. Some derive it from the verbal root דִּין (din, “to judge”) and translate “strive” or “contend with” (so NIV), but in this case one expects the form to be יָדִין (yadin). The Old Greek has “remain with,” a rendering which may find support from an Arabic cognate (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:375). If one interprets the verb in this way, then it is possible to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as a reference to the divine life-giving spirit or breath, rather than the
[6:3] 16 tn The form בְּשַׁגַּם (bÿshagam) appears to be a compound of the preposition בְּ (beth, “in”), the relative שֶׁ (she, “who” or “which”), and the particle גַּם (gam, “also, even”). It apparently means “because even” (see BDB 980 s.v. שֶׁ).
[6:3] 17 tn Heb “he”; the plural pronoun has been used in the translation since “man” earlier in the verse has been understood as a collective (“humankind”).
[6:3] 19 tn See the note on “they” earlier in this verse.
[6:3] 20 tn Heb “his days will be 120 years.” Some interpret this to mean that the age expectancy of people from this point on would be 120, but neither the subsequent narrative nor reality favors this. It is more likely that this refers to the time remaining between this announcement of judgment and the coming of the flood.
[6:4] 21 tn The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).
[6:4] 22 tn This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.
[6:4] 23 tn Heb “were entering to,” referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.
[6:4] 24 tn Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.
[6:4] 25 tn The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.
[6:4] 26 tn Heb “men of name” (i.e., famous men).
[6:5] 27 sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.
[6:5] 28 tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).
[6:5] 29 tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.
[6:5] 30 tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”
[6:5] 31 sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.
[6:5] 32 tn Heb “all the day.”
[6:5] sn The author of Genesis goes out of his way to emphasize the depth of human evil at this time. Note the expressions “every inclination,” “only evil,” and “all the time.”
[6:6] 33 tn Or “was grieved”; “was sorry.” In the Niphal stem the verb נָחָם (nakham) can carry one of four semantic meanings, depending on the context: (1) “to experience emotional pain or weakness,” “to feel regret,” often concerning a past action (see Exod 13:17; Judg 21:6, 15; 1 Sam 15:11, 35; Job 42:6; Jer 31:19). In several of these texts כִּי (ki, “because”) introduces the cause of the emotional sorrow. (2) Another meaning is “to be comforted” or “to comfort oneself” (sometimes by taking vengeance). See Gen 24:67; 38:12; 2 Sam 13:39; Ps 77:3; Isa 1:24; Jer 31:15; Ezek 14:22; 31:16; 32:31. (This second category represents a polarization of category one.) (3) The meaning “to relent from” or “to repudiate” a course of action which is already underway is also possible (see Judg 2:18; 2 Sam 24:16 = 1 Chr 21:15; Pss 90:13; 106:45; Jer 8:6; 20:16; 42:10). (4) Finally, “to retract” (a statement) or “to relent or change one’s mind concerning,” “to deviate from” (a stated course of action) is possible (see Exod 32:12, 14; 1 Sam 15:29; Ps 110:4; Isa 57:6; Jer 4:28; 15:6; 18:8, 10; 26:3, 13, 19; Ezek 24:14; Joel 2:13-14; Am 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9-10; 4:2; Zech 8:14). See R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 388. The first category applies here because the context speaks of God’s grief and emotional pain (see the following statement in v. 6) as a result of a past action (his making humankind). For a thorough study of the word נָחָם, see H. Van Dyke Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.
[6:6] 34 tn Heb “and he was grieved to his heart.” The verb עָצָב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic senses, depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain”; “to be depressed emotionally”; “to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed”; “to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself); “to be insulted” (Gen 34:7; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 34:7). The third category fits best in Gen 6:6 because humankind’s sin does not merely wound God emotionally. On the contrary, it prompts him to strike out in judgment against the source of his distress (see v. 7). The verb וַיִּתְעַצֵּב (vayyit’atsev), a Hitpael from עָצָב, alludes to the judgment oracles in Gen 3:16-19. Because Adam and Eve sinned, their life would be filled with pain; but sin in the human race also brought pain to God. The wording of v. 6 is ironic when compared to Gen 5:29. Lamech anticipated relief (נָחָם, nakham) from their work (מַעֲשֶׂה, ma’aseh) and their painful toil (עִצְּבֹן, ’itsÿvon), but now we read that God was sorry (נָחָם, nakham) that he had made (עָשָׂה, ’asah) humankind for it brought him great pain (עָצָב, ’atsav).
[6:7] 35 tn The text simply has “from man to beast, to creatures, and to birds of the air.” The use of the prepositions עַד…מִן (min...’ad) stresses the extent of the judgment in creation.
[6:8] 36 tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is contrastive here: God condemns the human race, but he is pleased with Noah.
[6:8] 37 tn The Hebrew expression “find favor [in the eyes of]” is an idiom meaning “to be an object of another’s favorable disposition or action,” “to be a recipient of another’s favor, kindness, mercy.” The favor/kindness is often earned, coming in response to an action or condition (see Gen 32:5; 39:4; Deut 24:1; 1 Sam 25:8; Prov 3:4; Ruth 2:10). This is the case in Gen 6:8, where v. 9 gives the basis (Noah’s righteous character) for the divine favor.
[6:8] 38 tn Heb “in the eyes of,” an anthropomorphic expression for God’s opinion or decision. The
[6:9] 39 sn There is a vast body of scholarly literature about the flood story. The following studies are particularly helpful: A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels; M. Kessler, “Rhetorical Criticism of Genesis 7,” Rhetorical Criticism: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg (PTMS), 1-17; I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; A. R. Millard, “A New Babylonian ‘Genesis Story’,” TynBul 18 (1967): 3-18; G. J. Wenham, “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” VT 28 (1978): 336-48.
[6:9] 40 tn The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “blameless”) is used of men in Gen 17:1 (associated with the idiom “walk before,” which means “maintain a proper relationship with,” see 24:40); Deut 18:13 (where it means “blameless” in the sense of not guilty of the idolatrous practices listed before this; see Josh 24:14); Pss 18:23, 26 (“blameless” in the sense of not having violated God’s commands); 37:18 (in contrast to the wicked); 101:2, 6 (in contrast to proud, deceitful slanderers; see 15:2); Prov 2:21; 11:5 (in contrast to the wicked); 28:10; Job 12:4.
[6:9] 41 tn Heb “Noah was a godly man, blameless in his generations.” The singular “generation” can refer to one’s contemporaries, i.e., those living at a particular point in time. The plural “generations” can refer to successive generations in the past or the future. Here, where it is qualified by “his” (i.e., Noah’s), it refers to Noah’s contemporaries, comprised of the preceding generation (his father’s generation), those of Noah’s generation, and the next generation (those the same age as his children). In other words, “his generations” means the generations contemporary with him. See BDB 190 s.v. דוֹר.
[6:9] 42 tn Heb “Noah.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:9] 43 tn The construction translated “walked with” is used in Gen 5:22, 24 (see the note on this phrase in 5:22) and in 1 Sam 25:15, where it refers to David’s and Nabal’s men “rubbing shoulders” in the fields. Based on the use in 1 Sam 25:15, the expression seems to mean “live in close proximity to,” which may, by metonymy, mean “maintain cordial relations with.”
[6:11] 45 tn Apart from Gen 6:11-12, the Niphal form of this verb occurs in Exod 8:20 HT (8:24 ET), where it describes the effect of the swarms of flies on the land of Egypt; Jer 13:7 and 18:4, where it is used of a “ruined” belt and “marred” clay pot, respectively; and Ezek 20:44, where it describes Judah’s morally “corrupt” actions. The sense “morally corrupt” fits well in Gen 6:11 because of the parallelism (note “the earth was filled with violence”). In this case “earth” would stand by metonymy for its sinful inhabitants. However, the translation “ruined” works just as well, if not better. In this case humankind’s sin is viewed has having an adverse effect upon the earth. Note that vv. 12b-13 make a distinction between the earth and the living creatures who live on it.
[6:11] 47 tn The Hebrew word translated “violence” refers elsewhere to a broad range of crimes, including unjust treatment (Gen 16:5; Amos 3:10), injurious legal testimony (Deut 19:16), deadly assault (Gen 49:5), murder (Judg 9:24), and rape (Jer 13:22).
[6:12] 48 tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”
[6:12] 49 tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.
[6:12] 50 tn Heb “flesh.” Since moral corruption is in view here, most modern western interpreters understand the referent to be humankind. However, the phrase “all flesh” is used consistently of humankind and the animals in Gen 6-9 (6:17, 19; 7:15-16, 21; 8:17; 9:11, 15-17), suggesting that the author intends to picture all living creatures, humankind and animals, as guilty of moral failure. This would explain why the animals, not just humankind, are victims of the ensuing divine judgment. The OT sometimes views animals as morally culpable (Gen 9:5; Exod 21:28-29; Jonah 3:7-8). The OT also teaches that a person’s sin can contaminate others (people and animals) in the sinful person’s sphere (see the story of Achan, especially Josh 7:10). So the animals could be viewed here as morally contaminated because of their association with sinful humankind.
[6:12] 51 tn Heb “had corrupted its way.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “way” refers to the collective “all flesh.” The construction “corrupt one’s way” occurs only here (though Ezek 16:47 uses the Hiphil in an intransitive sense with the preposition בְּ [bet, “in”] followed by “ways”). The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) means “to ruin, to destroy, to corrupt,” often as here in a moral/ethical sense. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to behavior or moral character, a sense that it frequently carries (see BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a).
[6:13] 52 sn On the divine style utilized here, see R. Lapointe, “The Divine Monologue as a Channel of Revelation,” CBQ 32 (1970): 161-81.
[6:13] 53 tn Heb “the end of all flesh is coming [or “has come”] before me.” (The verb form is either a perfect or a participle.) The phrase “end of all flesh” occurs only here. The term “end” refers here to the end of “life,” as v. 3 and the following context (which describes how God destroys all flesh) make clear. The statement “the end has come” occurs in Ezek 7:2, 6, where it is used of divine judgment. The phrase “come before” occurs in Exod 28:30, 35; 34:34; Lev 15:14; Num 27:17; 1 Sam 18:13, 16; 2 Sam 19:8; 20:8; 1 Kgs 1:23, 28, 32; Ezek 46:9; Pss 79:11 (groans come before God); 88:3 (a prayer comes before God); 100:2; 119:170 (prayer comes before God); Lam 1:22 (evil doing comes before God); Esth 1:19; 8:1; 9:25; 1 Chr 16:29. The expression often means “have an audience with” or “appear before.” But when used metaphorically, it can mean “get the attention of” or “prompt a response.” This is probably the sense in Gen 6:13. The necessity of ending the life of all flesh on earth is an issue that has gotten the attention of God. The term “end” may even be a metonymy for that which has prompted it – violence (see the following clause).
[6:13] 54 tn The participle, especially after הִנֵּה (hinneh) has an imminent future nuance. The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) here has the sense “to destroy” (in judgment). Note the wordplay involving this verb in vv. 11-13: The earth is “ruined” because all flesh has acted in a morally “corrupt” manner. Consequently, God will “destroy” all flesh (the referent of the suffix “them”) along with the ruined earth. They had ruined themselves and the earth with violence, and now God would ruin them with judgment. For other cases where “earth” occurs as the object of the Hiphil of שָׁחָת, see 1 Sam 6:5; 1 Chr 20:1; Jer 36:29; 51:25.
[6:14] 55 sn The Hebrew verb is an imperative. A motif of this section is that Noah did as the
[6:14] 56 tn A transliteration of the Hebrew term yields “gopher (גֹּפֶר, gofer) wood” (so KJV, NAB, NASB). While the exact nature of the wood involved is uncertain (cf. NLT “resinous wood”), many modern translations render the Hebrew term as “cypress” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).
[6:14] 57 tn The Hebrew term כָּפָר (kafar, “to cover, to smear” [= to caulk]) appears here in the Qal stem with its primary, nonmetaphorical meaning. The Piel form כִּפֶּר (kipper), which has the metaphorical meaning “to atone, to expiate, to pacify,” is used in Levitical texts (see HALOT 493-94 s.v. כפר). Some authorities regard the form in v. 14 as a homonym of the much more common Levitical term (see BDB 498 s.v. כָּפָר).
[6:15] 58 tn Heb “300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
[6:16] 60 tn Heb “to a cubit you shall finish it from above.” The idea is that Noah was to leave an 18-inch opening from the top for a window for light.
[6:17] 61 tn The Hebrew construction uses the independent personal pronoun, followed by a suffixed form of הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) and the a participle used with an imminent future nuance: “As for me, look, I am going to bring.”
[6:17] 62 tn Heb “the flood, water.”
[6:17] 63 tn The verb שָׁחָת (shakhat, “to destroy”) is repeated yet again, only now in an infinitival form expressing the purpose of the flood.
[6:17] 64 tn The Hebrew construction here is different from the previous two; here it is רוּחַ חַיִּים (ruakh khayyim) rather than נֶפֶשׁ הַיָּה (nefesh khayyah) or נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (nishmat khayyim). It refers to everything that breathes.
[6:18] 65 tn The Hebrew verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive (picking up the future sense from the participles) from קוּם (qum, “to rise up”). This may refer to the confirmation or fulfillment of an earlier promise, but it is more likely that it anticipates the unconditional promise made to humankind following the flood (see Gen 9:9, 11, 17).
[6:18] 66 tn The perfect verb form with vav (ו) consecutive is best understood as specific future, continuing God’s description of what will happen (see vv. 17-18a).
[6:19] 67 tn Heb “from all life, from all flesh, two from all you must bring.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse (note the conjunction with prepositional phrase, followed by two more prepositional phrases in apposition and then the imperfect verb form) signals a change in mood from announcement (vv. 17-18) to instruction.
[6:19] 68 tn The Piel infinitive construct לְהַחֲיוֹת (lÿhakhayot, here translated as “to keep them alive”) shows the purpose of bringing the animals into the ark – saving life. The Piel of this verb means here “to preserve alive.”
[6:20] 69 tn Heb “to keep alive.”
[6:21] 70 tn The verb is a direct imperative: “And you, take for yourself.” The form stresses the immediate nature of the instruction; the pronoun underscores the directness.
[6:21] 71 tn Heb “from all food,” meaning “some of every kind of food.”
[6:21] 72 tn Or “will be eaten.”
[6:21] 73 tn Heb “and gather it to you.”
[6:22] 74 tn Heb “according to all.”
[6:22] 75 tn The last clause seems redundant: “and thus (כֵּן, ken) he did.” It underscores the obedience of Noah to all that God had said.
[7:1] 76 tn Heb “for you I see [as] godly before me in this generation.” The direct object (“you”) is placed first in the clause to give it prominence. The verb “to see” here signifies God’s evaluative discernment.
[7:2] 77 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:2] 78 sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.
[7:2] 79 tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans.
[7:3] 80 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:3] 81 tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).
[7:3] 82 tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”
[7:4] 83 tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”
[7:4] 84 tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.
[7:5] 85 tn Heb “according to all.”
[7:6] 86 tn Heb “Now Noah was.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate nominative after implied “to be” verb) provides background information. The age of Noah receives prominence.
[7:6] 87 tn Heb “and the flood was water upon.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial/temporal in relation to the preceding clause. The verb הָיָה (hayah) here carries the nuance “to come” (BDB 225 s.v. הָיָה). In this context the phrase “come upon” means “to engulf.”
[7:7] 88 tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark.
[7:8] 89 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:9] 90 tn The Hebrew text of vv. 8-9a reads, “From the clean animal[s] and from the animal[s] which are not clean and from the bird[s] and everything that creeps on the ground, two two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female.”
[7:9] 91 tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:11] 93 tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).
[7:11] sn The watery deep. The same Hebrew term used to describe the watery deep in Gen 1:2 (תְּהוֹם, tihom) appears here. The text seems to picture here subterranean waters coming from under the earth and contributing to the rapid rise of water. The significance seems to be, among other things, that in this judgment God was returning the world to its earlier condition of being enveloped with water – a judgment involving the reversal of creation. On Gen 7:11 see G. F. Hasel, “The Fountains of the Great Deep,” Origins 1 (1974): 67-72; idem, “The Biblical View of the Extent of the Flood,” Origins 2 (1975): 77-95.
[7:11] 94 sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.
[7:13] 96 tn Heb “On that very day Noah entered, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him into the ark.”
[7:14] 97 tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:14] 98 tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”
[7:15] 99 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
[7:16] 101 tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”
[7:18] 102 tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.
[7:19] 104 tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.
[7:20] 106 tn Heb “rose fifteen cubits.” Since a cubit is considered by most authorities to be about eighteen inches, this would make the depth 22.5 feet. This figure might give the modern reader a false impression of exactness, however, so in the translation the phrase “fifteen cubits” has been rendered “more than twenty feet.”
[7:20] 107 tn Heb “the waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward and they covered the mountains.” Obviously, a flood of twenty feet did not cover the mountains; the statement must mean the flood rose about twenty feet above the highest mountain.
[7:22] 109 tn Heb “everything which [has] the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils from all which is in the dry land.”
[7:23] 110 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[7:23] 111 tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).
[7:23] 112 tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”
[7:23] 113 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.
[7:24] 114 sn The Hebrew verb translated “prevailed over” suggests that the waters were stronger than the earth. The earth and everything in it were no match for the return of the chaotic deep.
[8:1] 115 tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).
[8:1] 116 tn Heb “to pass over.”
[8:2] 117 tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.
[8:3] 118 tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”
[8:3] 119 tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 120 tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.
[8:4] 121 tn Heb “on the mountains of Ararat.” Obviously a boat (even one as large as the ark) cannot rest on multiple mountains. Perhaps (1) the preposition should be translated “among,” or (2) the plural “mountains” should be understood in the sense of “mountain range” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 53). A more probable option (3) is that the plural indicates an indefinite singular, translated “one of the mountains” (see GKC 400 §124.o).
[8:4] sn Ararat is the Hebrew name for Urartu, the name of a mountainous region located north of Mesopotamia in modern day eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 29-32; G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:184-85; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:443-44.
[8:5] 122 tn Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.
[8:5] 123 tn Or “could be seen.”
[8:6] 124 tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.
[8:6] 125 tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.
[8:7] 126 tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.
[8:8] 127 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:8] 128 tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
[8:8] 129 tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.
[8:9] 130 tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:9] 131 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 132 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 133 tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”
[8:11] 134 tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.
[8:11] 135 tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to the olive leaf. It invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the olive leaf with their own eyes.
[8:12] 136 tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:12] 137 tn Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8–11),” ExpTim 18 (1906/07): 377-78.
[8:13] 138 tn Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:13] 139 tn Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.
[8:14] 140 tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.
[8:17] 141 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:17] 142 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
[8:17] 143 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
[8:20] 144 sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the
[8:21] 145 tn The
[8:21] 146 tn Heb “and the
[8:21] 147 tn Heb “in his heart.”
[8:21] 148 tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
[8:21] 149 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.
[8:21] 150 tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
[8:21] 151 tn Heb “from his youth.”
[8:22] 152 tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
[8:22] 153 tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
[9:2] 154 tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.
[9:2] 155 tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.
[9:3] 156 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 157 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 158 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 161 tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.
[9:4] 162 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:4] sn You must not eat meat with its life…in it. Because of the carnage produced by the flood, people might conclude that life is cheap and therefore treat it lightly. But God will not permit them to kill or even to eat anything with the lifeblood still in it, serving as a reminder of the sanctity of life.
[9:5] 163 tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
[9:5] 164 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
[9:5] 165 tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
[9:5] 166 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 167 tn Heb “of the man.”
[9:5] 168 tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
[9:6] 169 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 170 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 171 sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.
[9:6] 172 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 173 sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).
[9:8] 174 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 175 tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
[9:9] 176 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
[9:10] 177 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 178 tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
[9:11] 179 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:11] 181 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 183 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
[9:12] 184 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 185 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 186 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 187 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
[9:13] 188 sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
[9:13] 189 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 190 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 191 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:15] 192 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:15] 193 tn Heb “to destroy.”
[9:15] 194 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:16] 195 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
[9:17] 196 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[9:18] 197 sn The concluding disjunctive clause is parenthetical. It anticipates the following story, which explains that the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants through Canaan, were cursed because they shared the same moral abandonment that their ancestor displayed. See A. van Selms, “The Canaanites in the Book of Genesis,” OTS 12 (1958): 182-213.
[9:19] 198 tn Heb “was scattered.” The verb פָּצָה (patsah, “to scatter” [Niphal, “to be scattered”]) figures prominently in story of the dispersion of humankind in chap. 11.
[9:20] 199 sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
[9:20] 200 tn Or “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard”; Heb “and Noah, a man of the ground, began and he planted a vineyard.”
[9:21] 201 tn The Hebrew verb גָּלָה (galah) in the Hitpael verbal stem (וַיִּתְגַּל, vayyitggal) means “to uncover oneself” or “to be uncovered.” Noah became overheated because of the wine and uncovered himself in the tent.
[9:22] 202 sn For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.
[9:22] 203 tn Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6-11, 15-19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24-28).
[9:22] sn Saw the nakedness. It is hard for modern people to appreciate why seeing another’s nakedness was such an abomination, because nakedness is so prevalent today. In the ancient world, especially in a patriarchal society, seeing another’s nakedness was a major offense. (See the account in Herodotus, Histories 1.8-13, where a general saw the nakedness of his master’s wife, and one of the two had to be put to death.) Besides, Ham was not a little boy wandering into his father’s bedroom; he was over a hundred years old by this time. For fuller discussion see A. P. Ross, “The Curse of Canaan,” BSac 137 (1980): 223-40.
[9:23] 204 tn The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?
[9:23] 205 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
[9:24] 206 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
[9:24] 208 tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
[9:25] 209 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] 210 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] 211 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.
[9:26] 212 tn Heb “blessed be.”
[9:26] 213 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 214 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] 215 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).
[10:1] 216 tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.
[10:1] 217 sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.
[10:1] 218 tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.
[10:2] 219 sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
[10:2] 220 sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.
[10:2] 221 sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.
[10:2] 222 sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
[10:2] 223 sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
[10:2] 224 sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 225 sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 226 sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
[10:3] 227 sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
[10:3] 228 sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.
[10:3] 229 sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
[10:3] 230 sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.
[10:4] 231 sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
[10:4] 232 sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
[10:4] 233 sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
[10:4] 234 tc Most of the MT
[10:6] 235 sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).
[10:6] 236 sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.
[10:6] 237 sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.
[10:6] 238 sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).
[10:7] 239 sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
[10:7] 240 sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
[10:7] 241 sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
[10:7] 242 sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 243 sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
[10:7] 244 sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 245 sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.
[10:8] 246 tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.
[10:9] 247 tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).
[10:9] 248 tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the
[10:10] 249 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
[10:10] 251 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
[10:10] 252 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
[10:10] 253 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
[10:10] 254 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
[10:11] 255 tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
[10:11] 257 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
[10:11] 258 sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
[10:11] 259 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
[10:12] 260 tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”
[10:13] 261 sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).
[10:13] 262 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:13] 263 sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.
[10:13] 264 sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.
[10:13] 265 sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.
[10:13] 266 sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).
[10:14] 267 sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.
[10:14] 268 sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.
[10:14] 269 tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.
[10:14] 270 sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.
[10:15] 271 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:15] 272 sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
[10:15] 273 tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
[10:16] 274 sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
[10:16] 275 sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.
[10:16] 276 sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).
[10:17] 277 sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
[10:17] 278 sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
[10:17] 279 sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
[10:18] 280 sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
[10:18] 281 sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
[10:18] 282 sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
[10:19] 284 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[10:19] 285 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:19] 286 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:21] 287 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
[10:21] 288 tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.
[10:22] 289 sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
[10:22] 290 sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.
[10:22] 291 sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
[10:22] 292 sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
[10:22] 293 sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
[10:23] 294 tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”
[10:23] sn Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Little is known about these descendants of Aram.
[10:24] 295 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:24] 296 tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[10:24] 297 sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).
[10:25] 298 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
[10:26] 299 tn Heb “fathered.”
[10:26] 300 sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.
[10:26] 301 sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.
[10:26] 302 sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.
[10:26] 303 sn The name Jerah means “moon.”
[10:27] 304 sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
[10:27] 305 sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
[10:28] 306 sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.
[10:28] 307 sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”
[10:28] 308 sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.
[10:29] 309 sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).
[10:29] 310 sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.
[10:30] 311 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:32] 312 tn Or “separated.”
[11:1] 313 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
[11:1] 314 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
[11:2] 315 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:2] 316 tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”
[11:2] 317 tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”
[11:2] sn Shinar is the region of Babylonia.
[11:3] 318 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
[11:3] 319 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).
[11:3] 320 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
[11:3] 321 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
[11:4] 322 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] 323 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] 324 tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”
[11:4] 325 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.
[11:5] 326 tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.
[11:5] 327 tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.
[11:6] 328 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
[11:6] 329 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
[11:6] 330 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
[11:7] 331 tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the
[11:7] 332 tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
[11:8] 333 tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
[11:9] 334 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.
[11:9] 335 sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[11:11] 336 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 337 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 338 tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[11:15] 339 tn Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:28] 340 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium
[11:28] 341 tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”
[11:29] 342 sn The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.
[11:29] 343 sn The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.
[11:32] 344 tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”
[11:32] 345 tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:1] 346 sn The
[12:1] 347 tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.
[12:1] sn It would be hard to overestimate the value of this call and this divine plan for the theology of the Bible. Here begins God’s plan to bring redemption to the world. The promises to Abram will be turned into a covenant in Gen 15 and 22 (here it is a call with conditional promises) and will then lead through the Bible to the work of the Messiah.
[12:1] 348 tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”
[12:1] 349 sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the
[12:2] 350 tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.
[12:2] 351 sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he gave them (1) a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.
[12:2] 352 tn Or “I will make you famous.”
[12:2] 353 tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (hÿyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? A similar statement occurs in Zech 8:13, where God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae.
[12:3] 354 tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the
[12:3] 355 tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic
[12:3] 356 tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings on”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.
[12:4] 357 sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).
[12:4] 358 tn Heb “just as the
[12:4] 359 tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + implied “to be” verb) is parenthetical, telling the age of Abram when he left Haran.
[12:4] 360 tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”
[12:4] sn Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran (Gen 11:26). Terah was 205 when he died in Haran (11:32). Abram left Haran at the age of 75 after his father died. Abram was born when Terah was 130. Abram was not the firstborn – he is placed first in the list of three because of his importance. The same is true of the list in Gen 10:1 (Shem, Ham and Japheth). Ham was the youngest son (9:24). Japheth was the older brother of Shem (10:21), so the birth order of Noah’s sons was Japheth, Shem, and Ham.
[12:5] 361 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
[12:5] 362 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
[12:5] 363 tn Heb “went out to go.”
[12:6] 365 sn The Hebrew word Moreh (מוֹרֶה, moreh) means “teacher.” It may well be that the place of this great oak tree was a Canaanite shrine where instruction took place.
[12:6] 366 tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”
[12:6] 367 tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature – the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.
[12:7] 368 tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[12:7] 369 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[12:8] 370 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[12:8] 371 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
[12:9] 372 tn The Hebrew verb נָסַע (nasa’) means “to journey”; more specifically it means to pull up the tent and move to another place. The construction here uses the preterite of this verb with its infinitive absolute to stress the activity of traveling. But it also adds the infinitive absolute of הָלַךְ (halakh) to stress that the traveling was continually going on. Thus “Abram journeyed, going and journeying” becomes “Abram continually journeyed by stages.”
[12:9] 373 tn Or “the South [country].”
[12:9] sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
[12:10] 374 sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.
[12:10] 375 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.
[12:10] 376 tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:11] 377 tn Heb “drew near to enter.”
[12:11] 378 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.
[12:11] 379 tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”
[12:12] 380 tn The Piel of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) means “to keep alive, to preserve alive,” and in some places “to make alive.” See D. Marcus, “The Verb ‘to Live’ in Ugaritic,” JSS 17 (1972): 76-82.
[12:13] 382 sn Tell them you are my sister. Abram’s motives may not be as selfish as they appear. He is aware of the danger to the family. His method of dealing with it is deception with a half truth, for Sarai really was his sister – but the Egyptians would not know that. Abram presumably thought that there would be negotiations for a marriage by anyone interested (as Laban does later for his sister Rebekah), giving him time to react. But the plan backfires because Pharaoh does not take the time to negotiate. There is a good deal of literature on the wife-sister issue. See (among others) E. A. Speiser, “The Wife-Sister Motif in the Patriarchal Narratives,” Oriental and Biblical Studies, 62-81; C. J. Mullo-Weir, “The Alleged Hurrian Wife-Sister Motif in Genesis,” GOT 22 (1967-1970): 14-25.
[12:13] 383 tn The Hebrew verb translated “go well” can encompass a whole range of favorable treatment, but the following clause indicates it means here that Abram’s life will be spared.
[12:13] 384 tn Heb “and my life will live.”
[12:15] 385 tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.
[12:15] 386 tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.
[12:15] 387 tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.
[12:16] 388 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] 389 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
[12:17] 390 tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the
[12:18] 391 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] 392 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.
[12:19] 393 tn Heb “to me for a wife.”
[12:19] 394 tn Heb “Look, your wife!”
[12:19] 395 tn Heb “take and go.”
[12:20] 396 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:1] 397 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
[13:1] sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
[13:1] 398 tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”
[13:2] 400 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.
[13:3] 401 tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.
[13:3] 402 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:3] 403 tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:3] 404 tn Heb “where his tent had been.”
[13:4] 405 tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).
[13:4] 406 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
[13:5] 407 tn Heb “was going.”
[13:5] 408 tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.
[13:6] 409 tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”
[13:6] 410 tn The infinitive construct לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, from יָשַׁב, yashav) explains what it was that the land could not support: “the land could not support them to live side by side.” See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning Yahad and Yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.
[13:6] 411 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.
[13:7] 412 tn The Hebrew term רִיב (riv) means “strife, conflict, quarreling.” In later texts it has the meaning of “legal controversy, dispute.” See B. Gemser, “The rîb – or Controversy – Pattern in Hebrew Mentality,” Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 120-37.
[13:7] 413 sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.
[13:7] 414 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced with the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), again provides critical information. It tells in part why the land cannot sustain these two bedouins, and it also hints of the danger of weakening the family by inner strife.
[13:8] 415 tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.
[13:9] 416 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.
[13:10] 417 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.
[13:10] 418 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”
[13:10] 419 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:10] 420 sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).
[13:10] 421 tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.
[13:10] 422 sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the
[13:11] 423 tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.
[13:11] 424 tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”
[13:11] sn Separated from each other. For a discussion of the significance of this event, see L. R. Helyer, “The Separation of Abram and Lot: Its Significance in the Patriarchal Narratives,” JSOT 26 (1983): 77-88.
[13:12] 425 tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[13:13] 426 tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.
[13:13] 427 tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.
[13:13] 428 tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the
[13:14] 429 tn Heb “and the
[13:14] 430 tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”
[13:14] sn Look. Earlier Lot “looked up” (v. 10), but here Abram is told by God to do so. The repetition of the expression (Heb “lift up the eyes”) here underscores how the
[13:15] 431 tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”
[13:16] 432 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.
[13:17] 433 tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.
[13:17] 434 tn The Hitpael form הִתְהַלֵּךְ (hithallekh) means “to walk about”; it also can carry the ideas of moving about, traversing, going back and forth, or living in an area. It here has the connotation of traversing the land to survey it, to look it over.
[13:17] 435 tn Heb “the land to its length and to its breadth.” This phrase has not been included in the translation because it is somewhat redundant (see the note on the word “throughout” in this verse).
[13:18] 436 tn Heb “he came and lived.”
[13:18] 437 tn Or “terebinths.”
[14:1] 438 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”
[14:1] 439 sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.
[14:1] 440 tn Or “king of Goyim.” The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם (goyim) means “nations,” but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB “Goyim”; NIV, NRSV “Goiim”).
[14:2] sn Went to war. The conflict here reflects international warfare in the Early and Middle Bronze periods. The countries operated with overlords and vassals. Kings ruled over city states, or sometimes a number of city states (i.e., nations). Due to their treaties, when one went to war, those confederate with him joined him in battle. It appears here that it is Kedorlaomer’s war, because the western city states have rebelled against him (meaning they did not send products as tribute to keep him from invading them).
[14:2] 442 sn On the geographical background of vv. 1-2 see J. P. Harland, “Sodom and Gomorrah,” The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 1:41-75; and D. N. Freedman, “The Real Story of the Ebla Tablets, Ebla and the Cities of the Plain,” BA 41 (1978): 143-64.
[14:3] 443 tn Heb “all these,” referring only to the last five kings named. The referent has been specified as “these last five kings” in the translation for clarity.
[14:3] 444 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to join together; to unite; to be allied.” It stresses close associations, especially of friendships, marriages, or treaties.
[14:3] 445 sn The Salt Sea is the older name for the Dead Sea.
[14:4] 446 tn The sentence simply begins with “twelve years”; it serves as an adverbial accusative giving the duration of their bondage.
[14:4] 447 tn This is another adverbial accusative of time.
[14:4] 448 sn The story serves as a foreshadowing of the plight of the kingdom of Israel later. Eastern powers came and forced the western kingdoms into submission. Each year, then, they would send tribute east – to keep them away. Here, in the thirteenth year, they refused to send the tribute (just as later Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria). And so in the fourteenth year the eastern powers came to put them down again. This account from Abram’s life taught future generations that God can give victory over such threats – that people did not have to live in servitude to tyrants from the east.
[14:5] 449 tn The Hebrew verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to attack, to strike, to smite.” In this context it appears that the strike was successful, and so a translation of “defeated” is preferable.
[14:6] 450 sn The line of attack ran down the eastern side of the Jordan Valley into the desert, and then turned and came up the valley to the cities of the plain.
[14:7] 451 tn Heb “they returned and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh).” The two verbs together form a verbal hendiadys, the first serving as the adverb: “they returned and came” means “they came again.” Most English translations do not treat this as a hendiadys, but translate “they turned back” or something similar. Since in the context, however, “came again to” does not simply refer to travel but an assault against the place, the present translation expresses this as “attacked…again.”
[14:9] 453 tn Or “Goyim.” See the note on the word “nations” in 14:1.
[14:9] 454 tn The Hebrew text has simply “against.” The word “fought” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:10] 455 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] 456 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] 457 tn Heb “the rest.”
[14:10] 458 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.
[14:11] 459 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the four victorious kings, see v. 9) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[14:12] 460 tn Heb “Lot the son of his brother.”
[14:12] 462 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:12] 463 tn This disjunctive clause is circumstantial/causal, explaining that Lot was captured because he was living in Sodom at the time.
[14:13] 464 tn Heb “the fugitive.” The article carries a generic force or indicates that this fugitive is definite in the mind of the speaker.
[14:13] 465 sn E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103) suggests that part of this chapter came from an outside source since it refers to Abram the Hebrew. That is not impossible, given that the narrator likely utilized traditions and genealogies that had been collected and transmitted over the years. The meaning of the word “Hebrew” has proved elusive. It may be related to the verb “to cross over,” perhaps meaning “immigrant.” Or it might be derived from the name of Abram’s ancestor Eber (see Gen 11:14-16).
[14:13] 466 tn Or “terebinths.”
[14:13] 467 tn Or “a brother”; or “a relative”; or perhaps “an ally.”
[14:13] 468 tn Heb “possessors of a treaty with.” Since it is likely that the qualifying statement refers to all three (Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner) the words “all these” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear.
[14:13] 469 tn This parenthetical disjunctive clause explains how Abram came to be living in their territory, but it also explains why they must go to war with Abram.
[14:14] 470 tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).
[14:14] 471 tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.
[14:14] 472 tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:14] 473 sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.
[14:15] 474 tn The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.
[14:15] 475 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:15] 476 tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”
[14:15] 477 tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.
[14:16] 478 tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:16] 479 tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:17] 480 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:17] 481 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:17] 482 sn The King’s Valley is possibly a reference to what came to be known later as the Kidron Valley.
[14:18] 483 sn Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about its king. Though some have identified him with the preincarnate Christ or with Noah’s son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110 the
[14:18] 484 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.
[14:18] sn It is his royal priestly status that makes Melchizedek a type of Christ: He was identified with Jerusalem, superior to the ancestor of Israel, and both a king and a priest. Unlike the normal Canaanites, this man served “God Most High” (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן, ’el ’elyon) – one sovereign God, who was the creator of all the universe. Abram had in him a spiritual brother.
[14:19] 485 tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.
[14:19] 486 tn Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”
[14:19] 487 tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.
[14:20] 488 tn Heb “blessed be.” For God to be “blessed” means that is praised. His reputation is enriched in the world as his name is praised.
[14:20] 489 sn Who delivered. The Hebrew verb מִגֵּן (miggen, “delivered”) foreshadows the statement by God to Abram in Gen 15:1, “I am your shield” (מָגֵן, magen). Melchizedek provided a theological interpretation of Abram’s military victory.
[14:20] 490 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:22] 491 tn Abram takes an oath, raising his hand as a solemn gesture. The translation understands the perfect tense as having an instantaneous nuance: “Here and now I raise my hand.”
[14:22] 492 tn The words “and vow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[14:23] 493 tn The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: “…if I take.” It is as if Abram says, “[May the
[14:23] 494 tn The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun (“I”) to the verb form for emphasis.
[14:24] 495 tn The words “I will take nothing” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:24] 496 tn Heb “except only what the young men have eaten.”
[15:1] 497 sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.
[15:1] 498 tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).
[15:1] sn Abram has just rejected all the spoils of war, and the
[15:2] 499 tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master,
[15:2] 500 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.
[15:2] 501 tn Heb “I am going.”
[15:2] 502 tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”
[15:2] sn For the custom of designating a member of the household as heir, see C. H. Gordon, “Biblical Customs and the Nuzu Tablets,” Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 2:21-33.
[15:2] 503 tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).
[15:2] 504 sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.
[15:3] 505 tn Heb “And Abram said.”
[15:3] 506 tn The construction uses הֵן (hen) to introduce the foundational clause (“since…”), and וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh) to introduce the main clause (“then look…”).
[15:3] 507 tn Heb “is inheriting me.”
[15:4] 508 tn The disjunctive draws attention to God’s response and the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, translated “look”) mirrors Abram’s statement in v. 3 and highlights the fact that God responded to Abram.
[15:4] 509 tn The subject of the verb is the demonstrative pronoun, which can be translated “this one” or “this man.” That the
[15:4] 510 tn Heb “inherit you.”
[15:4] 511 tn The Hebrew כִּי־אִם (ki-’im) forms a very strong adversative.
[15:4] 512 tn Heb “he who”; the implied referent (Abram’s unborn son who will be his heir) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:4] 513 tn The pronoun could also be an emphatic subject: “whoever comes out of your body, he will inherit you.”
[15:4] 514 tn Heb “will inherit you.”
[15:5] 515 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[15:6] 516 tn The nonconsecutive vav (ו) is on a perfect verbal form. If the composer of the narrative had wanted to show simple sequence, he would have used the vav consecutive with the preterite. The perfect with vav conjunctive (where one expects the preterite with vav consecutive) in narrative contexts can have a variety of discourse functions, but here it probably serves to highlight Abram’s response to God’s promise. For a detailed discussion of the vav + perfect construction in Hebrew narrative, see R. Longacre, “Weqatal Forms in Biblical Hebrew Prose: A Discourse-modular Approach,” Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, 50-98. The Hebrew verb אָמַן (’aman) means “to confirm, to support” in the Qal verbal stem. Its derivative nouns refer to something or someone that/who provides support, such as a “pillar,” “nurse,” or “guardian, trustee.” In the Niphal stem it comes to mean “to be faithful, to be reliable, to be dependable,” or “to be firm, to be sure.” In the Hiphil, the form used here, it takes on a declarative sense: “to consider something reliable [or “dependable”].” Abram regarded the God who made this promise as reliable and fully capable of making it a reality.
[15:6] 517 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[15:6] 518 tn Heb “and he reckoned it to him.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix refers back to Abram’s act of faith, mentioned in the preceding clause. On third feminine singular pronouns referring back to verbal ideas see GKC 440-41 §135.p. Some propose taking the suffix as proleptic, anticipating the following feminine noun (“righteousness”). In this case one might translate: “and he reckoned it to him – [namely] righteousness.” See O. P. Robertson, “Genesis 15:6: A New Covenant Exposition of an Old Covenant Text,” WTJ 42 (1980): 259-89.
[15:6] 519 tn Or “righteousness”; or “evidence of steadfast commitment.” The noun is an adverbial accusative. The verb translated “considered” (Heb “reckoned”) also appears with צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”) in Ps 106:31. Alluding to the events recorded in Numbers 25, the psalmist notes that Phinehas’ actions were “credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.” Reference is made to the unconditional, eternal covenant with which God rewarded Phinehas’ loyalty (Num 25:12-13). So צְדָקָה seems to carry by metonymy the meaning “loyal, rewardable behavior” here, a nuance that fits nicely in Genesis 15, where God responds to Abram’s faith by formally ratifying his promise to give Abram and his descendants the land. (See R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 40.) In Phoenician and Old Aramaic inscriptions cognate nouns glossed as “correct, justifiable conduct” sometimes carry this same semantic nuance (DNWSI 2:962).
[15:6] sn This episode is basic to the NT teaching of Paul on justification (Romans 4). Paul weaves this passage and Psalm 32 together, for both use this word. Paul explains that for the one who believes in the
[15:7] 520 tn Heb “And he said.”
[15:7] 521 sn I am the
[15:7] 522 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium
[15:8] 523 tn Here the vav carries adversative force and is translated “but.”
[15:8] 524 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:8] 525 tn See note on the phrase “sovereign
[15:9] 527 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the
[15:10] 528 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:10] 529 tn Heb “in the middle.”
[15:10] 530 tn Heb “to meet its neighbor.”
[15:10] sn For discussion of this ritual see G. F. Hasel, “The Meaning of the Animal Rite in Genesis 15,” JSOT 19 (1981): 61-78.
[15:12] 531 tn Heb “a deep sleep fell on Abram.”
[15:12] 532 tn Heb “and look, terror, a great darkness was falling on him.”
[15:13] 533 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] 534 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] 535 tn Heb “in a land not theirs.”
[15:13] 536 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.
[15:14] 537 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.
[15:15] 538 tn The vav with the pronoun before the verb calls special attention to the subject in contrast to the preceding subject.
[15:15] 539 sn You will go to your ancestors. This is a euphemistic expression for death.
[15:15] 540 tn Heb “in a good old age.”
[15:16] 541 sn The term generation is being used here in its widest sense to refer to a full life span. When the chronological factors are considered and the genealogies tabulated, there are four hundred years of bondage. This suggests that in this context a generation is equivalent to one hundred years.
[15:16] 542 tn Heb “they”; the referent (“your descendants”) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[15:16] 543 tn Heb “is not yet complete.”
[15:16] sn The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit. The justice of God is apparent. He will wait until the Amorites are fully deserving of judgment before he annihilates them and gives the land to Israel.
[15:17] 544 sn A smoking pot with a flaming torch. These same implements were used in Mesopotamian rituals designed to ward off evil (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 113-14).
[15:17] 545 tn Heb “these pieces.”
[15:18] 546 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[15:18] 547 tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).
[15:18] sn To your descendants I give this land. The
[15:18] 548 sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.
[15:19] 549 tn The words “the land” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[15:21] 550 tn Each of the names in the list has the Hebrew definite article, which is used here generically for the class of people identified.
[16:1] 551 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.
[16:1] 552 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] 553 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] 554 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.)
[16:2] 555 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
[16:2] 556 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] 557 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
[16:2] 558 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.
[16:3] 559 tn Heb “at the end of ten years, to live, Abram.” The prepositional phrase introduces the temporal clause, the infinitive construct serves as the verb, and the name “Abram” is the subject.
[16:3] 560 tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”
[16:3] 561 sn To be his wife. Hagar became a slave wife, not on equal standing with Sarai. However, if Hagar produced the heir, she would be the primary wife in the eyes of society. When this eventually happened, Hagar become insolent, prompting Sarai’s anger.
[16:4] 562 tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.
[16:4] 563 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)
[16:4] 564 tn Heb “and she saw that she was pregnant and her mistress was despised in her eyes.” The Hebrew verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to despise, to treat lightly, to treat with contempt.” In Hagar’s opinion Sarai had been demoted.
[16:5] 565 tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”
[16:5] 566 tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”
[16:5] 568 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] 569 tn Heb “me and you.”
[16:5] sn May the
[16:6] 570 tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”
[16:6] 571 tn Heb “in your hand.”
[16:6] 572 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
[16:6] 573 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:6] 574 tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”
[16:6] 575 tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:7] 576 tn Heb “the messenger of the
[16:7] 577 tn Heb “And the angel of the
[16:8] 578 tn Heb “from the presence of.”
[16:9] 579 tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.
[16:10] 580 tn Heb “The
[16:10] 581 tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”
[16:11] 582 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
[16:11] 583 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
[16:11] 584 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
[16:11] 585 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
[16:11] sn This clause gives the explanation of the name Ishmael, using a wordplay. Ishmael’s name will be a reminder that “God hears” Hagar’s painful cries.
[16:12] 586 sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.
[16:12] 587 tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.
[16:12] 588 tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”
[16:12] 589 tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).
[16:13] 590 tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).
[16:13] 591 tn Heb “after one who sees me.”
[16:13] sn For a discussion of Hagar’s exclamation, see T. Booij, “Hagar’s Words in Genesis 16:13b,” VT 30 (1980): 1-7.
[16:14] 592 tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.
[16:14] 593 sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed.
[16:14] 594 tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:15] 595 tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”
[16:15] sn Whom Abram named Ishmael. Hagar must have informed Abram of what the angel had told her. See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.
[16:16] 596 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.
[16:16] 597 tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”
[16:16] 598 tn The Hebrew text adds, “for Abram.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is somewhat redundant given the three occurrences of Abram’s name in this and the previous verse.
[17:1] 599 tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”
[17:1] 600 tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[17:1] 601 tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew
[17:1] 602 tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”
[17:1] 603 tn Or “in my presence.”
[17:1] 604 tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the
[17:2] 605 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the
[17:2] 606 tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:3] 607 tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.
[17:3] 608 tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:4] 610 tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
[17:5] 611 tn Heb “will your name be called.”
[17:5] 612 sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.
[17:5] 613 tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.
[17:6] 614 tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.
[17:6] 615 tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:6] 616 tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”
[17:7] 617 tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).
[17:7] 618 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:7] 619 tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”
[17:8] 620 tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.
[17:8] 621 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:9] 622 tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.
[17:9] 623 tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.
[17:10] 624 tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”
[17:10] 625 sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.
[17:12] 627 tn Heb “the son of eight days.”
[17:13] 628 tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.
[17:13] 629 tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
[17:13] 630 tn Or “an eternal.”
[17:14] 631 tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.
[17:14] 632 tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:14] sn The meaning of “cut off” has been discussed at great length. An entire tractate in the Mishnah is devoted to this subject (tractate Keritot). Being ostracized from the community is involved at the least, but it is not certain whether this refers to the death penalty.
[17:14] 633 tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
[17:15] 634 tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”
[17:15] 635 sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.
[17:16] 636 tn Heb “she will become nations.”
[17:17] 638 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] 639 tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”
[17:17] 640 tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.
[17:17] 641 tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”
[17:17] 642 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] 643 tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”
[17:18] 644 tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”
[17:18] 645 tn Or “live with your blessing.”
[17:19] 646 tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).
[17:19] 647 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:20] 648 sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.
[17:20] 649 tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:20] 650 tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.
[17:22] 651 tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:22] sn God went up from him. The text draws attention to God’s dramatic exit and in so doing brings full closure to the scene.
[17:23] 652 tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”
[17:23] 653 tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.
[17:24] 654 tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”
[17:24] 655 tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).
[17:25] 656 tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”
[18:1] 657 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:1] 658 tn Or “terebinths.”
[18:1] 659 tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.
[18:1] 660 tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.
[18:2] 661 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:2] 662 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
[18:2] 663 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] 664 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] 665 tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
[18:2] 666 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] 667 sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the
[18:3] 668 tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the
[18:3] 669 tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”
[18:4] 670 tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.
[18:4] 671 tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.
[18:5] 672 tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.
[18:5] 673 tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.
[18:5] 674 tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.
[18:5] 675 tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”
[18:6] 676 tn The word “take” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the sentence lacks a verb other than the imperative “hurry.” The elliptical structure of the language reflects Abraham’s haste to get things ready quickly.
[18:6] 677 sn Three measures (Heb “three seahs”) was equivalent to about twenty quarts (twenty-two liters) of flour, which would make a lot of bread. The animal prepared for the meal was far more than the three visitors needed. This was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.
[18:6] 678 sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.
[18:7] 679 tn Heb “the young man.”
[18:7] 680 tn The construction uses the Piel preterite, “he hurried,” followed by the infinitive construct; the two probably form a verbal hendiadys: “he quickly prepared.”
[18:8] 681 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:8] 682 tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
[18:8] 683 tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.
[18:9] 684 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) often accompanies a gesture of pointing or a focused gaze.
[18:10] 685 tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the
[18:10] 686 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.
[18:10] sn I will surely return. If Abraham had not yet figured out who this was, this interchange would have made it clear. Otherwise, how would a return visit from this man mean Sarah would have a son?
[18:10] 687 tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.
[18:10] 688 tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”
[18:10] 689 tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).
[18:11] 691 tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”
[18:12] 693 tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.
[18:12] 694 tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[18:13] 695 tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the
[18:13] 696 tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”
[18:14] 697 tn The Hebrew verb פָּלָא (pala’) means “to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, to be surpassing, to be amazing.”
[18:14] 698 sn Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the
[18:15] 699 tn Heb “And he said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’” The referent (the
[18:16] 700 tn Heb “And the men arose from there.”
[18:16] 701 tn Heb “toward the face of.”
[18:16] 702 tn The disjunctive parenthetical clause sets the stage for the following speech.
[18:16] 703 tn The Piel of שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to lead out, to send out, to expel”; here it is used in the friendly sense of seeing the visitors on their way.
[18:17] 704 tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.
[18:18] 705 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”
[18:18] 706 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.
[18:18] 707 tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings upon”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.
[18:19] 708 tn Heb “For I have known him.” The verb יָדַע (yada’) here means “to recognize and treat in a special manner, to choose” (see Amos 3:2). It indicates that Abraham stood in a special covenantal relationship with the
[18:19] 709 tn Heb “and they will keep.” The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the subjective nuance of the preceding imperfect verbal form (translated “so that he may command”).
[18:19] 710 tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the
[18:19] 711 tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) indicates result here.
[18:19] 712 tn Heb “spoke to.”
[18:20] 713 tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.
[18:21] 715 tn The cohortative indicates the
[18:21] sn I must go down. The descent to “see” Sodom is a bold anthropomorphism, stressing the careful judgment of God. The language is reminiscent of the
[18:21] 716 tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the
[18:21] 717 sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.
[18:22] 718 tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the
[18:22] 720 tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the
[18:24] 721 tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).
[18:25] 723 sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.
[18:27] 724 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[18:27] 725 tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the
[18:28] 726 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.
[18:28] 727 tn Heb “because of five.”
[18:29] 728 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:29] 729 tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”
[18:30] 730 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:30] 731 tn Heb “let it not be hot to the
[18:30] 732 tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.
[18:31] 733 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:32] 734 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:33] 735 tn Heb “And the
[18:33] 736 tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”
[18:33] 737 tn Heb “to his place.”
[19:1] 738 tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.
[19:1] 739 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).
[19:2] 740 tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.
[19:2] 741 tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”
[19:2] 742 sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.
[19:3] 743 tn The Hebrew verb פָּצַר (patsar, “to press, to insist”) ironically foreshadows the hostile actions of the men of the city (see v. 9, where the verb also appears). The repetition of the word serves to contrast Lot to his world.
[19:4] 744 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] 745 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.
[19:5] 746 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[19:5] 747 tn The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) is used here in the sense of “to lie with” or “to have sex with” (as in Gen 4:1). That this is indeed the meaning is clear from Lot’s warning that they not do so wickedly, and his willingness to give them his daughters instead.
[19:5] sn The sin of the men of Sodom is debated. The fact that the sin involved a sexual act (see note on the phrase “have sex” in 19:5) precludes an association of the sin with inhospitality as is sometimes asserted (see W. Roth, “What of Sodom and Gomorrah? Homosexual Acts in the Old Testament,” Explor 1 [1974]: 7-14). The text at a minimum condemns forced sexual intercourse, i.e., rape. Other considerations, though, point to a condemnation of homosexual acts more generally. The narrator emphasizes the fact that the men of Sodom wanted to have sex with men: They demand that Lot release the angelic messengers (seen as men) to them for sex, and when Lot offers his daughters as a substitute they refuse them and attempt to take the angelic messengers by force. In addition the wider context of the Pentateuch condemns homosexual acts as sin (see, e.g., Lev 18:22). Thus a reading of this text within its narrative context, both immediate and broad, condemns not only the attempted rape but also the attempted homosexual act.
[19:7] 748 tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”
[19:8] 749 tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[19:8] 750 tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”
[19:8] 752 sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.
[19:9] 753 tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”
[19:9] 754 tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”
[19:9] 755 tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”
[19:9] 756 tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.
[19:9] 757 tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”
[19:9] 758 tn Heb “and they drew near.”
[19:10] 759 tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “inside” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[19:10] 760 tn The Hebrew text adds “their hand.” These words have not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[19:10] 761 tn Heb “to them into the house.”
[19:11] 762 tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”
[19:11] 763 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:12] 764 tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[19:12] 765 tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”
[19:12] 766 tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[19:12] 767 tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”
[19:12] 768 tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.
[19:13] 769 tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.
[19:13] 770 tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[19:13] 771 tn Heb “the
[19:14] 772 sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.
[19:14] 773 tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.
[19:14] 774 tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.
[19:15] 775 tn Heb “When dawn came up.”
[19:15] 776 tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.
[19:15] 777 tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[19:16] 778 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:16] 779 tn Heb “in the compassion of the
[19:16] 780 tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).
[19:17] 781 tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.
[19:17] 783 tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.
[19:17] 784 tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[19:18] 785 tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[19:19] 786 tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.
[19:19] 787 tn Heb “in your eyes.”
[19:19] 788 tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
[19:19] 789 sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.
[19:19] 790 tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
[19:19] 792 tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.
[19:19] 793 tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
[19:20] 794 tn The Hebrew word עִיר (’ir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”
[19:20] 795 tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”
[19:20] 796 tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.
[19:20] 797 tn Heb “Is it not little?”
[19:20] 798 tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.
[19:21] 799 tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the
[19:21] 800 tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”
[19:21] 801 tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).
[19:22] 802 tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.
[19:22] 803 tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tso’ar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mits’ar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).
[19:23] 804 sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).
[19:23] 805 tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.
[19:24] 806 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.
[19:24] 807 tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).
[19:24] 808 tn Heb “from the
[19:24] sn The text explicitly states that the sulfur and fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah was sent down from the sky by the
[19:25] 809 tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[19:25] 810 tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”
[19:26] 811 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:26] 812 tn The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5).
[19:26] sn Longingly. Lot’s wife apparently identified with the doomed city and thereby showed lack of respect for God’s provision of salvation. She, like her daughters later, had allowed her thinking to be influenced by the culture of Sodom.
[19:27] 813 tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[19:28] 814 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
[19:28] 815 tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[19:28] 816 tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”
[19:28] sn It is hard to imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind, but this brief section in the narrative enables the reader to think about the human response to the judgment. Abraham had family in that area. He had rescued those people from the invasion. That was why he interceded. Yet he surely knew how wicked they were. That was why he got the number down to ten when he negotiated with God to save the city. But now he must have wondered, “What was the point?”
[19:29] 817 tn The construction is a temporal clause comprised of the temporal indicator, an infinitive construct with a preposition, and the subjective genitive.
[19:29] 818 tn Or “of the plain”; Heb “of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
[19:29] 819 tn Heb “remembered,” but this means more than mental recollection here. Abraham’s request (Gen 18:23-32) was that the
[19:29] sn God showed Abraham special consideration because of the covenantal relationship he had established with the patriarch. Yet the reader knows that God delivered the “righteous” (Lot’s designation in 2 Pet 2:7) before destroying their world – which is what he will do again at the end of the age.
[19:29] 820 sn God’s removal of Lot before the judgment is paradigmatic. He typically delivers the godly before destroying their world.
[19:29] 821 tn Heb “the overthrow when [he] overthrew.”
[19:31] 822 tn Heb “and the firstborn said.”
[19:31] 823 tn Or perhaps “on earth,” in which case the statement would be hyperbolic; presumably there had been some men living in the town of Zoar to which Lot and his daughters had initially fled.
[19:31] 824 tn Heb “to enter upon us.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations.
[19:32] 825 tn Heb “drink wine.”
[19:32] 826 tn Heb “and we will lie down.” The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive is subordinated to the preceding cohortative and indicates purpose/result.
[19:32] 827 tn Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.
[19:32] 828 tn Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”
[19:32] sn For a discussion of the cultural background of the daughters’ desire to preserve our family line see F. C. Fensham, “The Obliteration of the Family as Motif in the Near Eastern Literature,” AION 10 (1969): 191-99.
[19:33] 829 tn Heb “drink wine.”
[19:33] 830 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
[19:33] 831 tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.
[19:33] 832 tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”
[19:34] 833 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
[19:34] 834 tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”
[19:34] 835 tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”
[19:35] 836 tn Heb “drink wine.”
[19:35] 837 tn Heb “lied down with him.”
[19:35] 838 tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”
[19:37] 839 tn Heb “the firstborn.”
[19:37] 840 sn The meaning of the name Moab is not certain. The name sounds like the Hebrew phrase “from our father” (מֵאָבִינוּ, me’avinu) which the daughters used twice (vv. 32, 34). This account is probably included in the narrative in order to portray the Moabites, who later became enemies of God’s people, in a negative light.
[19:38] 841 sn The name Ben-Ammi means “son of my people.” Like the account of Moab’s birth, this story is probably included in the narrative to portray the Ammonites, another perennial enemy of Israel, in a negative light.
[20:1] 842 tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”
[20:1] sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
[20:1] 843 tn Heb “and he sojourned.”
[20:3] 845 tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.
[20:3] 846 tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.
[20:4] 847 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[20:4] 848 tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.
[20:5] 849 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:5] 850 tn Heb “and she, even she.”
[20:5] 851 tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”
[20:6] 852 tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”
[20:6] 853 tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”
[20:6] 854 tn Heb “therefore.”
[20:7] 855 tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.
[20:7] 856 sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.
[20:7] 857 tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.
[20:7] sn He will pray for you that you may live. Abraham was known as a man of God whose prayer would be effectual. Ironically and sadly, he was also known as a liar.
[20:7] 858 tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.
[20:7] 859 tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.
[20:8] 860 tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”
[20:8] 861 tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”
[20:8] 862 tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”
[20:8] 863 tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[20:9] 864 tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.
[20:9] 865 tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.
[20:10] 866 tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”
[20:10] 867 tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.
[20:11] 868 tn Heb “Because I said.”
[20:11] 869 tn Heb “over the matter of.”
[20:12] 870 tn Heb “but also.”
[20:13] 871 tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”
[20:13] 872 tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”
[20:14] 873 tn Heb “took and gave.”
[20:15] 874 tn Heb “In the [place that is] good in your eyes live!”
[20:16] 875 sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).
[20:16] 876 sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).
[20:16] 877 tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).
[20:18] 878 tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”
[20:18] 879 tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
[20:18] sn The
[20:18] 880 tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[21:1] 881 sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the
[21:1] 882 tn Heb “and the
[21:2] 884 tn Or “she conceived.”
[21:3] 885 tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.
[21:4] 886 tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.
[21:4] 887 sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the
[21:5] 888 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).
[21:6] 889 tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”
[21:6] 890 tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[21:6] 891 sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).
[21:7] 893 tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.
[21:8] 895 sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.
[21:9] 897 tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.
[21:9] sn Mocking. Here Sarah interprets Ishmael’s actions as being sinister. Ishmael probably did not take the younger child seriously and Sarah saw this as a threat to Isaac. Paul in Gal 4:29 says that Ishmael persecuted Isaac. He uses a Greek word that can mean “to put to flight; to chase away; to pursue” and may be drawing on a rabbinic interpretation of the passage. In Paul’s analogical application of the passage, he points out that once the promised child Isaac (symbolizing Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promise) has come, there is no room left for the slave woman and her son (who symbolize the Mosaic law).
[21:10] 898 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.
[21:11] 899 tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.
[21:12] 900 tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”
[21:12] 901 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] 902 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.
[21:12] 903 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.
[21:14] 904 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
[21:14] 905 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
[21:14] 906 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] 907 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
[21:14] 908 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.
[21:15] 909 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.
[21:16] 910 sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).
[21:16] 912 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] 913 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.
[21:17] 914 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
[21:17] 915 tn Heb “What to you?”
[21:17] 916 sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
[21:19] 917 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.
[21:21] 918 sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.
[21:21] 919 tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”
[21:22] 920 sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.
[21:23] 921 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
[21:23] 922 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
[21:23] 923 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
[21:23] 924 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
[21:23] 926 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
[21:24] 927 tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.
[21:25] 928 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.
[21:25] 929 tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”
[21:25] 930 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.
[21:26] 931 tn Heb “and also.”
[21:27] 932 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:29] 933 tn Heb “What are these?”
[21:30] 934 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
[21:30] 935 sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.
[21:31] 936 tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”
[21:31] 937 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.
[21:31] 938 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
[21:32] 939 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:32] 940 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
[21:32] 941 sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.
[21:33] 942 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:33] 943 sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.
[21:33] 944 tn Heb “he called there in the name of the
[21:34] 945 tn Heb “many days.”
[22:1] 946 sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.
[22:1] 947 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 948 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 949 sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.
[22:2] 950 sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.
[22:2] 951 sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.
[22:2] 952 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
[22:3] 953 tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”
[22:3] 954 tn Heb “he arose and he went.”
[22:4] 955 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”
[22:5] 956 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
[22:5] 957 tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.
[22:5] 958 tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.
[22:5] 959 tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”
[22:5] 960 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.
[22:6] 961 sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.
[22:7] 962 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[22:7] 963 tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).
[22:7] 964 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:8] 965 tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”
[22:8] sn God will provide is the central theme of the passage and the turning point in the story. Note Paul’s allusion to the story in Rom 8:32 (“how shall he not freely give us all things?”) as well as H. J. Schoeps, “The Sacrifice of Isaac in Paul’s Theology,” JBL 65 (1946): 385-92.
[22:9] 966 sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?
[22:9] 967 sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.
[22:10] 968 tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”
[22:11] 969 sn Heb “the messenger of the
[22:12] 970 tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
[22:12] 971 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] 972 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
[22:12] 973 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.
[22:13] 974 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
[22:13] 975 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.
[22:13] 976 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
[22:13] 977 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:14] 978 tn Heb “the Lord sees” (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, yÿhvah yir’eh, traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.
[22:14] 979 sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.
[22:14] 980 sn The saying connected with these events has some ambiguity, which was probably intended. The Niphal verb could be translated (1) “in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen/provided” or (2) “in the mountain the Lord will appear.” If the temple later stood here (see the note on “Moriah” in Gen 22:2), the latter interpretation might find support, for the people went to the temple to appear before the Lord, who “appeared” to them by providing for them his power and blessings. See S. R. Driver, Genesis, 219.
[22:16] 981 tn Heb “By myself I swear.”
[22:16] 982 tn Heb “the oracle of the
[22:17] 983 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.
[22:17] 984 tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).
[22:17] sn I will greatly multiply. The
[22:17] 985 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[22:17] 987 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).
[22:18] 988 tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.
[22:18] sn Because you have obeyed me. Abraham’s obedience brought God’s ratification of the earlier conditional promise (see Gen 12:2).
[22:18] 989 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
[22:19] 990 tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”
[22:19] 991 tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.
[22:20] 992 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.
[22:21] 993 sn This parenthetical note about Kemuel’s descendant is probably a later insertion by the author/compiler of Genesis and not part of the original announcement.
[22:23] 994 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).
[23:1] 995 tn Heb “And the years of Sarah were one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.”
[23:2] 996 tn Heb “Sarah.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“she”) for stylistic reasons.
[23:2] 997 sn Mourn…weep. The description here is of standard mourning rites (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD3 149-50). They would have been carried out in the presence of the corpse, probably in Sarah’s tent. So Abraham came in to mourn; then he rose up to go and bury his dead (v. 3).
[23:3] 998 tn Heb “And Abraham arose from upon the face of his dead.”
[23:3] 999 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (also in vv. 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
[23:4] 1000 tn Heb “a resident alien and a settler.”
[23:4] 1001 tn Heb “give,” which is used here as an idiom for “sell” (see v. 9). The idiom reflects the polite bartering that was done in the culture at the time.
[23:4] 1002 tn Or “possession.”
[23:4] 1003 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose.
[23:4] 1004 tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:5] 1005 tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”
[23:6] 1006 tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”
[23:6] 1007 tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.
[23:6] 1008 tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:7] 1009 tn Heb “to the people of the land” (also in v. 12).
[23:8] 1010 tn Heb “If it is with your purpose.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here has the nuance “purpose” or perhaps “desire” (see BDB 661 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ).
[23:8] 1011 tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:8] 1013 tn Heb “intercede for me with.”
[23:9] 1014 tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.
[23:9] 1015 tn Heb “in your presence.”
[23:10] 1017 tn Or perhaps “Hittite,” but see the note on the name “Heth” in v. 3.
[23:10] 1018 tn Heb “ears.” By metonymy the “ears” stand for the presence or proximity (i.e., within earshot) of the persons named.
[23:10] 1019 sn On the expression all who entered the gate see E. A. Speiser, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956): 20-23; and G. Evans, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate: A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958): 28-33.
[23:11] 1020 tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.
[23:11] 1021 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[23:11] 1022 tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”
[23:13] 1025 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.
[23:15] 1026 tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:15] 1027 sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).
[23:16] 1028 tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”
[23:16] 1029 tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”
[23:16] 1030 tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:16] 1032 tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[23:16] 1033 tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.
[23:17] 1034 tn Heb “And it was conveyed.” The recipient, Abraham (mentioned in the Hebrew text at the beginning of v. 18) has been placed here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:18] 1035 tn Heb “his city”; the referent (Ephron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:18] sn See G. M. Tucker, “The Legal Background of Genesis 23,” JBL 85 (1966):77-84; and M. R. Lehmann, “Abraham’s Purchase of Machpelah and Hittite Law,” BASOR 129 (1953): 15-18.
