Kejadian 3:1

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now ¹  the serpent ²  was more shrewd ³ 

than any of the wild animals ⁴  that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that ⁵  God ⁶  said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ⁷ 

Kejadian 6:16

6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches ⁸  from the top. ⁹  Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

Kejadian 22:12

22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ¹⁰  the angel said. ¹¹  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ¹²  that you fear ¹³  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

Kejadian 24:14

24:14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ ¹⁴  In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” ¹⁵ 

Kejadian 31:13

31:13 I am the God of Bethel, ¹⁶  where you anointed ¹⁷  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ¹⁸  Now leave this land immediately ¹⁹  and return to your native land.’”

Kejadian 32:10

32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ²⁰  you have shown ²¹  your servant. With only my walking stick ²²  I crossed the Jordan, ²³  but now I have become two camps.

Kejadian 34:30

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ²⁴  on me by making me a foul odor ²⁵  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ²⁶  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”

Kejadian 42:38

42:38 But Jacob ²⁷  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ²⁸  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ²⁹  in sorrow to the grave.” ³⁰ 

Kejadian 43:16

43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.”

Kejadian 43:18

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ³¹  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ³²  He wants to capture us, ³³  make us slaves, and take ³⁴  our donkeys!”

Kejadian 45:23

45:23 To his father he sent the following: ³⁵  ten donkeys loaded with the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, food, and provisions for his father’s journey.

Kejadian 50:24

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ³⁶  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ³⁷  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

[3:1]  ¹ tn The chapter begins with a disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate) that introduces a new character and a new scene in the story.

[3:1]  ² sn Many theologians identify or associate the serpent with Satan. In this view Satan comes in the disguise of a serpent or speaks through a serpent. This explains the serpent’s capacity to speak. While later passages in the Bible may indicate there was a satanic presence behind the serpent (see, for example, Rev 12:9), the immediate context pictures the serpent as simply one of the animals of the field created by God (see vv. 1, 14). An ancient Jewish interpretation explains the reference to the serpent in a literal manner, attributing the capacity to speak to all the animals in the orchard. This text (Jub. 3:28) states, “On that day [the day the man and woman were expelled from the orchard] the mouth of all the beasts and cattle and birds and whatever walked or moved was stopped from speaking because all of them used to speak to one another with one speech and one language [presumed to be Hebrew, see 12:26].” Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.41) attributes the serpent’s actions to jealousy. He writes that “the serpent, living in the company of Adam and his wife, grew jealous of the blessings which he supposed were destined for them if they obeyed God’s behests, and, believing that disobedience would bring trouble on them, he maliciously persuaded the woman to taste of the tree of wisdom.”

[3:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew word עָרוּם (’arum) basically means “clever.” This idea then polarizes into the nuances “cunning” (in a negative sense, see Job 5:12; 15:5), and “prudent” in a positive sense (Prov 12:16, 23; 13:16; 14:8, 15, 18; 22:3; 27:12). This same polarization of meaning can be detected in related words derived from the same root (see Exod 21:14; Josh 9:4; 1 Sam 23:22; Job 5:13; Ps 83:3). The negative nuance obviously applies in Gen 3, where the snake attempts to talk the woman into disobeying God by using half-truths and lies.

[3:1]  sn There is a wordplay in Hebrew between the words “naked” (עֲרוּמִּים, ’arummim) in 2:25 and “shrewd” (עָרוּם, ’arum) in 3:1. The point seems to be that the integrity of the man and the woman is the focus of the serpent’s craftiness. At the beginning they are naked and he is shrewd; afterward, they will be covered and he will be cursed.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “animals of the field.”

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Indeed that God said.” The beginning of the quotation is elliptical and therefore difficult to translate. One must supply a phrase like “is it true”: “Indeed, [is it true] that God said.”

[3:1]  ⁶ sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [Lord God] because there is no covenant relationship involved between God and the serpent. He only speaks of “God.” In the process the serpent draws the woman into his manner of speech so that she too only speaks of “God.”

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “you must not eat from all the tree[s] of the orchard.” After the negated prohibitive verb, מִכֹּל (mikkol, “from all”) has the meaning “from any.” Note the construction in Lev 18:26, where the statement “you must not do from all these abominable things” means “you must not do any of these abominable things.” See Lev 22:25 and Deut 28:14 as well.

[6:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “a cubit.”

[6:16]  ⁹ 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.

[22:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ¹³ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[24:14]  ¹⁴ sn I will also give your camels water. It would be an enormous test for a young woman to water ten camels. The idea is that such a woman would not only be industrious but hospitable and generous.

[24:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And let the young woman to whom I say, ‘Lower your jar that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink and I will also give your camels water,’ – her you have appointed for your servant, for Isaac, and by it I will know that you have acted in faithfulness with my master.”

[31:13]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[31:13]  ¹⁷ sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the Lord as an anointing. Jacob had consecrated the place.

[31:13]  ¹⁸ sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the Lord when he anointed the stone (Gen 28:20-22). God is now going to take him back to the land, and so he will have to fulfill his vow.

[31:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.

[31:13]  sn Leave this land immediately. The decision to leave was a wise one in view of the changed attitude in Laban and his sons. But more than that, it was the will of God. Jacob needed to respond to God’s call – the circumstances simply made it easier.

[32:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  ²² tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

[32:10]  ²³ tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[34:30]  ²⁴ tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.

[34:30]  ²⁵ tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.

[34:30]  ²⁶ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

[42:38]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:38]  ²⁸ sn The expression he alone is left meant that (so far as Jacob knew) Benjamin was the only surviving child of his mother Rachel.

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

[42:38]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.

[43:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[43:18]  ³² tn Heb “in the beginning,” that is, at the end of their first visit.

[43:18]  ³³ tn Heb “to roll himself upon us and to cause himself to fall upon us.” The infinitives here indicate the purpose (as viewed by the brothers) for their being brought to Joseph’s house.

[43:18]  ³⁴ tn The word “take” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:23]  ³⁵ tn Heb “according to this.”

[50:24]  ³⁶ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”

[50:24]  ³⁷ tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.