Kejadian 20:11

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ¹  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ²  my wife.’

Kejadian 26:1

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred ³  in the days of Abraham. ⁴  Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Kejadian 31:39

31:39 Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. ⁵  You always made me pay for every missing animal, ⁶  whether it was taken by day or at night.

Kejadian 38:26

38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright ⁷  than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her ⁸  again.

Kejadian 42:36

42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ⁹  Simeon is gone. ¹⁰  And now you want to take ¹¹  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

Kejadian 43:8

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. ¹²  Then we will live ¹³  and not die – we and you and our little ones.

Kejadian 49:4

49:4 You are destructive ¹⁴  like water and will not excel, ¹⁵ 

for you got on your father’s bed, ¹⁶ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ¹⁷ 

[20:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ² tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[26:1]  ³ tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”

[26:1]  ⁴ sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.

[31:39]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form indicates that this was a customary or typical action.

[31:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “from my hand you exacted it.” The imperfect verbal form again indicates that this was a customary or typical action. The words “for every missing animal” are supplied in the translation for clarity; the following clause in Hebrew, “stolen by day or stolen by night,” probably means “stolen by wild beasts” and refers to the same animals “torn by wild beasts” in the previous clause, although it may refer to animals stolen by people. The translation used here, “missing,” is ambiguous enough to cover either eventuality.

[38:26]  ⁷ tn Traditionally “more righteous”; cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT “more in the right.”

[38:26]  sn She is more upright than I. Judah had been irresponsible and unfaithful to his duty to see that the family line continued through the levirate marriage of his son Shelah. Tamar fought for her right to be the mother of Judah’s line. When she was not given Shelah and Judah’s wife died, she took action on her own to ensure that the line did not die out. Though deceptive, it was a desperate and courageous act. For Tamar it was within her rights; she did nothing that the law did not entitle her to do. But for Judah it was wrong because he thought he was going to a prostitute. See also Susan Niditch, “The Wronged Woman Righted: An Analysis of Genesis 38,” HTR 72 (1979): 143-48.

[38:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[42:36]  ⁹ tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ¹¹ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.

[43:8]  ¹² tn Heb “and we will rise up and we will go.” The first verb is adverbial and gives the expression the sense of “we will go immediately.”

[43:8]  ¹³ tn After the preceding cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form (either imperfect or cohortative) with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or result.

[49:4]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).

[49:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).

[49:4]  ¹⁶ sn This is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse with Jacob’s wives (see Gen 35:22).

[49:4]  ¹⁷ tn The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this passage see S. Gevirtz, “The Reprimand of Reuben,” JNES 30 (1971): 87-98.