Kejadian 21:16-17

21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ¹  away; for she thought, ²  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ³  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ⁴ 

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ⁵  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ⁶  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ⁷  the boy’s voice right where he is crying.

Kejadian 30:20

30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ⁸ 

Kejadian 38:16

38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” ⁹  (He did not realize ¹⁰  it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” ¹¹ 

Kejadian 44:18

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ¹²  Please do not get angry with your servant, ¹³  for you are just like Pharaoh. ¹⁴ 

[21:16]  ¹ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ² tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.

[21:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “What to you?”

[21:17]  ⁷ sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.

[30:20]  ⁸ sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.

[38:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will go to you.” The imperfect verbal form probably indicates his desire here. The expression “go to” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for he did not know that.”

[38:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[44:18]  ¹² tn Heb “Please my lord, let your servant speak a word into the ears of my lord.”

[44:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “and let not your anger burn against your servant.”

[44:18]  ¹⁴ sn You are just like Pharaoh. Judah’s speech begins with the fear and trembling of one who stands condemned. Joseph has as much power as Pharaoh, either to condemn or to pardon. Judah will make his appeal, wording his speech in such a way as to appeal to Joseph’s compassion for the father, whom he mentions no less than fourteen times in the speech.