Kejadian 12:3

12:3 I will bless those who bless you, ¹ 

but the one who treats you lightly ²  I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another ³  by your name.”

Kejadian 19:4

19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, ⁴  all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. ⁵ 

Kejadian 20:17

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

Kejadian 24:5

24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me ⁶  to this land? Must I then ⁷  take your son back to the land from which you came?”

Kejadian 24:27

24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love ⁸  for my master! The Lord has led me ⁹  to the house ¹⁰  of my master’s relatives!” ¹¹ 

Kejadian 26:10

26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? ¹²  One of the men ¹³  might easily have had sexual relations with ¹⁴  your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

Kejadian 41:51

41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, ¹⁵  saying, ¹⁶  “Certainly ¹⁷  God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”

Kejadian 41:55

41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, ¹⁸  “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

[12:3]  ¹ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

[12:3]  ² 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 mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

[12:3]  ³ 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.

[19:4]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[24:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “to go after me.”

[24:5]  ⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.

[24:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”

[24:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “As for me – in the way the Lord led me.”

[24:27]  ¹⁰ tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.

[24:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[26:10]  ¹² tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[26:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “people.”

[26:10]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”

[41:51]  ¹⁵ sn The name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh) describes God’s activity on behalf of Joseph, explaining in general the significance of his change of fortune. The name is a Piel participle, suggesting the meaning “he who brings about forgetfulness.” The Hebrew verb נַשַּׁנִי (nashani) may have been used instead of the normal נִשַּׁנִי (nishani) to provide a closer sound play with the name. The giving of this Hebrew name to his son shows that Joseph retained his heritage and faith; and it shows that a brighter future was in store for him.

[41:51]  ¹⁶ tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:51]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for.”

[41:55]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to all Egypt.” The name of the country is used by metonymy for the inhabitants.