Kejadian 38:1-30
Konteks38:1 At that time Judah left 1 his brothers and stayed 2 with an Adullamite man 3 named Hirah.
38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man 4 named Shua. 5 Judah acquired her as a wife 6 and had marital relations with her. 7 38:3 She became pregnant 8 and had a son. Judah named 9 him Er. 38:4 She became pregnant again and had another son, whom she named Onan. 38:5 Then she had 10 yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib. 11
38:6 Judah acquired 12 a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. 38:7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord killed him.
38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with 13 your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise 14 up a descendant for your brother.” 15 38:9 But Onan knew that the child 16 would not be considered his. 17 So whenever 18 he had sexual relations with 19 his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely 20 so as not to give his brother a descendant. 38:10 What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord 21 killed him too.
38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, 22 “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” 23 So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
38:12 After some time 24 Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with 25 his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 38:13 Tamar was told, 26 “Look, your father-in-law is going up 27 to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 38:14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because 28 she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) 29
38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute 30 because she had covered her face. 38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” 31 (He did not realize 32 it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” 33 38:17 He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?” 34 38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. 35 She became pregnant by him. 38:19 She left immediately, 36 removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.
38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah 37 the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, 38 but Hirah 39 could not find her. 38:21 He asked the men who were there, 40 “Where is the cult prostitute 41 who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.” 38:22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’” 38:23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things 42 for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. 43 I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”
38:24 After three months Judah was told, 44 “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, 45 and as a result she has become pregnant.” 46 Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 38:25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word 47 to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” 48 Then she said, “Identify 49 the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.” 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright 50 than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her 51 again.
38:27 When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 38:28 While she was giving birth, one child 52 put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 38:29 But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. 53 She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!” 54 So he was named Perez. 55 38:30 Afterward his brother came out – the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand – and he was named Zerah. 56
Kejadian 3:1--5:32
Konteks3:1 Now 57 the serpent 58 was more shrewd 59
than any of the wild animals 60 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 61 God 62 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 63 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat 64 of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3:3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, 65 or else you will die.’” 66 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, 67 3:5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open 68 and you will be like divine beings who know 69 good and evil.” 70
3:6 When 71 the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, 72 was attractive 73 to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, 74 she took some of its fruit and ate it. 75 She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 76 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about 77 in the orchard at the breezy time 78 of the day, and they hid 79 from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 3:9 But the Lord God called to 80 the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 81 3:10 The man replied, 82 “I heard you moving about 83 in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the Lord God 84 said, “Who told you that you were naked? 85 Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 86 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave 87 me some fruit 88 from the tree and I ate it.” 3:13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this 89 you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent 90 tricked 91 me, and I ate.”
3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent, 92
“Because you have done this,
cursed 93 are you above all the wild beasts
and all the living creatures of the field!
On your belly you will crawl 94
and dust you will eat 95 all the days of your life.
3:15 And I will put hostility 96 between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring; 97
her offspring will attack 98 your head,
and 99 you 100 will attack her offspring’s heel.” 101
3:16 To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase 102 your labor pains; 103
with pain you will give birth to children.
You will want to control your husband, 104
but he will dominate 105 you.”
“Because you obeyed 107 your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
cursed is the ground 108 thanks to you; 109
in painful toil you will eat 110 of it all the days of your life.
3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
but you will eat the grain 111 of the field.
3:19 By the sweat of your brow 112 you will eat food
until you return to the ground, 113
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” 114
3:20 The man 115 named his wife Eve, 116 because 117 she was the mother of all the living. 118 3:21 The Lord God made garments from skin 119 for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 3:22 And the Lord God said, “Now 120 that the man has become like one of us, 121 knowing 122 good and evil, he must not be allowed 123 to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 3:23 So the Lord God expelled him 124 from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 3:24 When he drove 125 the man out, he placed on the eastern side 126 of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries 127 who used the flame of a whirling sword 128 to guard the way to the tree of life.
4:1 Now 129 the man had marital relations with 130 his wife Eve, and she became pregnant 131 and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created 132 a man just as the Lord did!” 133 4:2 Then she gave birth 134 to his brother Abel. 135 Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. 136
4:3 At the designated time 137 Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering 138 to the Lord. 4:4 But Abel brought 139 some of the firstborn of his flock – even the fattest 140 of them. And the Lord was pleased with 141 Abel and his offering, 4:5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. 142 So Cain became very angry, 143 and his expression was downcast. 144
4:6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 4:7 Is it not true 145 that if you do what is right, you will be fine? 146 But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching 147 at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” 148
4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” 149 While they were in the field, Cain attacked 150 his brother 151 Abel and killed him.
4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” 152 And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” 153 4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? 154 The voice 155 of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 4:11 So now, you are banished 156 from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12 When you try to cultivate 157 the
ground it will no longer yield 158 its best 159 for you. You will be a homeless wanderer 160 on the earth.” 4:13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment 161 is too great to endure! 162 4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land 163 today, and I must hide from your presence. 164 I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.” 4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, 165 if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” 166 Then the Lord put a special mark 167 on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. 168 4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, 169 east of Eden.
4:17 Cain had marital relations 170 with his wife, and she became pregnant 171 and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after 172 his son Enoch. 4:18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father 173 of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
4:19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first 174 of those who live in tents and keep 175 livestock. 4:21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 4:22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped 176 all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
4:23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah! Listen to me!
You wives of Lamech, hear my words!
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man 177 for hurting me.
4:24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much,
then Lamech seventy-seven times!” 178
4:25 And Adam had marital relations 179 with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given 180 me another child 181 in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 4:26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people 182 began to worship 183 the Lord.
5:1 This is the record 184 of the family line 185 of Adam.
When God created humankind, 186 he made them 187 in the likeness of God. 5:2 He created them male and female; when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind.” 188
5:3 When 189 Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth. 5:4 The length of time Adam lived 190 after he became the father of Seth was 800 years; during this time he had 191 other 192 sons and daughters. 5:5 The entire lifetime 193 of Adam was 930 years, and then he died. 194
5:6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father 195 of Enosh. 5:7 Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had 196 other 197 sons and daughters. 5:8 The entire lifetime of Seth was 912 years, and then he died.
5:9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 5:10 Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:11 The entire lifetime of Enosh was 905 years, and then he died.
5:12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 5:13 Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:14 The entire lifetime of Kenan was 910 years, and then he died.
5:15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 5:16 Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:17 The entire lifetime of Mahalalel was 895 years, and then he died.
5:18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 5:19 Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:20 The entire lifetime of Jared was 962 years, and then he died.
5:21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 5:22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 198 for 300 years, 199 and he had other 200 sons and daughters. 5:23 The entire lifetime of Enoch was 365 years. 5:24 Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared 201 because God took 202 him away.
5:25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 5:26 Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other 203 sons and daughters. 5:27 The entire lifetime of Methuselah was 969 years, and then he died.
5:28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 5:29 He named him Noah, 204 saying, “This one will bring us comfort 205 from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed.” 5:30 Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other 206 sons and daughters. 5:31 The entire lifetime of Lamech was 777 years, and then he died.
5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, he 207 became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Kejadian 27:1--30:43
Konteks27:1 When 208 Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, 209 he called his older 210 son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau 211 replied. 27:2 Isaac 212 said, “Since 213 I am so old, I could die at any time. 214 27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game 215 for me. 27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then 216 I will eat it so that I may bless you 217 before I die.”
27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. 218 When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 219 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat 220 it and bless you 221 in the presence of the Lord 222 before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do 223 exactly what I tell you! 224 27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare 225 them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 27:10 Then you will take 226 it to your father. Thus he will eat it 227 and 228 bless you before he dies.”
27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 229 27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him 230 and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, 231 my son! Just obey me! 232 Go and get them for me!”
27:14 So he went and got the goats 233 and brought them to his mother. She 234 prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 27:15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats 235 on his hands 236 and the smooth part of his neck. 27:17 Then she handed 237 the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac 238 replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” 239 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up 240 and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” 241 27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world 242 did you find it so quickly, 243 my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” 244 he replied. 245 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, 246 my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” 247 27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. 248 27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob 249 replied. 27:25 Isaac 250 said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. 251 Then I will bless you.” 252 So Jacob 253 brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac 254 drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob 255 went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent 256 of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,
“Yes, 257 my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
27:28 May God give you
the dew of the sky 258
and the richness 259 of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
27:29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
You will be 260 lord 261 over your brothers,
and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. 262
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”
27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left 263 his father’s 264 presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 265 27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau 266 said to him, “My father, get up 267 and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” 268 27:32 His father Isaac asked, 269 “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” 270 he replied, “Esau!” 27:33 Isaac began to shake violently 271 and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. 272 He will indeed be blessed!”
27:34 When Esau heard 273 his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. 274 He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 27:35 But Isaac 275 replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away 276 your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! 277 He has tripped me up 278 two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”
27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” 279 Then Esau wept loudly. 280
27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,
“Indeed, 281 your home will be
away from the richness 282 of the earth,
and away from the dew of the sky above.
27:40 You will live by your sword
but you will serve your brother.
When you grow restless,
you will tear off his yoke
from your neck.” 283
27:41 So Esau hated 284 Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. 285 Esau said privately, 286 “The time 287 of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill 288 my brother Jacob!”
27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 289 she quickly summoned 290 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 291 27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. 292 Run away immediately 293 to my brother Laban in Haran. 27:44 Live with him for a little while 294 until your brother’s rage subsides. 27:45 Stay there 295 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. 296 Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 297
27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed 298 because of these daughters of Heth. 299 If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” 300
28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! 301 28:2 Leave immediately 302 for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the sovereign God 303 bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! 304 Then you will become 305 a large nation. 306 28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham 307 so that you may possess the land 308 God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” 309 28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. 310 As he blessed him, 311 Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 312 28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized 313 that the Canaanite women 314 were displeasing to 315 his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married 316 Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.
28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place 317 where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. 318 He took one of the stones 319 and placed it near his head. 320 Then he fell asleep 321 in that place 28:12 and had a dream. 322 He saw 323 a stairway 324 erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 28:13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. 325 I will give you and your descendants the ground 326 you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, 327 and you will spread out 328 to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 329 using your name and that of your descendants. 330 28:15 I am with you! 331 I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”
28:16 Then Jacob woke up 332 and thought, 333 “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”
28:18 Early 334 in the morning Jacob 335 took the stone he had placed near his head 336 and set it up as a sacred stone. 337 Then he poured oil on top of it. 28:19 He called that place Bethel, 338 although the former name of the town was Luz. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food 339 to eat and clothing to wear, 28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home, 340 then the Lord will become my God. 28:22 Then this stone 341 that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely 342 give you back a tenth of everything you give me.” 343
29:1 So Jacob moved on 344 and came to the land of the eastern people. 345 29:2 He saw 346 in the field a well with 347 three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now 348 a large stone covered the mouth of the well. 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds 349 would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.
29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.” 29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson 350 of Nahor?” “We know him,” 351 they said. 29:6 “Is he well?” 352 Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. 353 Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 29:7 Then Jacob 354 said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, 355 it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” 356 29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water 357 the sheep.”
29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. 358 29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, 359 and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he 360 went over 361 and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. 362 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly. 363 29:12 When Jacob explained 364 to Rachel that he was a relative of her father 365 and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father. 29:13 When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob 366 told Laban how he was related to him. 367 29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” 368 So Jacob 369 stayed with him for a month. 370
29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work 371 for me for nothing because you are my relative? 372 Tell me what your wages should be.” 29:16 (Now Laban had two daughters; 373 the older one was named Leah, and the younger one Rachel. 29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, 374 but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.) 375 29:18 Since Jacob had fallen in love with 376 Rachel, he said, “I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.” 29:19 Laban replied, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. 377 Stay with me.” 29:20 So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. 378 But they seemed like only a few days to him 379 because his love for her was so great. 380
29:21 Finally Jacob said 381 to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. 382 I want to have marital relations with her.” 383 29:22 So Laban invited all the people 384 of that place and prepared a feast. 29:23 In the evening he brought his daughter Leah 385 to Jacob, 386 and Jacob 387 had marital relations with her. 388 29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 389
29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! 390 So Jacob 391 said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! 392 Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked 393 me?” 29:26 “It is not our custom here,” 394 Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage 395 before the firstborn. 29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week. 396 Then we will give you the younger one 397 too, in exchange for seven more years of work.” 398
29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. 399 When Jacob 400 completed Leah’s bridal week, 401 Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 402 29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 403 29:30 Jacob 404 had marital relations 405 with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban 406 for seven more years. 407
29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, 408 he enabled her to become pregnant 409 while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant 410 and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, 411 for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. 412 Surely my husband will love me now.”
29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, 413 he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 414
29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, 415 because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. 416
29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. 417 Then she stopped having children.
30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she 418 became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children 419 or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious 420 with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” 421 30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with 422 her so that she can bear 423 children 424 for me 425 and I can have a family through her.” 426
30:4 So Rachel 427 gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with 428 her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant 429 and gave Jacob a son. 430 30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer 431 and given me a son.” That is why 432 she named him Dan. 433
30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. 434 30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” 435 So she named him Naphtali. 436
30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave 437 her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. 438 30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” 439 So she named him Gad. 440
30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. 441 30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, 442 for women 443 will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. 444
30:14 At the time 445 of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants 446 in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, 447 “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” 448 Rachel said, “he may sleep 449 with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep 450 with me because I have paid for your services 451 with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations 452 with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention 453 to Leah; she became pregnant 454 and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. 455 30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward 456 because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” 457 So she named him Issachar. 458
30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. 459 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. 460
30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
30:22 Then God took note of 461 Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. 462 30:23 She became pregnant 463 and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 464 30:24 She named him Joseph, 465 saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
30:25 After Rachel had given birth 466 to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send 467 me on my way so that I can go 468 home to my own country. 469 30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. 470 Then I’ll depart, 471 because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” 472
30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, 473 for I have learned by divination 474 that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” 475
30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, 476 “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 477 30:30 Indeed, 478 you had little before I arrived, 479 but now your possessions have increased many times over. 480 The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. 481 But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” 482
30:31 So Laban asked, 483 “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” 484 Jacob replied, 485 “but if you agree to this one condition, 486 I will continue to care for 487 your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among 488 all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, 489 and the spotted or speckled goats. 490 These animals will be my wages. 491 30:33 My integrity will testify for me 492 later on. 493 When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, 494 if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” 495 30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” 496
30:35 So that day Laban 497 removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care 498 of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, 499 while 500 Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 501 30:39 When the sheep mated 502 in front of the branches, they 503 gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face 504 the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, 505 Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. 506 So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban 507 and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob 508 became extremely prosperous. He owned 509 large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.
[38:1] 1 tn Heb “went down from.”
[38:1] 2 tn Heb “and he turned aside unto.”
[38:1] 3 tn Heb “a man, an Adullamite.”
[38:2] 4 tn Heb “a man, a Canaanite.”
[38:2] 5 tn Heb “and his name was Shua.”
[38:2] 6 tn Heb “and he took her.”
[38:2] 7 tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:3] 8 tn Or “she conceived” (also in the following verse).
[38:3] 9 tc Some
[38:3] tn Heb “and he called his name.” The referent (Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[38:5] 10 tn Heb “and she added again and she gave birth.” The first verb and the adverb emphasize that she gave birth once more.
[38:5] 11 tn Or “and he [i.e., Judah] was in Kezib when she gave birth to him.”
[38:6] 12 tn Heb “and Judah took.”
[38:8] 13 tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:8] 14 tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.
[38:8] 15 sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.
[38:9] 17 tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.
[38:9] 18 tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.
[38:9] sn The text makes it clear that the purpose of the custom was to produce an heir for the deceased brother. Onan had no intention of doing that. But he would have sex with the girl as much as he wished. He was willing to use the law to gratify his desires, but was not willing to do the responsible thing.
[38:9] 19 tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:9] 20 tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.
[38:10] 21 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[38:11] 23 tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”
[38:11] sn I don’t want him to die like his brothers. This clause explains that Judah had no intention of giving Shelah to Tamar for the purpose of the levirate marriage. Judah apparently knew the nature of his sons, and feared that God would be angry with the third son and kill him as well.
[38:12] 24 sn After some time. There is not enough information in the narrative to know how long this was. The text says “the days increased.” It was long enough for Shelah to mature and for Tamar to realize she would not have him.
[38:12] 25 tn Heb “and he went up to the shearers of his sheep, he and.”
[38:13] 26 tn Heb “And it was told to Tamar, saying.”
[38:13] 27 tn The active participle indicates the action was in progress or about to begin.
[38:14] 28 tn The Hebrew text simply has “because,” connecting this sentence to what precedes. For stylistic reasons the words “she did this” are supplied in the translation and a new sentence begun.
[38:14] 29 tn Heb “she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she was not given to him as a wife.”
[38:15] 30 tn Heb “he reckoned her for a prostitute,” which was what Tamar had intended for him to do. She obviously had some idea of his inclinations, or she would not have tried this risky plan.
[38:16] 31 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] 32 tn Heb “for he did not know that.”
[38:16] 33 tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:17] 34 tn Heb “until you send.”
[38:18] 35 tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:19] 36 tn Heb “and she arose and left,” the first verb in the pair emphasizing that she wasted no time.
[38:20] 37 tn Heb “sent by the hand of his friend.” Here the name of the friend (“Hirah”) has been included in the translation for clarity.
[38:20] 38 tn Heb “to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand.”
[38:20] 39 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Judah’s friend Hirah the Adullamite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[38:21] 40 tn Heb “the men of her place,” that is, who lived at the place where she had been.
[38:21] 41 sn The Hebrew noun translated “cult prostitute” is derived from a verb meaning “to be set apart; to be distinct.” Thus the term refers to a woman who did not marry, but was dedicated to temple service as a cult prostitute. The masculine form of this noun is used for male cult prostitutes. Judah thought he had gone to an ordinary prostitute (v. 15); but Hirah went looking for a cult prostitute, perhaps because it had been a sheep-shearing festival. For further discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, “Cultic Prostitution,” Orient and Occident (AOAT), 213-23.
[38:23] 42 tn The words “the things” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[38:23] 43 tn Heb “we will become contemptible.” The Hebrew word בּוּז (buz) describes the contempt that a respectable person would have for someone who is worthless, foolish, or disreputable.
[38:24] 44 tn Heb “it was told to Judah, saying.”
[38:24] 45 tn Or “has been sexually promiscuous.” The verb may refer here to loose or promiscuous activity, not necessarily prostitution.
[38:24] 46 tn Heb “and also look, she is with child by prostitution.”
[38:25] 47 tn Heb “she was being brought out and she sent.” The juxtaposition of two clauses, both of which place the subject before the predicate, indicates synchronic action.
[38:25] 48 tn Heb “who these to him.”
[38:25] 49 tn Or “ recognize; note.” This same Hebrew verb (נָכַר, nakhar) is used at the beginning of v. 26, where it is translated “recognized.”
[38:26] 50 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] 51 tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
[38:28] 52 tn The word “child” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[38:29] 53 tn Heb “Look, his brother came out.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through the midwife’s eyes. The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[38:29] 54 tn Heb “How you have made a breach for yourself!” The Hebrew verb translated “make a breach” frequently occurs, as here, with a cognate accusative. The event provided the meaningful name Perez, “he who breaks through.”
[38:29] 55 sn The name Perez means “he who breaks through,” referring to Perez reaching out his hand at birth before his brother was born. The naming signified the completion of Tamar’s struggle and also depicted the destiny of the tribe of Perez who later became dominant (Gen 46:12 and Num 26:20). Judah and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, thinking they could thwart God’s plan that the elder brothers should serve the younger. God demonstrated that principle through these births in Judah’s own family, affirming that the elder will serve the younger, and that Joseph’s leadership could not so easily be set aside. See J. Goldin, “The Youngest Son; or, Where Does Genesis 38 Belong?” JBL 96 (1977): 27-44.
[38:30] 56 sn Perhaps the child was named Zerah because of the scarlet thread. Though the Hebrew word used for “scarlet thread” in v. 28 is not related to the name Zerah, there is a related root in Babylonian and western Aramaic that means “scarlet” or “scarlet thread.” In Hebrew the name appears to be derived from a root meaning “to shine.” The name could have originally meant something like “shining one” or “God has shined.” Zerah became the head of a tribe (Num 26:20) from whom Achan descended (Josh 7:1).
[3:1] 57 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] 58 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] 59 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] 60 tn Heb “animals of the field.”
[3:1] 61 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] 62 sn God. The serpent does not use the expression “Yahweh God” [
[3:1] 63 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.
[3:2] 64 tn There is a notable change between what the
[3:3] 65 sn And you must not touch it. The woman adds to God’s prohibition, making it say more than God expressed. G. von Rad observes that it is as though she wanted to set a law for herself by means of this exaggeration (Genesis [OTL], 86).
[3:3] 66 tn The Hebrew construction is פֶּן (pen) with the imperfect tense, which conveys a negative purpose: “lest you die” = “in order that you not die.” By stating the warning in this way, the woman omits the emphatic infinitive used by God (“you shall surely die,” see 2:17).
[3:4] 67 tn The response of the serpent includes the infinitive absolute with a blatant negation equal to saying: “Not – you will surely die” (לֹא מוֹת תִּמֻתען, lo’ mot tÿmutun). The construction makes this emphatic because normally the negative particle precedes the finite verb. The serpent is a liar, denying that there is a penalty for sin (see John 8:44).
[3:4] sn Surely you will not die. Here the serpent is more aware of what the
[3:5] 68 tn Or “you will have understanding.” This obviously refers to the acquisition of the “knowledge of good and evil,” as the next statement makes clear.
[3:5] 69 tn Or perhaps “like God, knowing.” It is unclear how the plural participle translated “knowing” is functioning. On the one hand, יֹדְעֵי (yodÿ’e) could be taken as a substantival participle functioning as a predicative adjective in the sentence. In this case one might translate: “You will be, like God himself, knowers of good and evil.” On the other hand, it could be taken as an attributive adjective modifying אֱלֹהִים (’elohim). In this case אֱלֹהִים has to be taken as a numerical plural referring to “gods,” “divine beings,” for if the one true God were the intended referent, a singular form of the participle would almost certainly appear as a modifier. Following this line of interpretation, one could translate, “You will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” The following context may favor this translation, for in 3:22 God says to an unidentified group, “Look, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” It is probable that God is addressing his heavenly court (see the note on the word “make” in 1:26), the members of which can be called “gods” or “divine beings” from the ancient Israelite perspective. (We know some of these beings as messengers or “angels.”) An examination of parallel constructions shows that a predicative understanding (“you will be, like God himself, knowers of good and evil,” cf. NIV, NRSV) is possible, but rare (see Gen 27:23, where “hairy” is predicative, complementing the verb “to be”). The statistical evidence strongly suggests that the participle is attributive, modifying “divine beings” (see Ps 31:12; Isa 1:30; 13:14; 16:2; 29:5; 58:11; Jer 14:9; 20:9; 23:9; 31:12; 48:41; 49:22; Hos 7:11; Amos 4:11). In all of these texts, where a comparative clause and accompanying adjective/participle follow a copulative (“to be”) verb, the adjective/participle is attributive after the noun in the comparative clause.
[3:5] 70 sn You will be like divine beings who know good and evil. The serpent raises doubts about the integrity of God. He implies that the only reason for the prohibition was that God was protecting the divine domain. If the man and woman were to eat, they would enter into that domain. The temptation is to overstep divinely established boundaries. (See D. E. Gowan, When Man Becomes God [PTMS], 25.)
[3:6] 71 tn Heb “And the woman saw.” The clause can be rendered as a temporal clause subordinate to the following verb in the sequence.
[3:6] 72 tn Heb “that the tree was good for food.” The words “produced fruit that was” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[3:6] 73 tn The Hebrew word תַּאֲוָה (ta’avah, translated “attractive” here) actually means “desirable.” This term and the later term נֶחְמָד (nekhmad, “desirable”) are synonyms.
[3:6] sn Attractive (Heb “desirable”)…desirable. These are different words in Hebrew. The verbal roots for both of these forms appear in Deut 5:21 in the prohibition against coveting. Strong desires usually lead to taking.
[3:6] 74 tn Heb “that good was the tree for food, and that desirable it was to the eyes, and desirable was the tree to make one wise.” On the connection between moral wisdom and the “knowledge of good and evil,” see the note on the word “evil” in 2:9.
[3:6] sn Desirable for making one wise. The quest for wisdom can follow the wrong course, as indeed it does here. No one can become like God by disobeying God. It is that simple. The Book of Proverbs stresses that obtaining wisdom begins with the fear of God that is evidenced through obedience to his word. Here, in seeking wisdom, Eve disobeys God and ends up afraid of God.
[3:6] 75 tn The pronoun “it” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied (here and also after “ate” at the end of this verse) for stylistic reasons.
[3:6] sn She took…and ate it. The critical word now discloses the disobedience: “[she] ate.” Since the
[3:6] 76 sn This pericope (3:1-7) is a fine example of Hebrew narrative structure. After an introductory disjunctive clause that introduces a new character and sets the stage (3:1), the narrative tension develops through dialogue, culminating in the action of the story. Once the dialogue is over, the action is told in a rapid sequence of verbs – she took, she ate, she gave, and he ate.
[3:8] 77 tn The Hitpael participle of הָלָךְ (halakh, “to walk, to go”) here has an iterative sense, “moving” or “going about.” While a translation of “walking about” is possible, it assumes a theophany, the presence of the
[3:8] 78 tn The expression is traditionally rendered “cool of the day,” because the Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruakh) can mean “wind.” U. Cassuto (Genesis: From Adam to Noah, 152-54) concludes after lengthy discussion that the expression refers to afternoon when it became hot and the sun was beginning to decline. J. J. Niehaus (God at Sinai [SOTBT], 155-57) offers a different interpretation of the phrase, relating יוֹם (yom, usually understood as “day”) to an Akkadian cognate umu (“storm”) and translates the phrase “in the wind of the storm.” If Niehaus is correct, then God is not pictured as taking an afternoon stroll through the orchard, but as coming in a powerful windstorm to confront the man and woman with their rebellion. In this case קוֹל יְהוָה (qol yÿhvah, “sound of the
[3:8] 79 tn The verb used here is the Hitpael, giving the reflexive idea (“they hid themselves”). In v. 10, when Adam answers the
[3:9] 80 tn The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call”) followed by the preposition אֶל־ or לְ (’el- or lÿ, “to, unto”) often carries the connotation of “summon.”
[3:9] 81 sn Where are you? The question is probably rhetorical (a figure of speech called erotesis) rather than literal, because it was spoken to the man, who answers it with an explanation of why he was hiding rather than a location. The question has more the force of “Why are you hiding?”
[3:10] 82 tn Heb “and he said.”
[3:10] 83 tn Heb “your sound.” If one sees a storm theophany here (see the note on the word “time” in v. 8), then one could translate, “your powerful voice.”
[3:11] 84 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (the
[3:11] 85 sn Who told you that you were naked? This is another rhetorical question, asking more than what it appears to ask. The second question in the verse reveals the
[3:11] 86 sn The Hebrew word order (“Did you from the tree – which I commanded you not to eat from it – eat?”) is arranged to emphasize that the man’s and the woman’s eating of the fruit was an act of disobedience. The relative clause inserted immediately after the reference to the tree brings out this point very well.
[3:12] 87 tn The Hebrew construction in this sentence uses an independent nominative absolute (formerly known as a casus pendens). “The woman” is the independent nominative absolute; it is picked up by the formal subject, the pronoun “she” written with the verb (“she gave”). The point of the construction is to throw the emphasis on “the woman.” But what makes this so striking is that a relative clause has been inserted to explain what is meant by the reference to the woman: “whom you gave me.” Ultimately, the man is blaming God for giving him the woman who (from the man’s viewpoint) caused him to sin.
[3:12] 88 tn The words “some fruit” here and the pronoun “it” at the end of the sentence are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.
[3:13] 89 tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun is enclitic, serving as an undeclined particle for emphasis. It gives the sense of “What in the world have you done?” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
[3:13] 90 sn The Hebrew word order puts the subject (“the serpent”) before the verb here, giving prominence to it.
[3:13] 91 tn This verb (the Hiphil of נָשָׁא, nasha) is used elsewhere of a king or god misleading his people into false confidence (2 Kgs 18:29 = 2 Chr 32:15 = Isa 36:14; 2 Kgs 19:10 = Isa 37:10), of an ally deceiving a partner (Obad 7), of God deceiving his sinful people as a form of judgment (Jer 4:10), of false prophets instilling their audience with false hope (Jer 29:8), and of pride and false confidence producing self-deception (Jer 37:9; 49:16; Obad 3).
[3:14] 92 sn Note that God asks no question of the serpent, does not call for confession, as he did to the man and the woman; there is only the announcement of the curse. The order in this section is chiastic: The man is questioned, the woman is questioned, the serpent is cursed, sentence is passed on the woman, sentence is passed on the man.
[3:14] 93 tn The Hebrew word translated “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as comparative, then the idea is “cursed [i.e., punished] are you above [i.e., more than] all the wild beasts.” In this case the comparative preposition reflects the earlier comparison: The serpent was more shrewd than all others, and so more cursed than all others. If the preposition is taken as separative (see the note on the word “ground” in 4:11), then the idea is “cursed and banished from all the wild beasts.” In this case the serpent is condemned to isolation from all the other animals.
[3:14] 94 tn Heb “go”; “walk,” but in English “crawl” or “slither” better describes a serpent’s movement.
[3:14] 95 sn Dust you will eat. Being restricted to crawling on the ground would necessarily involve “eating dust,” although that is not the diet of the serpent. The idea of being brought low, of “eating dust” as it were, is a symbol of humiliation.
[3:15] 96 tn The Hebrew word translated “hostility” is derived from the root אֵיב (’ev, “to be hostile, to be an adversary [or enemy]”). The curse announces that there will be continuing hostility between the serpent and the woman. The serpent will now live in a “battle zone,” as it were.
[3:15] 97 sn The Hebrew word translated “offspring” is a collective singular. The text anticipates the ongoing struggle between human beings (the woman’s offspring) and deadly poisonous snakes (the serpent’s offspring). An ancient Jewish interpretation of the passage states: “He made the serpent, cause of the deceit, press the earth with belly and flank, having bitterly driven him out. He aroused a dire enmity between them. The one guards his head to save it, the other his heel, for death is at hand in the proximity of men and malignant poisonous snakes.” See Sib. Or. 1:59-64. For a similar interpretation see Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.50-51).
[3:15] 98 tn Heb “he will attack [or “bruise”] you [on] the head.” The singular pronoun and verb agree grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “head” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A crushing blow to the head would be potentially fatal.
[3:15] 99 tn Or “but you will…”; or “as they attack your head, you will attack their heel.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is understood as contrastive. Both clauses place the subject before the verb, a construction that is sometimes used to indicate synchronic action (see Judg 15:14).
[3:15] 100 sn You will attack her offspring’s heel. Though the conflict will actually involve the serpent’s offspring (snakes) and the woman’s offspring (human beings), v. 15b for rhetorical effect depicts the conflict as being between the serpent and the woman’s offspring, as if the serpent will outlive the woman. The statement is personalized for the sake of the addressee (the serpent) and reflects the ancient Semitic concept of corporate solidarity, which emphasizes the close relationship between a progenitor and his offspring. Note Gen 28:14, where the
[3:15] 101 tn Heb “you will attack him [on] the heel.” The verb (translated “attack”) is repeated here, a fact that is obscured by some translations (e.g., NIV “crush…strike”). The singular pronoun agrees grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “heel” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A bite on the heel from a poisonous serpent is potentially fatal.
[3:15] sn The etiological nature of v. 15 is apparent, though its relevance for modern western man is perhaps lost because we rarely come face to face with poisonous snakes. Ancient Israelites, who often encountered snakes in their daily activities (see, for example, Eccl 10:8; Amos 5:19), would find the statement quite meaningful as an explanation for the hostility between snakes and humans. (In the broader ancient Near Eastern context, compare the Mesopotamian serpent omens. See H. W. F. Saggs, The Greatness That Was Babylon, 309.) This ongoing struggle, when interpreted in light of v. 15, is a tangible reminder of the conflict introduced into the world by the first humans’ rebellion against God. Many Christian theologians (going back to Irenaeus) understand v. 15 as the so-called protevangelium, supposedly prophesying Christ’s victory over Satan (see W. Witfall, “Genesis 3:15 – a Protevangelium?” CBQ 36 [1974]: 361-65; and R. A. Martin, “The Earliest Messianic Interpretation of Genesis 3:15,” JBL 84 [1965]: 425-27). In this allegorical approach, the woman’s offspring is initially Cain, then the whole human race, and ultimately Jesus Christ, the offspring (Heb “seed”) of the woman (see Gal 4:4). The offspring of the serpent includes the evil powers and demons of the spirit world, as well as those humans who are in the kingdom of darkness (see John 8:44). According to this view, the passage gives the first hint of the gospel. Satan delivers a crippling blow to the Seed of the woman (Jesus), who in turn delivers a fatal blow to the Serpent (first defeating him through the death and resurrection [1 Cor 15:55-57] and then destroying him in the judgment [Rev 12:7-9; 20:7-10]). However, the grammatical structure of Gen 3:15b does not suggest this view. The repetition of the verb “attack,” as well as the word order, suggests mutual hostility is being depicted, not the defeat of the serpent. If the serpent’s defeat were being portrayed, it is odd that the alleged description of his death comes first in the sentence. If he has already been crushed by the woman’s “Seed,” how can he bruise his heel? To sustain the allegorical view, v. 15b must be translated in one of the following ways: “he will crush your head, even though you attack his heel” (in which case the second clause is concessive) or “he will crush your head as you attack his heel” (the clauses, both of which place the subject before the verb, may indicate synchronic action).
[3:16] 102 tn The imperfect verb form is emphasized and intensified by the infinitive absolute from the same verb.
[3:16] 103 tn Heb “your pain and your conception,” suggesting to some interpreters that having a lot of children was a result of the judgment (probably to make up for the loss through death). But the next clause shows that the pain is associated with conception and childbirth. The two words form a hendiadys (where two words are joined to express one idea, like “good and angry” in English), the second explaining the first. “Conception,” if the correct meaning of the noun, must be figurative here since there is no pain in conception; it is a synecdoche, representing the entire process of childbirth and child rearing from the very start. However, recent etymological research suggests the noun is derived from a root הרר (hrr), not הרה (hrh), and means “trembling, pain” (see D. Tsumura, “A Note on הרוֹן (Gen 3,16),” Bib 75 [1994]: 398-400). In this case “pain and trembling” refers to the physical effects of childbirth. The word עִצְּבוֹן (’itsÿvon, “pain”), an abstract noun related to the verb (עָצַב, ’atsav), includes more than physical pain. It is emotional distress as well as physical pain. The same word is used in v. 17 for the man’s painful toil in the field.
[3:16] 104 tn Heb “and toward your husband [will be] your desire.” The nominal sentence does not have a verb; a future verb must be supplied, because the focus of the oracle is on the future struggle. The precise meaning of the noun תְּשׁוּקָה (tÿshuqah, “desire”) is debated. Many interpreters conclude that it refers to sexual desire here, because the subject of the passage is the relationship between a wife and her husband, and because the word is used in a romantic sense in Song 7:11 HT (7:10 ET). However, this interpretation makes little sense in Gen 3:16. First, it does not fit well with the assertion “he will dominate you.” Second, it implies that sexual desire was not part of the original creation, even though the man and the woman were told to multiply. And third, it ignores the usage of the word in Gen 4:7 where it refers to sin’s desire to control and dominate Cain. (Even in Song of Songs it carries the basic idea of “control,” for it describes the young man’s desire to “have his way sexually” with the young woman.) In Gen 3:16 the
[3:16] 105 tn The Hebrew verb מָשַׁל (mashal) means “to rule over,” but in a way that emphasizes powerful control, domination, or mastery. This also is part of the baser human nature. The translation assumes the imperfect verb form has an objective/indicative sense here. Another option is to understand it as having a modal, desiderative nuance, “but he will want to dominate you.” In this case, the
[3:16] sn This passage is a judgment oracle. It announces that conflict between man and woman will become the norm in human society. It does not depict the NT ideal, where the husband sacrificially loves his wife, as Christ loved the church, and where the wife recognizes the husband’s loving leadership in the family and voluntarily submits to it. Sin produces a conflict or power struggle between the man and the woman, but in Christ man and woman call a truce and live harmoniously (Eph 5:18-32).
[3:17] 106 tn Since there is no article on the word, the personal name is used, rather than the generic “the man” (cf. NRSV).
[3:17] 107 tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” often means “obey.” The man “obeyed” his wife and in the process disobeyed God.
[3:17] 108 sn For the ground to be cursed means that it will no longer yield its bounty as the blessing from God had promised. The whole creation, Paul writes in Rom 8:22, is still groaning under this curse, waiting for the day of redemption.
[3:17] 109 tn The Hebrew phrase בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ (ba’avurekha) is more literally translated “on your account” or “because of you.” The idiomatic “thanks to you” in the translation tries to capture the point of this expression.
[3:17] 110 sn In painful toil you will eat. The theme of eating is prominent throughout Gen 3. The prohibition was against eating from the tree of knowledge. The sin was in eating. The interrogation concerned the eating from the tree of knowledge. The serpent is condemned to eat the dust of the ground. The curse focuses on eating in a “measure for measure” justice. Because the man and the woman sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, God will forbid the ground to cooperate, and so it will be through painful toil that they will eat.
[3:18] 111 tn The Hebrew term עֵשֶׂב (’esev), when referring to human food, excludes grass (eaten by cattle) and woody plants like vines.
[3:19] 112 tn The expression “the sweat of your brow” is a metonymy, the sweat being the result of painful toil in the fields.
[3:19] 113 sn Until you return to the ground. The theme of humankind’s mortality is critical here in view of the temptation to be like God. Man will labor painfully to provide food, obviously not enjoying the bounty that creation promised. In place of the abundance of the orchard’s fruit trees, thorns and thistles will grow. Man will have to work the soil so that it will produce the grain to make bread. This will continue until he returns to the soil from which he was taken (recalling the creation in 2:7 with the wordplay on Adam and ground). In spite of the dreams of immortality and divinity, man is but dust (2:7), and will return to dust. So much for his pride.
[3:19] 114 sn In general, the themes of the curse oracles are important in the NT teaching that Jesus became the cursed one hanging on the tree. In his suffering and death, all the motifs are drawn together: the tree, the sweat, the thorns, and the dust of death (see Ps 22:15). Jesus experienced it all, to have victory over it through the resurrection.
[3:20] 115 tn Or “Adam”; however, the Hebrew term has the definite article here.
[3:20] 116 sn The name Eve means “Living one” or “Life-giver” in Hebrew.
[3:20] 117 tn The explanatory clause gives the reason for the name. Where the one doing the naming gives the explanation, the text normally uses “saying”; where the narrator explains it, the explanatory clause is typically used.
[3:20] 118 tn The explanation of the name forms a sound play (paronomasia) with the name. “Eve” is חַוָּה (khavvah) and “living” is חַי (khay). The name preserves the archaic form of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) with the middle vav (ו) instead of yod (י). The form חַי (khay) is derived from the normal form חַיָּה (khayyah). Compare the name Yahweh (יְהוָה) explained from הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) rather than from הַוָה (havah). The biblical account stands in contrast to the pagan material that presents a serpent goddess hawwat who is the mother of life. See J. Heller, “Der Name Eva,” ArOr 26 (1958): 636-56; and A. F. Key, “The Giving of Proper Names in the OT,” JBL 83 (1964): 55-59.
[3:21] 119 sn The
[3:22] 120 tn The particle הֵן (hen) introduces a foundational clause, usually beginning with “since, because, now.”
[3:22] 121 sn The man has become like one of us. See the notes on Gen 1:26 and 3:5.
[3:22] 122 tn The infinitive explains in what way the man had become like God: “knowing good and evil.”
[3:22] 123 tn Heb “and now, lest he stretch forth.” Following the foundational clause, this clause forms the main point. It is introduced with the particle פֶּן (pen) which normally introduces a negative purpose, “lest….” The construction is elliptical; something must be done lest the man stretch forth his hand. The translation interprets the point intended.
[3:23] 124 tn The verb is the Piel preterite of שָׁלַח (shalakh), forming a wordplay with the use of the same verb (in the Qal stem) in v. 22: To prevent the man’s “sending out” his hand, the
[3:24] 125 tn The verb with the vav (ו) consecutive is made subordinate to the next verb forming a temporal clause. This avoids any tautology with the previous verse that already stated that the
[3:24] 126 tn Or “placed in front.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.
[3:24] 127 tn The Hebrew word is traditionally transliterated “the cherubim.”
[3:24] sn Angelic sentries (Heb “cherubim”). The cherubim in the Bible seem to be a class of angels that are composite in appearance. Their main task seems to be guarding. Here they guard the way to the tree of life. The curtain in the tabernacle was to be embroidered with cherubim as well, symbolically guarding the way to God. (See in addition A. S. Kapelrud, “The Gates of Hell and the Guardian Angels of Paradise,” JAOS 70 [1950]: 151-56; and D. N. Freedman and M. P. O’Connor, TDOT 7:307-19.)
[3:24] 128 tn Heb “the flame of the sword that turns round and round.” The noun “flame” is qualified by the genitive of specification, “the sword,” which in turn is modified by the attributive participle “whirling.” The Hitpael of the verb “turn” has an iterative function here, indicating repeated action. The form is used in Job 37:12 of swirling clouds and in Judg 7:13 of a tumbling roll of bread. Verse 24 depicts the sword as moving from side to side to prevent anyone from passing or as whirling around, ready to cut to shreds anyone who tries to pass.
[4:1] 129 tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.
[4:1] 130 tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
[4:1] 131 tn Or “she conceived.”
[4:1] 132 tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.
[4:1] 133 tn Heb “with the
[4:1] sn Since Exod 6:3 seems to indicate that the name Yahweh (יְהוָה, yÿhvah, translated
[4:2] 134 tn Heb “And she again gave birth.”
[4:2] 135 sn The name Abel is not defined here in the text, but the tone is ominous. Abel’s name, the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hevel), means “breath, vapor, vanity,” foreshadowing Abel’s untimely and premature death.
[4:2] 136 tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (ro’eh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (’oved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.
[4:3] 137 tn Heb “And it happened at the end of days.” The clause indicates the passing of a set period of time leading up to offering sacrifices.
[4:3] 138 tn The Hebrew term מִנְחָה (minkhah, “offering”) is a general word for tribute, a gift, or an offering. It is the main word used in Lev 2 for the dedication offering. This type of offering could be comprised of vegetables. The content of the offering (vegetables, as opposed to animals) was not the critical issue, but rather the attitude of the offerer.
[4:4] 139 tn Heb “But Abel brought, also he….” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) stresses the contrast between Cain’s offering and Abel’s.
[4:4] 140 tn Two prepositional phrases are used to qualify the kind of sacrifice that Abel brought: “from the firstborn” and “from the fattest of them.” These also could be interpreted as a hendiadys: “from the fattest of the firstborn of the flock.” Another option is to understand the second prepositional phrase as referring to the fat portions of the sacrificial sheep. In this case one may translate, “some of the firstborn of his flock, even some of their fat portions” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).
[4:4] sn Here are two types of worshipers – one (Cain) merely discharges a duty at the proper time, while the other (Abel) goes out of his way to please God with the first and the best.
[4:4] 141 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah) simply means “to gaze at, to have regard for, to look on with favor [or “with devotion”].” The text does not indicate how this was communicated, but it indicates that Cain and Abel knew immediately. Either there was some manifestation of divine pleasure given to Abel and withheld from Cain (fire consuming the sacrifice?), or there was an inner awareness of divine response.
[4:5] 142 sn The Letter to the Hebrews explains the difference between the brothers as one of faith – Abel by faith offered a better sacrifice. Cain’s offering as well as his reaction to God’s displeasure did not reflect faith. See further B. K. Waltke, “Cain and His Offering,” WTJ 48 (1986): 363-72.
[4:5] 143 tn Heb “and it was hot to Cain.” This Hebrew idiom means that Cain “burned” with anger.
[4:5] 144 tn Heb “And his face fell.” The idiom means that the inner anger is reflected in Cain’s facial expression. The fallen or downcast face expresses anger, dejection, or depression. Conversely, in Num 6 the high priestly blessing speaks of the
[4:7] 145 tn The introduction of the conditional clause with an interrogative particle prods the answer from Cain, as if he should have known this. It is not a condemnation, but an encouragement to do what is right.
[4:7] 146 tn The Hebrew text is difficult, because only one word occurs, שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et), which appears to be the infinitive construct from the verb “to lift up” (נָאָשׂ, na’as). The sentence reads: “If you do well, uplifting.” On the surface it seems to be the opposite of the fallen face. Everything will be changed if he does well. God will show him favor, he will not be angry, and his face will reflect that. But more may be intended since the second half of the verse forms the contrast: “If you do not do well, sin is crouching….” Not doing well leads to sinful attack; doing well leads to victory and God’s blessing.
[4:7] 147 tn The Hebrew term translated “crouching” (רֹבֵץ, rovets) is an active participle. Sin is portrayed with animal imagery here as a beast crouching and ready to pounce (a figure of speech known as zoomorphism). An Akkadian cognate refers to a type of demon; in this case perhaps one could translate, “Sin is the demon at the door” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 29, 32-33).
[4:7] 148 tn Heb “and toward you [is] its desire, but you must rule over it.” As in Gen 3:16, the Hebrew noun “desire” refers to an urge to control or dominate. Here the desire is that which sin has for Cain, a desire to control for the sake of evil, but Cain must have mastery over it. The imperfect is understood as having an obligatory sense. Another option is to understand it as expressing potential (“you can have [or “are capable of having”] mastery over it.”). It will be a struggle, but sin can be defeated by righteousness. In addition to this connection to Gen 3, other linguistic and thematic links between chaps. 3 and 4 are discussed by A. J. Hauser, “Linguistic and Thematic Links Between Genesis 4:1-6 and Genesis 2–3,” JETS 23 (1980): 297-306.
[4:8] 149 tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָּׂדֶה (basadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָּׂדֶה.
[4:8] 150 tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).
[4:8] 151 sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).
[4:9] 152 sn Where is Abel your brother? Again the
[4:9] 153 tn Heb “The one guarding my brother [am] I?”
[4:9] sn Am I my brother’s guardian? Cain lies and then responds with a defiant rhetorical question of his own in which he repudiates any responsibility for his brother. But his question is ironic, for he is responsible for his brother’s fate, especially if he wanted to kill him. See P. A. Riemann, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” Int 24 (1970): 482-91.
[4:10] 154 sn What have you done? Again the
[4:10] 155 tn The word “voice” is a personification; the evidence of Abel’s shed blood condemns Cain, just as a human eyewitness would testify in court. For helpful insights, see G. von Rad, Biblical Interpretations in Preaching; and L. Morris, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 6 (1955/56): 77-82.
[4:11] 156 tn Heb “cursed are you from the ground.” As in Gen 3:14, the word “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as indicating source, then the idea is “cursed (i.e., punished) are you from [i.e., “through the agency of”] the ground” (see v. 12a). If the preposition is taken as separative, then the idea is “cursed and banished from the ground.” In this case the ground rejects Cain’s efforts in such a way that he is banished from the ground and forced to become a fugitive out in the earth (see vv. 12b, 14).
[4:12] 158 tn Heb “it will not again (תֹסֵף, tosef) give (תֵּת, tet),” meaning the ground will no longer yield. In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb, and the imperfect verb form becomes adverbial.
[4:12] 159 tn Heb “its strength.”
[4:12] 160 tn Two similar sounding synonyms are used here: נָע וָנָד (na’ vanad, “a wanderer and a fugitive”). This juxtaposition of synonyms emphasizes the single idea. In translation one can serve as the main description, the other as a modifier. Other translation options include “a wandering fugitive” and a “ceaseless wanderer” (cf. NIV).
[4:13] 161 tn The primary meaning of the Hebrew word עָוֹן (’avon) is “sin, iniquity.” But by metonymy it can refer to the “guilt” of sin, or to “punishment” for sin. The third meaning applies here. Just before this the
[4:13] 162 tn Heb “great is my punishment from bearing.” The preposition מִן (min, “from”) is used here in a comparative sense.
[4:14] 163 tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”
[4:14] 164 sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the
[4:15] 165 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”
[4:15] 166 sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
[4:15] 167 tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.
[4:15] 168 sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.
[4:16] 169 sn The name Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew (see vv. 12, 14).
[4:17] 170 tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
[4:17] 171 tn Or “she conceived.”
[4:17] 172 tn Heb “according to the name of.”
[4:18] 173 tn Heb “and Irad fathered.”
[4:20] 174 tn Heb “father.” In this passage the word “father” means “founder,” referring to the first to establish such lifestyles and occupations.
[4:20] 175 tn The word “keep” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. Other words that might be supplied instead are “tend,” “raise” (NIV), or “have” (NRSV).
[4:22] 176 tn The traditional rendering here, “who forged” (or “a forger of”) is now more commonly associated with counterfeit or fraud (e.g., “forged copies” or “forged checks”) than with the forging of metal. The phrase “heated metal and shaped [it]” has been used in the translation instead.
[4:23] 177 tn The Hebrew term יֶלֶד (yeled) probably refers to a youthful warrior here, not a child.
[4:24] 178 sn Seventy-seven times. Lamech seems to reason this way: If Cain, a murderer, is to be avenged seven times (see v. 15), then how much more one who has been unjustly wronged! Lamech misses the point of God’s merciful treatment of Cain. God was not establishing a principle of justice when he warned he would avenge Cain’s murder. In fact he was trying to limit the shedding of blood, something Lamech wants to multiply instead. The use of “seventy-seven,” a multiple of seven, is hyperbolic, emphasizing the extreme severity of the vengeance envisioned by Lamech.
[4:25] 179 tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
[4:25] 180 sn The name Seth probably means something like “placed”; “appointed”; “set”; “granted,” assuming it is actually related to the verb that is used in the sentiment. At any rate, the name שֵׁת (shet) and the verb שָׁת (shat, “to place, to appoint, to set, to grant”) form a wordplay (paronomasia).
[4:25] 181 tn Heb “offspring.”
[4:26] 182 tn The word “people” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. The construction uses a passive verb without an expressed subject. “To call was begun” can be interpreted to mean that people began to call.
[4:26] 183 tn Heb “call in the name.” The expression refers to worshiping the
[5:1] 184 tn Heb “book” or “roll.” Cf. NIV “written account”; NRSV “list.”
[5:1] 185 tn Heb “generations.” See the note on the phrase “this is the account of” in 2:4.
[5:1] 186 tn The Hebrew text has אָדָם (’adam).
[5:1] 187 tn Heb “him.” The Hebrew text uses the third masculine singular pronominal suffix on the accusative sign. The pronoun agrees grammatically with its antecedent אָדָם (’adam). However, the next verse makes it clear that אָדָם is collective here and refers to “humankind,” so it is preferable to translate the pronoun with the English plural.
[5:2] 188 tn The Hebrew word used here is אָדָם (’adam).
[5:3] 189 tn Heb “and Adam lived 130 years.” In the translation the verb is subordinated to the following verb, “and he fathered,” and rendered as a temporal clause.
[5:4] 190 tn Heb “The days of Adam.”
[5:4] 191 tn Heb “he fathered.”
[5:4] 192 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[5:5] 193 tn Heb “all the days of Adam which he lived”
[5:5] 194 sn The genealogy traces the line from Adam to Noah and forms a bridge between the earlier accounts and the flood story. Its constant theme of the reign of death in the human race is broken once with the account of Enoch, but the genealogy ends with hope for the future through Noah. See further G. F. Hasel, “The Genealogies of Gen. 5 and 11 and their Alleged Babylonian Background,” AUSS 16 (1978): 361-74; idem, “Genesis 5 and 11,” Origins 7 (1980): 23-37.
[5:6] 195 tn Heb “he fathered.”
[5:7] 196 tn Heb “he fathered.”
[5:7] 197 tn Here and in vv. 10, 13, 16, 19 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[5:22] 198 sn With the seventh panel there is a digression from the pattern. Instead of simply saying that Enoch lived, the text observes that he “walked with God.” The rare expression “walked with” (the Hitpael form of the verb הָלָךְ, halakh, “to walk” collocated with the preposition אֶת, ’et, “with”) is used in 1 Sam 25:15 to describe how David’s men maintained a cordial and cooperative relationship with Nabal’s men as they worked and lived side by side in the fields. In Gen 5:22 the phrase suggests that Enoch and God “got along.” This may imply that Enoch lived in close fellowship with God, leading a life of devotion and piety. An early Jewish tradition, preserved in 1 En. 1:9 and alluded to in Jude 14, says that Enoch preached about the coming judgment. See F. S. Parnham, “Walking with God,” EvQ 46 (1974): 117-18.
[5:22] 199 tn Heb “and Enoch walked with God, after he became the father of Methuselah, [for] 300 years.”
[5:22] 200 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[5:24] 201 tn The Hebrew construction has the negative particle אֵין (’en, “there is not,” “there was not”) with a pronominal suffix, “he was not.” Instead of saying that Enoch died, the text says he no longer was present.
[5:24] 202 sn The text simply states that God took Enoch. Similar language is used of Elijah’s departure from this world (see 2 Kgs 2:10). The text implies that God overruled death for this man who walked with him.
[5:26] 203 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[5:29] 204 sn The name Noah appears to be related to the Hebrew word נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”). There are several wordplays on the name “Noah” in the story of the flood.
[5:29] 205 tn The Hebrew verb יְנַחֲמֵנוּ (yÿnakhamenu) is from the root נָחָם (nakham), which means “to comfort” in the Piel verbal stem. The letters נ (nun) and ח (heth) pick up the sounds in the name “Noah,” forming a paronomasia on the name. They are not from the same verbal root, and so the connection is only by sound. Lamech’s sentiment reflects the oppression of living under the curse on the ground, but also expresses the hope for relief in some way through the birth of Noah. His words proved to be ironic but prophetic. The relief would come with a new beginning after the flood. See E. G. Kraeling, “The Interpretations of the Name Noah in Genesis 5:29,” JBL 48 (1929): 138-43.
[5:30] 206 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[5:32] 207 tn Heb “Noah.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:1] 208 tn The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.
[27:1] 209 tn Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”
[27:1] 210 tn Heb “greater” (in terms of age).
[27:1] 211 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 212 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaac) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 213 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here introduces a logically foundational statement, upon which the coming instruction will be based.
[27:2] 214 tn Heb “I do not know the day of my death.”
[27:3] 215 tn The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד (tsayid) following the marginal reading (Qere), or צֵידָה (tsedah) following the consonantal text (Kethib). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה (tsudah, “hunt down”).
[27:4] 216 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:4] 217 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.
[27:5] 218 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.
[27:5] 219 tc The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.
[27:7] 220 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:7] 221 tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.
[27:7] 222 tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the
[27:8] 223 tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The Hebrew idiom means “to comply; to obey.”
[27:8] 224 tn Heb “to that which I am commanding you.”
[27:9] 225 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:10] 226 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.
[27:10] 227 tn The form is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.
[27:10] 228 tn Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[27:11] 229 tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:12] 230 tn Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”
[27:13] 231 tn Heb “upon me your curse.”
[27:13] 232 tn Heb “only listen to my voice.”
[27:14] 233 tn The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:14] 234 tn Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:16] 235 tn In the Hebrew text the object (“the skins of the young goats”) precedes the verb. The disjunctive clause draws attention to this key element in the subterfuge.
[27:16] 236 tn The word “hands” probably includes the forearms here. How the skins were attached is not specified in the Hebrew text; cf. NLT “she made him a pair of gloves.”
[27:17] 237 tn Heb “gave…into the hand of.”
[27:18] 238 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:18] 239 sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.
[27:19] 240 tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.
[27:19] 241 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.
[27:20] 242 tn Heb “What is this?” The enclitic pronoun “this” adds emphasis to the question, which is comparable to the English rhetorical question, “How in the world?”
[27:20] 243 tn Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.
[27:20] 244 tn Heb “caused to meet before me.”
[27:20] 245 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Because the
[27:21] 246 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:21] 247 tn Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ.
[27:23] 248 tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:24] 249 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 250 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 251 tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[27:25] 252 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.
[27:25] 253 tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 254 tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:27] 255 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:27] 256 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:28] 258 tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”
[27:28] 259 tn Heb “and from the fatness.”
[27:29] 260 tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.
[27:29] 261 tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”
[27:29] 262 tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[27:30] 263 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
[27:30] 264 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
[27:30] 265 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
[27:31] 266 tn Heb “and he said to his father”; the referent of “he” (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity, while the words “his father” have been replaced by the pronoun “him” for stylistic reasons.
[27:31] 267 tn Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).
[27:31] 268 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”
[27:32] 270 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I [am] your son, your firstborn.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
[27:33] 271 tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.
[27:33] 272 tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”
[27:34] 273 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
[27:34] 274 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
[27:35] 275 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:35] 276 tn Or “took”; “received.”
[27:36] 277 tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.
[27:36] 278 sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”
[27:38] 279 tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:38] 280 tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”
[27:39] 282 tn Heb “from the fatness.”
[27:40] 283 sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.
[27:41] 284 tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.
[27:41] 285 tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”
[27:41] 286 tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.
[27:41] 288 tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.
[27:42] 289 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
[27:42] 290 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
[27:42] 291 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
[27:43] 292 tn Heb “listen to my voice.”
[27:43] 293 tn Heb “arise, flee.”
[27:44] 294 tn Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone twenty years and he never sees Rebekah again.
[27:45] 295 tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:45] 296 tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.
[27:45] 297 tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.
[27:46] 298 tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).
[27:46] 299 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), 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.
[27:46] 300 tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”
[28:1] 301 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:2] 302 tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.
[28:3] 303 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
[28:3] 304 tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.
[28:3] 305 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”
[28:3] 306 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
[28:4] 307 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
[28:4] 308 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[28:4] 309 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.
[28:6] 310 tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”
[28:6] 311 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.
[28:6] 312 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:8] 314 tn Heb “the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:8] 315 tn Heb “evil in the eyes of.”
[28:9] 316 tn Heb “took for a wife.”
[28:11] 317 tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.
[28:11] 318 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
[28:11] 319 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
[28:11] 320 tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.
[28:11] 321 tn Heb “lay down.”
[28:12] 322 tn Heb “and dreamed.”
[28:12] 323 tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the
[28:12] 324 tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.
[28:13] 325 tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.
[28:13] 326 tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.
[28:14] 327 tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.
[28:14] 328 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.
[28:14] 329 tn Theoretically the Niphal stem 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 Jacob were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in other 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/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 28:14 predicts that Jacob will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae (see Gen 12:2 and 18:18 as well, where Abram/Abraham receives this promise). For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.
[28:14] 330 tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”
[28:15] 331 tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).
[28:16] 332 tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[28:18] 334 tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”
[28:18] 335 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:18] 336 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.
[28:18] 337 tn Heb “standing stone.”
[28:18] sn Sacred stone. Such a stone could be used as a boundary marker, a burial stone, or as a shrine. Here the stone is intended to be a reminder of the stairway that was “erected” and on which the
[28:19] 338 tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).
[28:19] map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[28:20] 339 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
[28:21] 340 tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”
[28:22] 341 tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.
[28:22] 342 tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.
[28:22] 343 tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.
[29:1] 344 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.
[29:1] 345 tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”
[29:2] 346 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.” As in Gen 28:12-15, the narrator uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here and in the next clause to draw the reader into the story.
[29:2] 347 tn Heb “and look, there.”
[29:2] 348 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
[29:3] 349 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the shepherds) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:5] 351 tn Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the translation several introductory clauses throughout this section have been placed after the direct discourse they introduce for stylistic reasons as well.
[29:6] 352 tn Heb “and he said to them, ‘Is there peace to him?’”
[29:7] 354 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:7] 355 tn Heb “the day is great.”
[29:7] 356 tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.
[29:8] 357 tn The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.
[29:9] 358 tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”
[29:10] 359 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).
[29:10] 360 tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[29:10] 361 tn Heb “drew near, approached.”
[29:10] 362 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).
[29:11] 363 tn Heb “and he lifted up his voice and wept.” The idiom calls deliberate attention to the fact that Jacob wept out loud.
[29:12] 364 tn Heb “declared.”
[29:12] 365 tn Heb “that he [was] the brother of her father.”
[29:13] 366 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:13] 367 tn Heb “and he told to Laban all these things.” This might mean Jacob told Laban how he happened to be there, but Laban’s response (see v. 14) suggests “all these things” refers to what Jacob had previously told Rachel (see v. 12).
[29:14] 368 tn Heb “indeed, my bone and my flesh are you.” The expression sounds warm enough, but the presence of “indeed” may suggest that Laban had to be convinced of Jacob’s identity before permitting him to stay. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be someone’s blood relative. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12,); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17).
[29:14] 369 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:14] 370 tn Heb “a month of days.”
[29:15] 371 tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.
[29:15] 372 tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.
[29:16] 373 tn Heb “and to Laban [there were] two daughters.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a prepositional phrase) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, vv. 16-17 have been set in parentheses in the translation.
[29:17] 374 tn Heb “and the eyes of Leah were tender.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a noun) continues the parenthesis begun in v. 16. It is not clear what is meant by “tender” (or “delicate”) eyes. The expression may mean she had appealing eyes (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT), though some suggest that they were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. Either way, she did not measure up to her gorgeous sister.
[29:17] 375 tn Heb “and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.”
[29:18] 376 tn Heb “Jacob loved.”
[29:19] 377 tn Heb “Better my giving her to you than my giving her to another man.”
[29:20] 378 tn Heb “in exchange for Rachel.”
[29:20] 379 sn But they seemed like only a few days to him. This need not mean that the time passed quickly. More likely it means that the price seemed insignificant when compared to what he was getting in the bargain.
[29:20] 380 tn Heb “because of his love for her.” The words “was so great” are supplied for stylistic reasons.
[29:21] 381 tn Heb “and Jacob said.”
[29:21] 382 tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”
[29:21] 383 tn Heb “and I will go in to her.” The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “that I may go in,” or it may be an independent clause expressing his desire. The verb “go in” in this context refers to sexual intercourse (i.e., the consummation of the marriage).
[29:23] 385 tn Heb “and it happened in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her.”
[29:23] sn His daughter Leah. Laban’s deception of Jacob by giving him the older daughter instead of the younger was God’s way of disciplining the deceiver who tricked his older brother. D. Kidner says this account is “the very embodiment of anti-climax, and this moment a miniature of man’s disillusion, experienced from Eden onwards” (Genesis [TOTC], 160). G. von Rad notes, “That Laban secretly gave the unloved Leah to the man in love was, to be sure, a monstrous blow, a masterpiece of shameless treachery…It was certainly a move by which he won for himself far and wide the coarsest laughter” (Genesis [OTL], 291).
[29:23] 386 tn Heb “to him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:23] 387 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:23] 388 tn Heb “went in to her.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
[29:24] 389 tn Heb “and Laban gave to her Zilpah his female servant, to Leah his daughter [for] a servant.” This clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
[29:25] 390 tn Heb “and it happened in the morning that look, it was Leah.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
[29:25] 391 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:25] 392 tn Heb What is this you have done to me?” The use of the pronoun “this” is enclitic, adding emphasis to the question: “What in the world have you done to me?”
[29:25] 393 sn The Hebrew verb translated tricked here (רָמָה, ramah) is cognate to the noun used in Gen 27:35 to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering that what goes around, comes around. See J. A. Diamond, “The Deception of Jacob: A New Perspective on an Ancient Solution to the Problem,” VT 34 (1984): 211-13.
[29:26] 394 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘It is not done so in our place.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[29:26] 395 tn Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[29:27] 396 tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.
[29:27] sn Bridal week. An ancient Hebrew marriage ceremony included an entire week of festivities (cf. Judg 14:12).
[29:27] 397 tn Heb “this other one.”
[29:27] 398 tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”
[29:27] sn In exchange for seven more years of work. See C. H. Gordon, “The Story of Jacob and Laban in the Light of the Nuzi Tablets,” BASOR 66 (1937): 25-27; and J. Van Seters, “Jacob’s Marriages and Ancient Near Eastern Customs: A Reassessment,” HTR 62 (1969): 377-95.
[29:28] 399 tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[29:28] 400 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:28] 401 tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.
[29:28] 402 tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:29] 403 tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”
[29:30] 404 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:30] 405 tn Heb “went in also to Rachel.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
[29:30] 406 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:30] 407 tn Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”
[29:31] 408 tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.
[29:31] 409 tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”
[29:32] 410 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
[29:32] 411 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”
[29:32] 412 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”
[29:32] sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the
[29:33] 413 tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.
[29:33] 414 sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the
[29:34] 415 tn Heb “will be joined to me.”
[29:34] 416 sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.
[29:35] 417 sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.
[30:1] 418 tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:2] 420 tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”
[30:2] 421 tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”
[30:3] 422 tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
[30:3] 423 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.
[30:3] 424 tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:3] 425 tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.
[30:3] 426 tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).
[30:4] 427 tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:4] 428 tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
[30:5] 429 tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).
[30:5] 430 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”
[30:6] 431 tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.
[30:6] 433 sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.
[30:7] 434 tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”
[30:8] 435 tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.
[30:8] 436 sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”
[30:9] 437 tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”
[30:10] 438 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”
[30:11] 439 tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial בְּ (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”
[30:11] 440 sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.
[30:12] 441 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”
[30:13] 442 tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”
[30:13] 443 tn Heb “daughters.”
[30:13] 444 sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.
[30:14] 445 tn Heb “during the days.”
[30:14] 446 sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.
[30:15] 447 tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:15] 448 tn Heb “therefore.”
[30:15] 449 tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
[30:16] 450 tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.
[30:16] 451 tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.
[30:16] 452 tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.
[30:17] 453 tn Heb “listened to.”
[30:17] 454 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).
[30:17] 455 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.
[30:18] 456 tn Heb “God has given my reward.”
[30:18] 457 tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).
[30:18] sn Leah seems to regard the act of giving her servant Zilpah to her husband as a sacrifice, for which (she believes) God is now rewarding her with the birth of a son.
[30:18] 458 sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.
[30:19] 459 tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.
[30:20] 460 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.
[30:22] 461 tn Heb “remembered.”
[30:22] 462 tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons
[30:23] 463 tn Or “conceived.”
[30:23] 464 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.
[30:24] 465 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
[30:25] 466 tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.
[30:25] 467 tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.
[30:25] sn For Jacob to ask to leave would mean that seven more years had passed. Thus all Jacob’s children were born within the range of seven years of each other, with Joseph coming right at the end of the seven years.
[30:25] 468 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[30:25] 469 tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”
[30:26] 470 tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.
[30:26] 471 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[30:26] 472 tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”
[30:27] 473 tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[30:27] 474 tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the
[30:28] 475 tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”
[30:29] 476 tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:29] 477 tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”
[30:30] 479 tn Heb “before me.”
[30:30] 480 tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”
[30:30] 481 tn Heb “at my foot.”
[30:30] 482 tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”
[30:31] 483 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:31] 484 tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.
[30:31] 485 tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:31] 486 tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”
[30:31] 487 tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”
[30:32] 488 tn Heb “pass through.”
[30:32] 489 tn Or “every black lamb”; Heb “and every dark sheep among the lambs.”
[30:32] 490 tn Heb “and the spotted and speckled among the goats.”
[30:32] 491 tn Heb “and it will be my wage.” The referent collective singular pronoun (“it) has been specified as “these animals” in the translation for clarity.
[30:33] 492 tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”
[30:33] 493 tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”
[30:33] 494 tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”
[30:33] sn Only the wage we agreed on. Jacob would have to be considered completely honest here, for he would have no control over the kind of animals born; and there could be no disagreement over which animals were his wages.
[30:33] 495 tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”
[30:34] 496 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘Good, let it be according to your word.’” On the asseverative use of the particle לוּ (lu) here, see HALOT 521 s.v. לוּ.
[30:35] 497 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:35] 498 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”
[30:36] 499 tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”
[30:36] sn Three days’ traveling distance from Jacob. E. A. Speiser observes, “Laban is delighted with the terms, and promptly proceeds to violate the spirit of the bargain by removing to a safe distance all the grown animals that would be likely to produce the specified spots” (Genesis [AB], 238). Laban apparently thought that by separating out the spotted, striped, and dark colored animals he could minimize the production of spotted, striped, or dark offspring that would then belong to Jacob.
[30:36] 500 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.
[30:38] 501 sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).
[30:39] 502 tn The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to be in heat” (see v. 38) or “to mate; to conceive; to become pregnant.” The latter nuance makes better sense in this verse, for the next clause describes them giving birth.
[30:39] 503 tn Heb “the sheep.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:40] 504 tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”
[30:41] 505 tn Heb “and at every breeding-heat of the flock.”
[30:42] 506 tn Heb “he did not put [them] in.” The referent of the [understood] direct object, “them,” has been specified as “the branches” in the translation for clarity.
[30:42] 507 tn Heb “were for Laban.”
[30:43] 508 tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
