Kejadian 3:8-12
Konteks3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about 1 in the orchard at the breezy time 2 of the day, and they hid 3 from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 3:9 But the Lord God called to 4 the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 5 3:10 The man replied, 6 “I heard you moving about 7 in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the Lord God 8 said, “Who told you that you were naked? 9 Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 10 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave 11 me some fruit 12 from the tree and I ate it.”
Kejadian 4:9-15
Konteks4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” 13 And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” 14 4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? 15 The voice 16 of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 4:11 So now, you are banished 17 from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12 When you try to cultivate 18 the
ground it will no longer yield 19 its best 20 for you. You will be a homeless wanderer 21 on the earth.” 4:13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment 22 is too great to endure! 23 4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land 24 today, and I must hide from your presence. 25 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, 26 if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” 27 Then the Lord put a special mark 28 on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. 29
Kejadian 6:13-22
Konteks6:13 So God said 30 to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, 31 for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy 32 them and the earth. 6:14 Make 33 for yourself an ark of cypress 34 wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover 35 it with pitch inside and out. 6:15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 36 6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches 37 from the top. 38 Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks. 6:17 I am about to bring 39 floodwaters 40 on the earth to destroy 41 from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. 42 Everything that is on the earth will die, 6:18 but I will confirm 43 my covenant with you. You will enter 44 the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 6:19 You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, 45 male and female, to keep them alive 46 with you. 6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. 47 6:21 And you must take 48 for yourself every kind of food 49 that is eaten, 50 and gather it together. 51 It will be food for you and for them.
6:22 And Noah did all 52 that God commanded him – he did indeed. 53
Kejadian 8:15-19
Konteks8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out 54 every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase 55 and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” 56
8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.
Kejadian 9:1-17
Konteks9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. 57 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 58 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 59 As I gave you 60 the green plants, I now give 61 you everything.
9:4 But 62 you must not eat meat 63 with its life (that is, 64 its blood) in it. 65 9:5 For your lifeblood 66 I will surely exact punishment, 67 from 68 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 69 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 70 since the man was his relative. 71
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 72
by other humans 73
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 74
God 75 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 76 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 77 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 78 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 79 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. 80 9:11 I confirm 81 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 82 be wiped out 83 by the waters of a flood; 84 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 85 of the covenant I am making 86 with you 87 and every living creature with you, a covenant 88 for all subsequent 89 generations: 9:13 I will place 90 my rainbow 91 in the clouds, and it will become 92 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 93 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 94 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 95 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 96 all living things. 97 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 98 the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”
9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things 99 that are on the earth.”
[3:8] 1 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] 2 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] 3 tn The verb used here is the Hitpael, giving the reflexive idea (“they hid themselves”). In v. 10, when Adam answers the
[3:9] 4 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] 5 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] 6 tn Heb “and he said.”
[3:10] 7 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] 8 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (the
[3:11] 9 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] 10 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] 11 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] 12 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.
[4:9] 13 sn Where is Abel your brother? Again the
[4:9] 14 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] 15 sn What have you done? Again the
[4:10] 16 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] 17 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] 19 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] 20 tn Heb “its strength.”
[4:12] 21 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] 22 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] 23 tn Heb “great is my punishment from bearing.” The preposition מִן (min, “from”) is used here in a comparative sense.
[4:14] 24 tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”
[4:14] 25 sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the
[4:15] 26 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] 27 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] 28 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] 29 sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.
[6:13] 30 sn On the divine style utilized here, see R. Lapointe, “The Divine Monologue as a Channel of Revelation,” CBQ 32 (1970): 161-81.
[6:13] 31 tn Heb “the end of all flesh is coming [or “has come”] before me.” (The verb form is either a perfect or a participle.) The phrase “end of all flesh” occurs only here. The term “end” refers here to the end of “life,” as v. 3 and the following context (which describes how God destroys all flesh) make clear. The statement “the end has come” occurs in Ezek 7:2, 6, where it is used of divine judgment. The phrase “come before” occurs in Exod 28:30, 35; 34:34; Lev 15:14; Num 27:17; 1 Sam 18:13, 16; 2 Sam 19:8; 20:8; 1 Kgs 1:23, 28, 32; Ezek 46:9; Pss 79:11 (groans come before God); 88:3 (a prayer comes before God); 100:2; 119:170 (prayer comes before God); Lam 1:22 (evil doing comes before God); Esth 1:19; 8:1; 9:25; 1 Chr 16:29. The expression often means “have an audience with” or “appear before.” But when used metaphorically, it can mean “get the attention of” or “prompt a response.” This is probably the sense in Gen 6:13. The necessity of ending the life of all flesh on earth is an issue that has gotten the attention of God. The term “end” may even be a metonymy for that which has prompted it – violence (see the following clause).
[6:13] 32 tn The participle, especially after הִנֵּה (hinneh) has an imminent future nuance. The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) here has the sense “to destroy” (in judgment). Note the wordplay involving this verb in vv. 11-13: The earth is “ruined” because all flesh has acted in a morally “corrupt” manner. Consequently, God will “destroy” all flesh (the referent of the suffix “them”) along with the ruined earth. They had ruined themselves and the earth with violence, and now God would ruin them with judgment. For other cases where “earth” occurs as the object of the Hiphil of שָׁחָת, see 1 Sam 6:5; 1 Chr 20:1; Jer 36:29; 51:25.
[6:14] 33 sn The Hebrew verb is an imperative. A motif of this section is that Noah did as the
[6:14] 34 tn A transliteration of the Hebrew term yields “gopher (גֹּפֶר, gofer) wood” (so KJV, NAB, NASB). While the exact nature of the wood involved is uncertain (cf. NLT “resinous wood”), many modern translations render the Hebrew term as “cypress” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).
[6:14] 35 tn The Hebrew term כָּפָר (kafar, “to cover, to smear” [= to caulk]) appears here in the Qal stem with its primary, nonmetaphorical meaning. The Piel form כִּפֶּר (kipper), which has the metaphorical meaning “to atone, to expiate, to pacify,” is used in Levitical texts (see HALOT 493-94 s.v. כפר). Some authorities regard the form in v. 14 as a homonym of the much more common Levitical term (see BDB 498 s.v. כָּפָר).
[6:15] 36 tn Heb “300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) long.
[6:16] 38 tn Heb “to a cubit you shall finish it from above.” The idea is that Noah was to leave an 18-inch opening from the top for a window for light.
[6:17] 39 tn The Hebrew construction uses the independent personal pronoun, followed by a suffixed form of הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) and the a participle used with an imminent future nuance: “As for me, look, I am going to bring.”
[6:17] 40 tn Heb “the flood, water.”
[6:17] 41 tn The verb שָׁחָת (shakhat, “to destroy”) is repeated yet again, only now in an infinitival form expressing the purpose of the flood.
[6:17] 42 tn The Hebrew construction here is different from the previous two; here it is רוּחַ חַיִּים (ruakh khayyim) rather than נֶפֶשׁ הַיָּה (nefesh khayyah) or נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (nishmat khayyim). It refers to everything that breathes.
[6:18] 43 tn The Hebrew verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive (picking up the future sense from the participles) from קוּם (qum, “to rise up”). This may refer to the confirmation or fulfillment of an earlier promise, but it is more likely that it anticipates the unconditional promise made to humankind following the flood (see Gen 9:9, 11, 17).
[6:18] 44 tn The perfect verb form with vav (ו) consecutive is best understood as specific future, continuing God’s description of what will happen (see vv. 17-18a).
[6:19] 45 tn Heb “from all life, from all flesh, two from all you must bring.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse (note the conjunction with prepositional phrase, followed by two more prepositional phrases in apposition and then the imperfect verb form) signals a change in mood from announcement (vv. 17-18) to instruction.
[6:19] 46 tn The Piel infinitive construct לְהַחֲיוֹת (lÿhakhayot, here translated as “to keep them alive”) shows the purpose of bringing the animals into the ark – saving life. The Piel of this verb means here “to preserve alive.”
[6:20] 47 tn Heb “to keep alive.”
[6:21] 48 tn The verb is a direct imperative: “And you, take for yourself.” The form stresses the immediate nature of the instruction; the pronoun underscores the directness.
[6:21] 49 tn Heb “from all food,” meaning “some of every kind of food.”
[6:21] 50 tn Or “will be eaten.”
[6:21] 51 tn Heb “and gather it to you.”
[6:22] 52 tn Heb “according to all.”
[6:22] 53 tn The last clause seems redundant: “and thus (כֵּן, ken) he did.” It underscores the obedience of Noah to all that God had said.
[8:17] 54 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:17] 55 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
[8:17] 56 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
[9:2] 57 tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.
[9:2] 58 tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.
[9:3] 59 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 60 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 61 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 64 tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.
[9:4] 65 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:4] sn You must not eat meat with its life…in it. Because of the carnage produced by the flood, people might conclude that life is cheap and therefore treat it lightly. But God will not permit them to kill or even to eat anything with the lifeblood still in it, serving as a reminder of the sanctity of life.
[9:5] 66 tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
[9:5] 67 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
[9:5] 68 tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
[9:5] 69 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 71 tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
[9:6] 72 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 73 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 74 sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.
[9:6] 75 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 76 sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).
[9:8] 77 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 78 tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
[9:9] 79 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
[9:10] 80 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 81 tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
[9:11] 84 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 86 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
[9:12] 87 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 88 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 89 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 90 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
[9:13] 91 sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
[9:13] 92 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 93 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 94 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:15] 96 tn Heb “to destroy.”
[9:16] 98 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
