Kejadian 11:3

11:3 Then they said to one another, ¹  “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” ²  (They had brick instead of stone and tar ³  instead of mortar.) ⁴ 

Kejadian 20:7

20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ⁵  he is a prophet ⁶  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ⁷  But if you don’t give her back, ⁸  know that you will surely die ⁹  along with all who belong to you.”

Kejadian 30:16

30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ¹⁰  with me because I have paid for your services ¹¹  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ¹²  with her that night.

Kejadian 43:21

43:21 But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ¹³  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ¹⁴ 

Kejadian 43:23

43:23 “Everything is fine,” ¹⁵  the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. ¹⁶  I had your money.” ¹⁷  Then he brought Simeon out to them.

Kejadian 43:32

43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ¹⁸  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ¹⁹  to do so.) ²⁰ 

[11:3]  ¹ tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”

[11:3]  ² tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).

[11:3]  ³ tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[11:3]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.

[20:7]  ⁵ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ⁶ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ⁷ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  sn He will pray for you that you may live. Abraham was known as a man of God whose prayer would be effectual. Ironically and sadly, he was also known as a liar.

[20:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ⁹ tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[30:16]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[43:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “in its weight.”

[43:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “brought it back in our hand.”

[43:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he said, ‘peace to you.’” Here the statement has the force of “everything is fine,” or perhaps even “calm down.” The referent of “he” (the man in charge of Joseph’ household) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.

[43:23]  ¹⁶ sn Your God and the God of your father…This is the first clear reference in the story to the theme of divine providence – that God works through the human actions to do his will.

[43:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your money came to me.”

[43:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:32]  ¹⁹ tn Or “disgraceful.” The Hebrew word תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “abomination”) describes something that is loathsome or off-limits. For other practices the Egyptians considered disgusting, see Gen 46:34 and Exod 8:22.

[43:32]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they set for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for the Egyptians are not able to eat food with the Hebrews, for it is an abomination for the Egyptians.” The imperfect verbal form in the explanatory clause is taken as habitual in force, indicating a practice that was still in effect in the narrator’s time.

[43:32]  sn That the Egyptians found eating with foreigners disgusting is well-attested in extra-biblical literature by writers like Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo.