Kejadian 13:7

13:7 So there were quarrels ¹  between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. ²  (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) ³ 

Kejadian 19:1

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ⁴  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ⁵  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

Kejadian 23:10

23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite ⁶  replied to Abraham in the hearing ⁷  of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate ⁸  of his city –

Kejadian 24:37

24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,

Kejadian 25:27

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled ⁹  hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. ¹⁰ 

[13:7]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term רִיב (riv) means “strife, conflict, quarreling.” In later texts it has the meaning of “legal controversy, dispute.” See B. Gemser, “The rîb – or Controversy – Pattern in Hebrew Mentality,” Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 120-37.

[13:7]  ² sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.

[13:7]  ³ tn This parenthetical clause, introduced with the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), again provides critical information. It tells in part why the land cannot sustain these two bedouins, and it also hints of the danger of weakening the family by inner strife.

[19:1]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[19:1]  sn The expression sitting in the city’s gateway may mean that Lot was exercising some type of judicial function (see the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 19:8; Jer 26:10; 38:7; 39:3).

[23:10]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “Hittite,” but see the note on the name “Heth” in v. 3.

[23:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “ears.” By metonymy the “ears” stand for the presence or proximity (i.e., within earshot) of the persons named.

[23:10]  ⁸ sn On the expression all who entered the gate see E. A. Speiser, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956): 20-23; and G. Evans, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate: A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958): 28-33.

[25:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “knowing.”

[25:27]  ¹⁰ tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”