Kejadian 14:10

14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. ¹  When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, ²  but some survivors ³  fled to the hills. ⁴ 

Kejadian 14:22

14:22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand ⁵  to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow ⁶ 

Kejadian 17:16

17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. ⁷  Kings of countries ⁸  will come from her!”

Kejadian 20:2

20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

Kejadian 26:1

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred ⁹  in the days of Abraham. ¹⁰  Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Kejadian 35:11

35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. ¹¹  Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! ¹² 

Kejadian 39:20

39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, ¹³  the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. ¹⁴ 

Kejadian 41:46

41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old ¹⁵  when he began serving ¹⁶  Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by ¹⁷  Pharaoh and was in charge of ¹⁸  all the land of Egypt.

[14:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Now the Valley of Siddim [was] pits, pits of tar.” This parenthetical disjunctive clause emphasizes the abundance of tar pits in the area through repetition of the noun “pits.”

[14:10]  sn The word for “tar” (or “bitumen”) occurs earlier in the story of the building of the tower in Babylon (see Gen 11:3).

[14:10]  ² tn Or “they were defeated there.” After a verb of motion the Hebrew particle שָׁם (sham) with the directional heh (שָׁמָּה, shammah) can mean “into it, therein” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָׁם).

[14:10]  ³ tn Heb “the rest.”

[14:10]  ⁴ sn The reference to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah must mean the kings along with their armies. Most of them were defeated in the valley, but some of them escaped to the hills.

[14:22]  ⁵ tn Abram takes an oath, raising his hand as a solemn gesture. The translation understands the perfect tense as having an instantaneous nuance: “Here and now I raise my hand.”

[14:22]  ⁶ tn The words “and vow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[17:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “she will become nations.”

[17:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “peoples.”

[26:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”

[26:1]  ¹⁰ sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.

[35:11]  ¹¹ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. For a fuller discussion see the note on “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[35:11]  ¹² tn Heb “A nation and a company of nations will be from you and kings from your loins will come out.”

[35:11]  sn A nation…will descend from you. The promise is rooted in the Abrahamic promise (see Gen 17). God confirms what Isaac told Jacob (see Gen 28:3-4). Here, though, for the first time Jacob is promised kings as descendants.

[39:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.

[39:20]  ¹⁴ sn The story of Joseph is filled with cycles and repetition: He has two dreams (chap. 37), he interprets two dreams in prison (chap. 40) and the two dreams of Pharaoh (chap. 41), his brothers make two trips to see him (chaps. 42-43), and here, for the second time (see 37:24), he is imprisoned for no good reason, with only his coat being used as evidence. For further discussion see H. Jacobsen, “A Legal Note on Potiphar’s Wife,” HTR 69 (1976): 177.

[41:46]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a son of thirty years.”

[41:46]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “when he stood before.”

[41:46]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “went out from before.”

[41:46]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he passed through all the land of Egypt”; this phrase is interpreted by JPS to mean that Joseph “emerged in charge of the whole land.”