Kejadian 4:9

4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” ¹  And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” ² 

Kejadian 30:8

30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ³  So she named him Naphtali. ⁴ 

Kejadian 30:13

30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ⁵  for women ⁶  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ⁷ 

Kejadian 46:4

46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. ⁸  Joseph will close your eyes.” ⁹ 

[4:9]  ¹ sn Where is Abel your brother? Again the Lord confronts a guilty sinner with a rhetorical question (see Gen 3:9-13), asking for an explanation of what has happened.

[4:9]  ² 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.

[30:8]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.”

[30:13]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

[30:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “daughters.”

[30:13]  ⁷ 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.

[46:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I, I will bring you up, also bringing up.” The independent personal pronoun before the first person imperfect verbal form draws attention to the speaker/subject, while the infinitive absolute after the imperfect strongly emphasizes the statement: “I myself will certainly bring you up.”

[46:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes.” This is a promise of peaceful death in Egypt with Joseph present to close his eyes.