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The Table of Nations

10 This is the account[a] of Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.[b] Sons[c] were born[d] to them after the flood.

The sons of Japheth[e] were Gomer,[f] Magog,[g] Madai,[h] Javan,[i] Tubal,[j] Meshech,[k] and Tiras.[l] The sons of Gomer were[m] Ashkenaz,[n] Riphath,[o] and Togarmah.[p] The sons of Javan were Elishah,[q] Tarshish,[r] the Kittim,[s] and the Dodanim.[t] From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.

The sons of Ham were Cush,[u] Mizraim,[v] Put,[w] and Canaan.[x] The sons of Cush were Seba,[y] Havilah,[z] Sabtah,[aa] Raamah,[ab] and Sabteca.[ac] The sons of Raamah were Sheba[ad] and Dedan.[ae]

Cush was the father of[af] Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter[ag] before the Lord.[ah] (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10 The primary regions[ai] of his kingdom were Babel,[aj] Erech,[ak] Akkad,[al] and Calneh[am] in the land of Shinar.[an] 11 From that land he went[ao] to Assyria,[ap] where he built Nineveh,[aq] Rehoboth Ir,[ar] Calah,[as] 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah.[at]

13 Mizraim[au] was the father of[av] the Ludites,[aw] Anamites,[ax] Lehabites,[ay] Naphtuhites,[az] 14 Pathrusites,[ba] Casluhites[bb] (from whom the Philistines came),[bc] and Caphtorites.[bd]

15 Canaan was the father of[be] Sidon his firstborn,[bf] Heth,[bg] 16 the Jebusites,[bh] Amorites,[bi] Girgashites,[bj] 17 Hivites,[bk] Arkites,[bl] Sinites,[bm] 18 Arvadites,[bn] Zemarites,[bo] and Hamathites.[bp] Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan extended[bq] from Sidon all the way to[br] Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to[bs] Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.

21 And sons were also born[bt] to Shem (the older brother of Japheth),[bu] the father of all the sons of Eber.

22 The sons of Shem were Elam,[bv] Asshur,[bw] Arphaxad,[bx] Lud,[by] and Aram.[bz] 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.[ca] 24 Arphaxad was the father of[cb] Shelah,[cc] and Shelah was the father of Eber.[cd] 25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided,[ce] and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of[cf] Almodad,[cg] Sheleph,[ch] Hazarmaveth,[ci] Jerah,[cj] 27 Hadoram, Uzal,[ck] Diklah,[cl] 28 Obal,[cm] Abimael,[cn] Sheba,[co] 29 Ophir,[cp] Havilah,[cq] and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to[cr] Sephar in the eastern hills. 31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread[cs] over the earth after the flood.

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

11 The whole earth[ct] had a common language and a common vocabulary.[cu] When the people[cv] moved eastward,[cw] they found a plain in Shinar[cx] and settled there. Then they said to one another,[cy] “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”[cz] (They had brick instead of stone and tar[da] instead of mortar.)[db] Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens[dc] so that[dd] we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise[de] we will be scattered[df] across the face of the entire earth.”

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people[dg] had started[dh] building. And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language[di] they have begun to do this, then[dj] nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.[dk] Come, let’s go down and confuse[dl] their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”[dm]

So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building[dn] the city. That is why its name was called[do] Babel[dp]—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

The Genealogy of Shem

10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other[dq] sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other[dr] sons and daughters.[ds]

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Record of Terah

27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans,[dt] while his father Terah was still alive.[du] 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai.[dv] And the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah;[dw] she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The lifetime[dx] of Terah was 205 years, and he[dy] died in Haran.

The Obedience of Abram

12 Now the Lord said[dz] to Abram,[ea]

“Go out[eb] from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you.[ec]
Then I will make you[ed] into a great nation, and I will bless you,[ee]
and I will make your name great,[ef]
so that you will exemplify divine blessing.[eg]
I will bless those who bless you,[eh]
but the one who treats you lightly[ei] I must curse,
so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing[ej] through you.”

So Abram left,[ek] just as the Lord had told him to do,[el] and Lot went with him. (Now[em] Abram was 75 years old[en] when he departed from Haran.) And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew[eo] Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired[ep] in Haran, and they left for[eq] the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree[er] of Moreh[es] at Shechem.[et] (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.)[eu] The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants[ev] I will give this land.” So Abram[ew] built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord.[ex] Abram continually journeyed by stages[ey] down to the Negev.[ez]

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt[fa] to stay for a while[fb] because the famine was severe.[fc] 11 As he approached[fd] Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look,[fe] I know that you are a beautiful woman.[ff] 12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive.[fg] 13 So tell them[fh] you are my sister[fi] so that it may go well[fj] for me because of you and my life will be spared[fk] on account of you.”

14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife[fl] was taken[fm] into the household of Pharaoh,[fn] 16 and he did treat Abram well[fo] on account of her. Abram received[fp] sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases[fq] because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this[fr] you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her[fs] to be my wife?[ft] Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!”[fu] 20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram,[fv] and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 10:1 tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (ʾelleh toledot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1-11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.
  2. Genesis 10:1 sn The sons are not listed in order by age. Japheth was oldest (10:21); Ham was youngest (9:24). Shem is listed first due to importance.
  3. Genesis 10:1 sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.
  4. Genesis 10:1 tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bene) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10—Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10—Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.
  5. Genesis 10:2 sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
  6. Genesis 10:2 sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.
  7. Genesis 10:2 sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.
  8. Genesis 10:2 sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
  9. Genesis 10:2 sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
  10. Genesis 10:2 sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
  11. Genesis 10:2 sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
  12. Genesis 10:2 sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
  13. Genesis 10:3 sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
  14. Genesis 10:3 sn Ashkenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.
  15. Genesis 10:3 sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
  16. Genesis 10:3 sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.
  17. Genesis 10:4 sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
  18. Genesis 10:4 sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
  19. Genesis 10:4 sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
  20. Genesis 10:4 tc Most of the MT mss read “Dodanim” here, but 1 Chr 1:7 has “Rodanim,” perhaps referring to the island of Rhodes. But the Qere reading in 1 Chr 1:7 suggests “Dodanim.” Dodona is one of the most ancient and revered spots in ancient Greece.
  21. Genesis 10:6 sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).
  22. Genesis 10:6 sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.
  23. Genesis 10:6 sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.
  24. Genesis 10:6 sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).
  25. Genesis 10:7 sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
  26. Genesis 10:7 sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
  27. Genesis 10:7 sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
  28. Genesis 10:7 sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
  29. Genesis 10:7 sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
  30. Genesis 10:7 sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
  31. Genesis 10:7 sn The name Dedan is associated with ʿUla in northern Arabia.
  32. Genesis 10:8 tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.
  33. Genesis 10:9 tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).
  34. Genesis 10:9 tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yehvah, “before the Lord [YHWH]”), as a means of expressing the superlative degree. In this case one may translate “Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the world.”
  35. Genesis 10:10 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
  36. Genesis 10:10 tn Or “Babylon.”
  37. Genesis 10:10 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
  38. Genesis 10:10 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
  39. Genesis 10:10 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
  40. Genesis 10:10 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
  41. Genesis 10:11 tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
  42. Genesis 10:11 tn Heb “Asshur.”
  43. Genesis 10:11 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
  44. Genesis 10:11 sn The name Rehoboth Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
  45. Genesis 10:11 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located 20 miles north of Nineveh.
  46. Genesis 10:12 tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”
  47. Genesis 10:13 sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).
  48. Genesis 10:13 tn Heb “fathered.”
  49. Genesis 10:13 sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.
  50. Genesis 10:13 sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.
  51. Genesis 10:13 sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.
  52. Genesis 10:13 sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).
  53. Genesis 10:14 sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.
  54. Genesis 10:14 sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.
  55. Genesis 10:14 tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.
  56. Genesis 10:14 sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.
  57. Genesis 10:15 tn Heb “fathered.”
  58. Genesis 10:15 sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
  59. Genesis 10:15 tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
  60. Genesis 10:16 sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
  61. Genesis 10:16 sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.
  62. Genesis 10:16 sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).
  63. Genesis 10:17 sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
  64. Genesis 10:17 sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
  65. Genesis 10:17 sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
  66. Genesis 10:18 sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
  67. Genesis 10:18 sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
  68. Genesis 10:18 sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
  69. Genesis 10:19 tn Heb “were.”
  70. Genesis 10:19 tn Heb “as you go.”
  71. Genesis 10:19 tn Heb “as you go.”
  72. Genesis 10:21 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
  73. Genesis 10:21 tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun plus proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.
  74. Genesis 10:22 sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ʿelam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
  75. Genesis 10:22 sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.
  76. Genesis 10:22 sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
  77. Genesis 10:22 sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
  78. Genesis 10:22 sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
  79. Genesis 10:23 tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”sn Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Little is known about these descendants of Aram.
  80. Genesis 10:24 tn Heb “fathered.”
  81. Genesis 10:24 tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
  82. Genesis 10:24 sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ʿever) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ʿivri).
  83. Genesis 10:25 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלַג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
  84. Genesis 10:26 tn Heb “fathered.”
  85. Genesis 10:26 sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.
  86. Genesis 10:26 sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.
  87. Genesis 10:26 sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.
  88. Genesis 10:26 sn The name Jerah means “moon.”
  89. Genesis 10:27 sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
  90. Genesis 10:27 sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
  91. Genesis 10:28 sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.
  92. Genesis 10:28 sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”
  93. Genesis 10:28 sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.
  94. Genesis 10:29 sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28; 10:11; 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18; 9:10; Job 22:24; 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).
  95. Genesis 10:29 sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.
  96. Genesis 10:30 tn Heb “as you go.”
  97. Genesis 10:32 tn Or “separated.”
  98. Genesis 11:1 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9, ” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
  99. Genesis 11:1 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
  100. Genesis 11:2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  101. Genesis 11:2 tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”
  102. Genesis 11:2 tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”sn Shinar is the region of Babylonia.
  103. Genesis 11:3 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
  104. Genesis 11:3 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbenah levenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrefah 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).
  105. Genesis 11:3 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
  106. Genesis 11:3 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
  107. Genesis 11:4 tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.
  108. Genesis 11:4 tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (venaʿaseh, from the verb עָשָׁה [ʿasah], “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.
  109. Genesis 11:4 tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”
  110. Genesis 11:4 sn The Hebrew verb פּוּץ (puts, “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.
  111. Genesis 11:5 tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.
  112. Genesis 11:5 tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.
  113. Genesis 11:6 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
  114. Genesis 11:6 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
  115. Genesis 11:6 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
  116. Genesis 11:7 tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the Lord our God said to us…. And the Lord went down and we went down with him. And we saw the city and the tower which the sons of men built.” On the chiastic structure of the story, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:235.
  117. Genesis 11:7 tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
  118. Genesis 11:8 tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
  119. Genesis 11:9 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.
  120. Genesis 11:9 sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
  121. Genesis 11:11 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
  122. Genesis 11:13 tn Here and in vv. 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
  123. Genesis 11:13 tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived 35 years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived 430 years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived 130 years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived 330 years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
  124. Genesis 11:28 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium b.c.
  125. Genesis 11:28 tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”
  126. Genesis 11:29 sn The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.
  127. Genesis 11:29 sn The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.
  128. Genesis 11:32 tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”
  129. Genesis 11:32 tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  130. Genesis 12:1 sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2), but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.
  131. Genesis 12:1 tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh lekha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.sn It would be hard to overestimate the value of this call and this divine plan for the theology of the Bible. Here begins God’s plan to bring redemption to the world. The promises to Abram will be turned into a covenant in Gen 15 and 22 (here it is a call with conditional promises) and will then lead through the Bible to the work of the Messiah.
  132. Genesis 12:1 tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the preposition ל (lamed) with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lekha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”
  133. Genesis 12:1 sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.
  134. Genesis 12:2 tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.
  135. Genesis 12:2 sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he (1) gave them a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.
  136. Genesis 12:2 tn Or “I will make you famous.”
  137. Genesis 12:2 tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (heyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? With the opposite notions of being a curse, taunt, horror, reproach, or proverb, a person (or the nation) is an example of such and/or referenced in a statement of such. For example, in Zech 8:13 God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae. And yet the gnomic promise that begins v. 3 can be seen to identify the way in which Abraham could be a blessing to others; as they bless him, they are blessed by God.
  138. Genesis 12:3 tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.
  139. Genesis 12:3 tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (meqallelekha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (ʾarar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”
  140. Genesis 12:3 tn Or “find blessing.” The Niphal of בָּרַךְ (barakh) occurs only three times, all in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14). The Niphal stem is medio-passive and it has traditionally been rendered as passive here. While this captures an assumption in the passage, it does not fully capture the nuance of the verb. The verb is denominative (based on the noun “blessing”) with its active voice in the Piel and its normal passive expression in the Pual (or the Qal passive participle). Some have argued that the Niphal has the same reciprocal notion as its Hitpael (which appears in two other formulations of the Abrahamic covenant: Gen 22:18; 26:4) and means “bless one another by you[r name].” As an example of being blessed, Abram would be mentioned in their pronouncements of blessing. This could be possible, but it is more likely that the Niphal is used instead of the Hitpael to indicate a different middle voice meaning than the Hitpael, just as it would not be expected to have the same passive meaning as the Pual. In the immediate context, the first lines of this verse explain how others may be blessed by God, specifically by blessing Abram. The middle voice nuance may be expressed as “they may consider themselves blessed through you,” or that “they may find/receive blessing through you.” The logical outcome is that those who bless Abraham receive blessing and thus will “be blessed” (passive), and that anyone on the earth may be part of that category. So a passive translation can be a fair rendering of this implication. This translation attempts to reflect the middle voice of the Niphal as well as a modal sense “may receive blessing,” since the blessing only comes to those who bless Abram. Additional iterations of the Abrahamic covenant extend this principle to his descendants.
  141. Genesis 12:4 sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).
  142. Genesis 12:4 tn Heb “just as the Lord said to him.”
  143. Genesis 12:4 tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + implied “to be” verb) is parenthetical, telling the age of Abram when he left Haran.
  144. Genesis 12:4 tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”sn Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran (Gen 11:26). Terah was 205 when he died in Haran (11:32). Abram left Haran at the age of 75 after his father died. Abram was born when Terah was 130. Abram was not the firstborn—he is placed first in the list of three because of his importance. A similar situation is true of the list in Gen 10:1 (Shem, Ham, Japheth), as Ham was the youngest son (9:24).
  145. Genesis 12:5 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
  146. Genesis 12:5 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (ʿasah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
  147. Genesis 12:5 tn Heb “went out to go.”
  148. Genesis 12:6 tn Or “terebinth.”
  149. Genesis 12:6 sn The Hebrew word Moreh (מוֹרֶה, moreh) means “teacher.” It may well be that the place of this great oak tree was a Canaanite shrine where instruction took place.
  150. Genesis 12:6 tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”
  151. Genesis 12:6 tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature—the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.
  152. Genesis 12:7 tn The same Hebrew term זֶרַע (zeraʿ) may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
  153. Genesis 12:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
  154. Genesis 12:8 tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.
  155. Genesis 12:9 tn The Hebrew verb נָסַע (nasaʿ) means “to journey”; more specifically it means to pull up the tent and move to another place. The construction here uses the preterite of this verb with its infinitive absolute to stress the activity of traveling. But it also adds the infinitive absolute of הָלַךְ (halakh) to stress that the traveling was continually going on. Thus “Abram journeyed, going and journeying” becomes “Abram continually journeyed by stages.”
  156. Genesis 12:9 tn Or “the South [country].”sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
  157. Genesis 12:10 sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.
  158. Genesis 12:10 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.
  159. Genesis 12:10 tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  160. Genesis 12:11 tn Heb “drew near to enter.”
  161. Genesis 12:11 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.
  162. Genesis 12:11 tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”
  163. Genesis 12:12 tn The Piel of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) means “to keep alive, to preserve alive,” and in some places “to make alive.” See D. Marcus, “The Verb ‘to Live’ in Ugaritic,” JSS 17 (1972): 76-82.
  164. Genesis 12:13 tn Heb “say.”
  165. Genesis 12:13 sn Tell them you are my sister. Abram’s motives may not be as selfish as they appear. He is aware of the danger to the family. His method of dealing with it is deception with a half truth, for Sarai really was his sister—but the Egyptians would not know that. Abram presumably thought that there would be negotiations for a marriage by anyone interested (as Laban does later for his sister Rebekah), giving him time to react. But the plan backfires because Pharaoh does not take the time to negotiate. There is a good deal of literature on the wife-sister issue. See (among others) E. A. Speiser, “The Wife-Sister Motif in the Patriarchal Narratives,” Oriental and Biblical Studies, 62-81; C. J. Mullo-Weir, “The Alleged Hurrian Wife-Sister Motif in Genesis,” GOT 22 (1967-1970): 14-25.
  166. Genesis 12:13 tn The Hebrew verb translated “go well” can encompass a whole range of favorable treatment, but the following clause indicates it means here that Abram’s life will be spared.
  167. Genesis 12:13 tn Heb “and my life will live.”
  168. Genesis 12:15 tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.
  169. Genesis 12:15 tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.
  170. Genesis 12:15 tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.
  171. Genesis 12:16 sn He did treat Abram well. The construction of the parenthetical disjunctive clause, beginning with the conjunction on the prepositional phrase, draws attention to the irony of the story. Abram wanted Sarai to lie “so that it would go well” with him. Though he lost Sarai to Pharaoh, it did go well for him—he received a lavish bride price. See also G. W. Coats, “Despoiling the Egyptians,” VT 18 (1968): 450-57.
  172. Genesis 12:16 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
  173. Genesis 12:17 tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the Lord inflicted numerous plagues, probably diseases (see Exod 15:26). The adjective “great” emphasizes that the plagues were severe and overwhelming.
  174. Genesis 12:18 tn The demonstrative pronoun translated “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to me?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
  175. Genesis 12:19 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.
  176. Genesis 12:19 tn Heb “to me for a wife.”
  177. Genesis 12:19 tn Heb “take and go.”
  178. Genesis 12:20 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.