translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי ( vayÿhi ) followed by “in the days of.”


text: Or “king of Goyim.” The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם ( goyim ) means “nations,” but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB “Goyim”; NIV, NRSV “Goiim”).


text: Heb “made war.” sn Went to war . The conflict here reflects international warfare in the Early and Middle Bronze periods. The countries operated with overlords and vassals. Kings ruled over city states, or sometimes a number of city states (i.e., nations). Due to their treaties, when one went to war, those confederate with him joined him in battle. It appears here that it is Kedorlaomer’s war, because the western city states have rebelled against him (meaning they did not send products as tribute to keep him from invading them).


text: Heb “all these,” referring only to the last five kings named. The referent has been specified as “these last five kings” in the translation for clarity.


text: The Hebrew verb used here means “to join together; to unite; to be allied.” It stresses close associations, especially of friendships, marriages, or treaties.


text: The sentence simply begins with “twelve years”; it serves as an adverbial accusative giving the duration of their bondage.


text: This is another adverbial accusative of time.


text: The Hebrew verb נָכָה ( nakhah ) means “to attack, to strike, to smite.” In this context it appears that the strike was successful, and so a translation of “defeated” is preferable.


text: Heb “they returned and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh).” The two verbs together form a verbal hendiadys, the first serving as the adverb: “they returned and came” means “they came again.” Most English translations do not treat this as a hendiadys, but translate “they turned back” or something similar. Since in the context, however, “came again to” does not simply refer to travel but an assault against the place, the present translation expresses this as “attacked…again.”


text: Heb “against.”


text: Or “Goyim.” See the note on the word “nations” in 14:1 .


text: The Hebrew text has simply “against.” The word “fought” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


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


text: 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 ).


text: Heb “the rest.”


text: Heb “they”; the referent (the four victorious kings, see v. 9 ) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “Lot the son of his brother.”


text: Heb “and.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: This disjunctive clause is circumstantial/causal, explaining that Lot was captured because he was living in Sodom at the time.


text: Heb “the fugitive.” The article carries a generic force or indicates that this fugitive is definite in the mind of the speaker.


text: Or “terebinths.”


text: Or “a brother”; or “a relative”; or perhaps “an ally.”


text: Heb “possessors of a treaty with.” Since it is likely that the qualifying statement refers to all three (Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner) the words “all these” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear.


text: This parenthetical disjunctive clause explains how Abram came to be living in their territory, but it also explains why they must go to war with Abram.


text: Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother ( Gen 11:27 ).


text: The verb וַיָּרֶק ( vayyareq ) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק ( req , “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser ( Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq , cognate with Akkadian deku , “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד ( dalet ) and ר ( resh ) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.


text: The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”


text: Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.


text: The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king. sn It is his royal priestly status that makes Melchizedek a type of Christ: He was identified with Jerusalem, superior to the ancestor of Israel, and both a king and a priest. Unlike the normal Canaanites, this man served “God Most High” ( אֵל עֶלְיוֹן , ’ el ’ elyon ) – one sovereign God, who was the creator of all the universe. Abram had in him a spiritual brother.


text: The preposition לְ ( lamed ) introduces the agent after the passive participle.


text: Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה ( qanah ), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1 ) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”


text: The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.


text: Heb “blessed be.” For God to be “blessed” means that is praised. His reputation is enriched in the world as his name is praised.


text: Heb “him”; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: 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.”


text: The words “and vow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: “…if I take.” It is as if Abram says, “[May the Lord deal with me] if I take,” meaning, “I will surely not take.” The positive oath would add the negative adverb and be the reverse: “[God will deal with me] if I do not take,” meaning, “I certainly will.”


text: The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun (“I”) to the verb form for emphasis.


text: The words “I will take nothing” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “except only what the young men have eaten.”