translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

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


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


text: Heb “which I will say to.”


text: Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”


text: Heb “he arose and he went.”


text: Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”


text: Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.


text: The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.


text: The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.


text: This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”


text: The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1 ).


text: Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.” sn God will provide is the central theme of the passage and the turning point in the story. Note Paul’s allusion to the story in Rom 8:32 (“how shall he not freely give us all things?”) as well as H. J. Schoeps, “The Sacrifice of Isaac in Paul’s Theology,” JBL 65 (1946): 385-92.


text: Heb “in order to slaughter.”


text: Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”


text: Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “lifted his eyes.”


text: Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה ( hinneh , “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.


label: NET textual note

text: The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew mss , the LXX, Syriac, and Samaritan Pentateuch read “one” ( אֶחָד , ’ ekhad ) instead of “behind him” ( אַחַר , ’ akhar ).


text: Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “the Lord sees” ( יְהוָה יִרְאֶה , yÿhvah yir ’ eh , traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8 ). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.


text: Heb “By myself I swear.”


text: Heb “the oracle of the Lord .” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord .


text: The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.


text: Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative). sn I will greatly multiply . The Lord here ratifies his earlier promise to give Abram a multitude of descendants. For further discussion see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism , 35-54.


text: The Hebrew term זֶרַע ( zera ’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.


text: Or “inherit.”


text: Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).


text: In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons. sn Because you have obeyed me . Abraham’s obedience brought God’s ratification of the earlier conditional promise (see Gen 12:2 ).


text: Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4 ). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18 ; Ps 72:17 ; Isa 65:16 ; Jer 4:2 . Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11 . Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18 ) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14 .)


text: Heb “and they arose and went together.”


text: Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.


text: In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה ( hinneh , “look”) which draws attention to the statement.


text: The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac ( Gen 24:15 ).